Waddle Not Going Anywhere

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier shoots down his former colleague's hypothetical idea

INDIANAPOLIS — Remember that hypothetical trade that would have the Miami Dolphins send Jaylen Waddle to the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie?

Well, Dolphins GM Chris Grier says you can forget about it.

In fact, you can forget about Waddle going anwyhere.

For a long time.

"As I said in the middle of the season, no thoughts of trading Jaylen Waddle," Grier told a group of Dolphins writers at the scouting combine. "We want him here for a long time. We think he's a big part of our now and our future here. He's a great person on and off the field. And we still think as good as he is, he still has runway to keep getting better."

The bigger question soon for Grier when it comes to Waddle will be his contract status, the likely decision to pick up his fifth-year option and working at some point on a long-term extension for the 2021 sixth overall selection.

Waddle has been highly productive since arriving in Miami, setting an NFL rookie record for catches (104) in 2021, leading the league in receiving average (18.1) in 2022 and then becoming in 2023 the first Dolphins wide receiver to put together three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

A STRANGE SUGGESTION FROM THE START

The Waddle-for-McDuffie hypothetical that Tannenbaum threw out on ESPN never seemed logical from this end for a variety of reasons.

And, besides Grier's comments, there's now another reason to dismiss the idea: Reports that the Chiefs have given free agent-to-be L'Jarius Sneed permission to seek a trade.

Sneed is scheduled to become a UFA on March 13 and might end up getting tagged, and the Chiefs aren't about to lose both Sneed and McDuffie, and McDuffie is heading into his third NFL season.

As for the idea of the Dolphins making a move for Sneed, the problem with him is that he's going to be a lot more costly as a UFA after producing a 2023 season that was on par with what McDuffie did — Sneed's opponent passer rating when targeted was a very impressive 56.2.

The Dolphins have more than enough salary-cap issues to think about taking on somebody looking for big money, though it's not like they haven't pulled off big trades before.

But whatever happens, Grier says Waddle won't be part of any trade.