Trade Thoughts: Reality Check, the Sewell Angle and More

The morning after the Miami Dolphins acquired 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson from the Tennessee Titans, the verdict remains the same.

It is, without question, a worthwhile gamble for the Dolphins.

But the key word is contained in that previous paragraph: gamble.

The Dolphins are being lauded for giving up practically nothing ($3.9 million of guaranteed base salary over the next three years, per spotrac.com, and waiting a year to use a seventh-round pick) for a player deemed talented enough just a year ago to become a first-round pick — and they should be.

But that's not the same thing as suggesting the Dolphins fleeced the Titans.

That may yet become the case, but we won't know for sure for a little bit. And there's also no guarantee that will happen.

Let's not forget that there are two sides to every trade and from the Titans standpoint they basically gave away Wilson to get rid of him.

Bottom line: To say that Wilson is no sure thing should be obvious but still needs to be said.

Yes, he's got the physical traits to become a starting right tackle in the NFL, but the message from Tennessee GM Jon Robinson a few weeks back suggested a lack of maturity, a lack of professionalism, or a combination of both.

Sounds a bit like another former first-round pick who joined the Dolphins after his original team gave up on him.

Does the name Robert Nkemdiche ring a bell?

He was a first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2016 — ironically, he was the 29th overall selection just like Wilson — who flamed out after three seasons, in large part because of injury and conditioning issues, and then joined the Dolphins in August 2019.

There was hope the Dolphins could get him to fulfill the potential that had made him one of the most highly recruited high school players in the country a few years earlier.

Instead, Nkemdiche's stay with the Dolphins last three months, during which time he appeared in only two games.

And we also could bring up another former first-round pick who joined the Dolphins for his second season in the NFL.

Or have we already forgotten about Josh Rosen?

While the issue with Rosen was pretty much performance-related, it doesn't change the fact that the Dolphins took a shot on a former first-round pick and it flat-out didn't pan out.

When it comes to not panning out, nothing could top what happened with the Dolphins and first-round pick Dimitrius Underwood in 1999.

Yet another 29th overall selection, the Minnesota Vikings cut Underwood in August of his rookie season, primarily for off-the-field issues, and the Dolphins claimed him off waivers. Underwood was gone from Miami by December after not having appeared in a game.

Again, there's a reason teams let these players go.

The big difference between the Rosen and Wilson trades, of course, is the cost involved because the Dolphins ended up paying a hefty price in a gamble that didn't pay off.

Here's another factor that shouldn't be lost about Wilson. Yes, he was a first-round pick in 2020, but not everybody was sold on him as being that kind of prospect.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who worked for various organizations before moving to television, said Tuesday he had Wilson ranked as his 66th-best player in the 2020 draft. That would have put Wilson early in the third round.

“I wasn’t a huge Isaiah Wilson fan," Jeremiah said. "He was real stiff. To me, I thought he was a little bit overdrafted there. I thought it was a little bit of reach there. False steps. Poor footwork. A little bit top-heavy. I thought he was tight, more kind of an upper and wrestle guy. But the last note that I have here is Brian Flores High School. He went to Brian Flores High School (Poly Prep in Brooklyn). So there you go, that's the connection there with him ending up in Miami.”

If Wilson doesn't pan out in Miami, at least it will not have cost the Dolphins much at all.

And because there's no guarantee that Wilson will pan out in Miami, his arrival absolutely should not deter the Dolphins from taking Oregon tackle Penei Sewell in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft if their turn comes and they decide he's the best prospect on the board.

To pass up Sewell strictly because Wilson is now on the team and there's a belief he'll develop into the player everyone had envisioned would be foolish.

Again, if Wilson was such a sure thing, does anybody really believe the Titans would have given up on him so quickly?

Having said all that, it obviously would be awesome for the Dolphins if Wilson indeed did a 180 with his NFL career and quickly became a starting-caliber player. It would give the Dolphins more options up front and solidify a position where they devoted a lot of resources last offseason.

It certainly is enticing to close our eyes and envision an emerging starting offensive line that includes four 2020 draft picks — Wilson, Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Wilson's University of Georgia teammate Solomon Kindley.

That's the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is the Dolphins quickly decide that Wilson won't pan out and move on from him.

Again, it most definitely was a worthwhile gamble for the Dolphins. But there are no guarantees it's a gamble that will work.

Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 as an editor for Dolphin Digest, write for miamidolphins.com and now publisher of SI All Dolphins. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.

ADDITIONAL READING

-- Is Pitts a Possibility at Number 3?

-- Watch Out for Waddle

-- An Alternative Approach to Dolphins Draft

-- Is a QB Out of the Question at Number 3?