Breaking Down a Cedrick Wilson Trade Suggestion

The Miami Dolphins would like nothing more than to be able to shed the wide receiver's salary

We've already established that, yes, the Miami Dolphins very much would be open to trade wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., and now we've got a hypothetical move suggested by a national website.

How about Wilson going to the Houston Texans for a sixth- or seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft?

This hypothetical comes courtesy of the NFL Analysis Network and included the following comments justifying the trade: "Houston can bring in some young players to develop or find bargains on the trade market. One player that could pique their interest is Cedrick Wilson Jr. Wilson signed a three-year, $22 million deal with the Miami Dolphins in free agency last year, leaving the Dallas Cowboys for more money and what he thought would be a larger role. That larger role dissipated however when the team acquired Tyreek Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs. Wilson was no longer a fit for the team, catching only 12 passes for 136 yards in 15 games. Already behind Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the pecking order and with Braxton Berrios being signed this offseason, Wilson finds himself even lower on the totem pole."

WHY THE DOLPHINS WOULD TRADE WILSON

We addressed in an earlier story the reasons the Dolphins would consider — maybe even want — to trade Wilson before the 2023 season and it's got to do with his role compared to his salary.

This is what happens when a player has $5 million of his salary guaranteed after playing 26 percent of the offensive snaps and getting 18 targets in 15 games.

Obviously, this is not what the Dolphins had envisioned getting from Wilson after signing him to that three-year, $22 million deal after he enjoyed a breakout season with Dallas in 2021 when he set career highs with 45 catches, 602 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

But his signing came before the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill in that mega trade with the Kansas City Chiefs and everything changed for the wide receivers except for Jaylen Waddle.

The Dolphins have a need for a third wide receiver to emerge next season after the departure of Trent Sherfield to Buffalo, but Wilson is not a lock to land that role if he's on the roster and even then it's questionable whether his contribution as a third receiver would justify his 2023 cap number of $8 million.

That's why the Dolphins would make this trade with Houston ... even if the return is only a sixth-round pick.

For Houston, it's a small price to pay considering the Texans have three picks in that 2023 sixth round and they also have $18 million of cap space, according to overthecap.com.

THE DOLPHINS-TEXANS TRADE HISTORY

Here's another factor that makes the Wilson-to-Houston a suggestion that shouldn't be dismissed: The Dolphins and Texans have a history of making deals in recent years.

Of course, we have to start here with the oft-mentioned mega trade that sent Laremy Tunsil to Houston, but there have been others.

Since then, the Dolphins and Texans did a trade in 2020 involving draft picks; in 2021, the Dolphins sent LB Shaq Lawson and a sixth-round pick to Houston for LB Benardick McKinney and a seventh-round selection; and the teams agreed on a trade last summer sending tight end Adam Shaheen to Houston for a draft pick, though the deal was nullified when a physical uncovered a torn ACL and he reverted to the Dolphins to spend the whole season on injured reserve.

Counting the Tunsil trade, that makes it four consecutive years the Dolphins and Texans have struck a deal, so why not keep the streak alive with Wilson?

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