Shaheen Trade Called Off, TE Back with Dolphins
So much for that Miami Dolphins trade of Adam Shaheen.
The traded that sent Shaheen to the Houston Texans was voided Thursday when the Texans gave the sixth-year tight end a "failed physical" designation. Shaheen was flagged for a pre-existing knee condition, even though he never missed one day of practice at Dolphins training camp this summer.
The trade would have sent a 2023 sixth-round pick from Houston to Miami for Shaheen and a 2023 seventh-round selection.
WHAT NOW FOR SHAHEEN?
As a result of the trade being voided, Shaheen will return to the Dolphins roster, which will go back to being at 89 players.
The Dolphins again will have six tight ends, including the five who were on the 53-man roster in 2021 — Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Hunter Long, Cethan Carter and Shaheen. The other is rookie free agent Tanner Conner.
Given that the Dolphins already traded Shaheen, logic says it would be surprising to see him still in a Miami uniform at the start of the regular season, but stranger things have happened.
SHAHEEN'S TIME IN MIAMI
Shaheen has played two seasons for the Dolphins after arriving in a 2020 training camp trade with the Chicago Bears for a 2021 sixth-round pick.
Shaheen played 28 games with 12 starts for the Dolphins the past two seasons and had 24 catches for 260 yards and three touchdowns, all of them in 2020.
The 2017 Bears second-round pick out of Ashland was a solid backup tight end for the Dolphins, but he probably gained more attention for his stance against vaccines last summer.
Shaheen played all 16 games in 2020 and 12 of the 17 last season. He missed the opener at New England while on the COVID-19 list, was inactive for the Week 5 game against Jacksonville despite not being on the injury report during the week, and then missed three games down the stretch after he was listed with a knee injury.
He has had a very quiet training camp for the Dolphins this summer and the first depth chart of 2022 had him fifth among tight ends ahead only of Conner.
The trade with Houston would have saved the Dolphins a little more than $1.8 million in cap space, according to overthecap.com. Shaheen is signed through the 2022 season and set to become an unrestricted free agent next spring.
The Dolphins still would have that cap space if they simply ended up releasing Shaheen.
