A Tale of Two Dolphins Trades

The Miami Dolphins were going to add a big-time pass catcher last offseason, and it turned out to be Tyreek Hill.

But things might have been different all the way around had they been successful in their attempt to trade for two-time 1,100-yard tight end Darren Waller.

Appearing on the YouTube Pat McAfee Show, agent Drew Rosenhaus revealed Wednesday that the Dolphins and Green Bay Packers both were "in negotiations" with the Las Vegas Raiders regarding a trade for Waller before the Raiders eventually pulled Waller off the market.

"The Raiders were in negotiations last year to trade Darren Waller to the Packers and the Dolphins..

Once they shopped Darren he was always open to being moved and he's excited to join the Giants" ~ @DrewJRosenhaus #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/90cqlr8LAs
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 5, 2023

During that same appearance, Rosenhaus talked about his role in helping facilitate the trade that brought Hill to the Dolphins from the Kansas City Chiefs after the Chiefs indicated they were willing to make a move instead of meeting Hill's contract demands.

And Rosenhaus said the Chiefs and Dolphins both got frustrated at times during trade discussions and the Dolphins were ready to give up on the idea at one point until a middle ground was reached, which we should add isn't unusual at all when we're talking about trade discussions.

In the end, the deal with Kansas City got done and the Dolphins landed their most impactful player in years.

WHY WALLER, AND PLAYING THE WHAT-IF GAME

The appeal of Darren Waller is pretty obvious because in those two seasons when he topped 1,100 receiving yards he resided in the upper echelon of pass-catching tight ends along with the Travis Kelces and George Kittles of the world.

While no timeline was divulged on the McAfee Show, one would think the Dolphins inquiring about Waller happened before they applied the non-exclusive franchise tag on tight end Mike Gesicki last year, which occurred March 8, or at least before Gesicki signed the tag on March 14.

And it's also fair to suggest that the Dolphins got serious about pursuing Hill because they didn't land Waller because, like Hill, Waller was in line for an expensive new contract.

The Raiders gave Waller that new contract in September, turned off trade offers from the Packers at the trade deadline, but then sent Waller to the New York Giants this offseason in exchange for a third-round pick.

There was no buzz about the Dolphins revisiting the idea of trading for Waller this offseason, maybe because the team has decided it doesn't need an expensive, high-end receiving tight end anymore with Hill and Jaylen Waddle creating all sorts of having with their speed outside.

The evidence backing that would be Gesicki getting barely more than three targets per game in 2022 despite the Dolphins paying him $10.7 million on his franchise tag.

Back to last year, could the Dolphins have traded for both Waller and Hill in the same offseason knowing each player required expensive new contracts? Sure, it's possible, but let's just say that kind of financial commitment doesn't happen all that often.

And remember that the Dolphins also ended up giving Terron Armstead a big-money deal to solve their left tackle issue, and that was one need that needed to be addressed regardless of who was added to the receiving corps.

So let's just say that adding Waller very well might have — if not likely would have — meant the Dolphins not tagging Gesicki and letting him leave via free agency last offseason instead of this offseason and also not pursuing a trade for Hill once the Chiefs put him on the market.

This obviously looks like a case of the Dolphins winning by losing out on a possible Waller trade.