Did the Dolphins Steal Guard from New England?

The Miami Dolphins jumped ahead of the New England Patriots to select guard Jonah Savaiinaea with the 37th overall pick

Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea (OL36) during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

When Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier explained the decision to trade up in the second round to draft Jonah Savaiinaea, he talked about the kind of prospect the team was getting and how they had targeted him.

What Grier didn't mention, though it always should have been obvious, is the Dolphins didn't believe he'd still be available when their 48th overall pick would come around, hence the move up to 37th.

And it just so happens, based on reporting out of Massachusetts, that one team that definitely was interested in Savaiinaea was the New England Patriots.

And it just so happens that the Dolphins jumped just ahead of the Patriots' 38th pick with the trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, which saw Miami give up picks in the third and fourth rounds to move up 11 spots in the second and also get a fifth-round selection.

New England ended up selecting Ohio State running back TreVeyon Handerson with the 38th overall selection, and Patriots GM Elliot Wolf explained his team's Day 2 draft discussions after the team later picked wide receiver Kyle Williams and Georgia center/guard Jared Wilson in the third round.

"There was a little bit of a debate about who we were going to pick, and ultimately, one of the players we were talking about got drafted," Wolf said, "so it didn’t end up mattering, but I think it was a really good step in the right direction just for us working together in our relationship as co-workers because we have to have productive disagreements for this to work."

That player the Patriots were talking about indeed was Savaiinaea, according to two Patriots reporters — Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal and Mark Daniels of MassLive.com.

THE GUARDS ON DAY TWO

So the notion that the Dolphins didn't have to trade up because no other guard was selected until the 57th overall selection when the Detroit Lions drafted Tate Ratledge from Georgia doesn't necessarily wash.

On the contrary, it's more likely that there was a gap between Savaiinaea and Rutledge and the rest of the interior offensive lineman, and the Dolphins didn't want to miss out on getting a tier 1 guard.

Savaiinaea was the fourth player listed as a guard to get drafted this year after Alabama's Tyler Booker (12th overall by the Dallas Cowboys), North Dakota State's Grey Zabel (18th by the Seattle Seahawks) and Ohio State's Donovan Jackson (24th by the Minnesota Vikings).

So, bottom line, trading up to get Savaiinaea — even though Grier didn't specifically say it — very well looked like a case of FOMO for the Dolphins. It's only going to be a bonus that it will be New England that will have missed out if Savaiinaea turns out to be as good as Miami hopes and expects.