Report: Dolphins Trading Ford to Patriots

The Miami Dolphins indeed have made a trade involving a wide receiver, but it certainly wasn't anything that was expected.

The Dolphins are trading third-year wide receiver Isaiah Ford to the New England Patriots, according to a league source. The trade was first reported by ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

A rare intra-division trade: Dolphins are trading WR Isaiah Ford to the New England Patriots, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 3, 2020

The Dolphins will be getting a seventh-round pick in exchange for Ford, though it won't be until the 2022 draft, according to Boston Globe Patriots reporter Jim McBride.

#Patriots will send a 2022 seventh-rounder to Miami as compensation for Isaiah Ford, per league source. https://t.co/88rP4kgmcf
— Jim McBride (@globejimmcbride) November 3, 2020

As Schefter pointed out in his tweet, it's rare that teams trade within the division. The last time the Dolphins traded away a player to a division foe was in 2007 and it also involved a wide receiver going to New England, with Wes Welker being dealt for second- and seventh-round picks.

Ford had 18 catches for 184 yards (10.1-yard average) in the first seven games this season, but has seen his role diminish in recent weeks.

He averaged 19.7 snaps the past three games after playing an average of 41.5 snaps in the first four.

Ford had to persevere with the Dolphins after being a seventh-round pick in the 2017 draft.

After missing his entire rookie season with a leg injury, Ford bounced on and off the practice squad and the active roster the next two seasons before finally getting a legitimate chance late last season.

Ford showed he belonged in the NFL in the final month of the 2019 season, catching 21 passes over the final four games. He had a career-high 92 receiving yards in the 22-21 loss against the Jets and had a career-high seven catches in the 27-24 season-ending victory against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

The Dolphins had numbers at wide receiver, particularly if you include rookie seventh-round pick Malcolm Perry, who can line up at quarterback, running back or in the slot. In addition, practice squad wide receiver Antonio Callaway had his NFL suspension lifted this week, so he could be joining the active roster before long.

But the Dolphins have not gotten great production from the wide receiver position. The group tied for 30th in the NFL in average separation, according to ESPN's NextGen stats, and Preston Williams and DeVante Parker both are in the top 16 in the league in highest drop percentage per target.

The trade of Ford leaves the Dolphins without a single player from the 2017 draft class on their active roster.

Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, selected in the fifth round that year, currently is on injured reserve.

2017 first-round pick Charles Harris was traded to Atlanta in the offseason; second-round pick Raekwon McMillan was traded to Las Vegas in early August; third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley was waived this summer; fifth-round pick Isaac Asiata is now a police officer in Utah; and sixth-round pick Vincent Taylor is now a member of the Cleveland Browns after playing three for the Buffalo Bills in 2019.