The 2022 Draft First Round from a Dolphins Angle

The reason the Miami Dolphins sat out the first round of the 2022 NFL draft Thursday night pretty clearly was part of a new trend around the league.

That trend involves teams trading star wide receivers for draft pick compensation, usually because that receiver wants more money than his team is willing to give him.

It's what happened Thursday night when the Tennessee Titans shipped wide receiver A.J. Brown for the 18th overall pick along with a third-round selection.

Brown is a bona fide star, with 1,000-yard performances his first two seasons in the NFL, 24 touchdowns in three years, and a 142-yard outing in Tennessee's playoff loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in January in what would turn out to be his last game for the Titans.

As the Dolphins did with Hill, Philadelphia then gave Brown a substantial contract extension, a four-year deal reportedly worth $100 million with $57 million guaranteed.

Both the money and the draft compensation the Eagles had to spend wasn't nearly what the Dolphins had to dish out for Hill, but then again Hill has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times and Brown has earned the honor once.

While the Dolphins trade involving Hill looks like a win-win for both Miami and Kansas City, it sure looks like the Eagles got a great deal with the trade for Brown.

The other trade involving a wide receiver Thursday night saw the Baltimore Ravens send 2019 first-round Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to the Arizona Cardinals. Baltimore also sent a third-round pick to Arizona and in return got the 23rd overall pick, from which they moved down two spots to select Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

That trade apparently had more to do that just money, with Brown reportedly unhappy with his role in the Ravens' run-oriented offense. Regardless, this looks like another win-win trade, though the Cardinals might get frustrated with Brown's inconsistent hands at some point.

Hill was one of three star wide receivers moved before the draft, along with Davante Adams and Amari Cooper, all three moves done because of financial considerations.

The Right Receiver for Miami

In terms of draft pick compensation, it was the Dolphins who paid the biggest price with five total picks going to Kansas City compared to first- and second-round choices going from Las Vegas to Green Bay in the Adams trade.

But if the idea was to get a dynamic playmaker at wide receiver this offseason, the Dolphins likely wouldn't have been able to land that with the 29th pick they gave the Chiefs for Hill.

By the time that pick arrived, six wide receivers already had been selected — Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Jahan Dotson and Treylon Burks, who the Titans selected 18th overall ostensibly to replace A.J. Brown.

Actually, it's not likely that even any of them will have the same kind of impact that Hill will have for the Dolphins — particularly at the start.

What Would Have Been There for the Dolphins

Let's imagine for a second a scenario where the Dolphins don't make the trade for Hill, which would have left them with the 29th overall.

As it turned out, it wasn't the Chiefs who used the pick but rather the New England Patriots after they traded down and they made the most criticized pick of Round 1 when they took guard Cole Strange from Tennessee-Chattanooga, a prospect who had been pegged as a late-second-round pick at best.

It's doubtful the Dolphins would have taken Strange at that spot or any of the other first-round picks after him — George Karlaftis, Daxon Hill or Lewis Cine.

Maybe more enticing options at that point for the Dolphins might have included linebacker Nakobe Dean from Georgia, cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. from Clemson or (even though it would go against their tendencies) running back Breece Hall.

Of course, it's also tempting to look at the 15th overall pick, which originally belonged to the Dolphins but was sent to the Eagles when they moved from 12th to sixth overall in 2021 to take Jaylen Waddle.

The Eagles traded that pick to Houston to move to 13th to take defensive tackle Jordan Davis, while the Texans selected offensive lineman Kenyon Green at 15.

This one is more tricky because without the trade with the Eagles the Dolphins likely wouldn't have gotten Waddle last year but instead a different prospect (Micah Parsons ended up going 12th, followed by Rashawn Slater).

It's nonetheless interesting to look at the players taken right after 15, and that list includes WR Jahan Dotson, G Zion Johnson, Burks, T Trevor Penning, QB Kenny Pickett and CB Trent McDuffie.

So let's say they didn't make the trade with the Eagles last year, the Dolphins conceivably could have ended up with Parsons or Slater and Dotson or Burks. It's hard to debate that it wouldn't have been better than just Waddle, even though he did get selected team MVP in 2021 and he did set an NFL rookie record with 104 catches.