Pros and Cons of Dolphins Trading For RB on Trade Block

The Miami Dolphins are preparing for their last preseason game of the season on Saturday, and with that comes cutdown day. With every team cutting almost 40 players, trades tend to ramp up this time of year.

We’ve seen a flurry of them across the league in recent days, and one player reportedly on the block could interest the Dolphins. The Washington Commanders seem willing to move running back Brian Robinson Jr., as he did not even attend the team’s latest preseason game amid swirling trade rumors.

Should the Dolphins consider adding another running back? Let’s look at the pros and cons of bringing in someone like Robinson.

Pros of Trading for Robinson

Robinson is a consistent, quality running back. Yes, sometimes it truly is that simple. He’s been in the league for three years, and he’s recorded at least 700 yards while averaging 4.1 yards per carry so far.

He had the best year of his career in 2025, posting a career-high 799 yards rushing and eight rushing touchdowns. Robinson did that while splitting carries, too, something he would have to do if the Dolphins brought him in.

As for his running style, Robinson is a power back who runs incredibly hard. He had 670 yards after contact last season, averaging three yards after contact per rush, according to Pro Football Focus. For reference, De’Von Achane had 590 yards after contact and averaged 2.91 yards per rush.

Robinson is a straight-line runner, though. He won’t make defenders miss in space like Achane would. However, his skill set would be an excellent complement to Achane’s. Miami’s short-yardage woes are well-documented, and Robinson projects like the type of player who could help in that area.

On third and fourth-down runs with two or fewer yards to go, Robinson converted 11 of his 14 attempts into first downs last season.

The Dolphins brought in Alexander Mattison to help fill that role this offseason, but he suffered a season-ending neck injury in the team’s preseason Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears. That leaves the door open for someone like Robinson to grab those reps.

From a scheme perspective, Robinson doesn’t project overly well to an outside zone system. However, the Dolphins’ moves at guard — trading up for Jonah Savaiinaea and signing James Daniels — indicate they might want to be a more diverse rushing team in 2025.

Robinson would give them even more incentive to experiment with more inside zone and duo concepts throughout the season.

Lastly, we should also mention that Achane isn’t practicing due to a calf injury. Coach Mike McDaniel has said they’re just being overly cautious with Achane, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. Additionally, Jaylen Wright left practice on Wednesday after a skirmish broke out.

While a skirmish broke out on the far field involving the dolphins offense, Jaylen Wright was walking inside with a trainer and limping:
— Alain Poupart (@PoupartNFL) August 21, 2025

Cons of Trading for Robinson

Robinson is a cheap, young player who likely won’t cost much in trade compensation and would help the Dolphins in a critical area. There’s only one true “downside” to the Dolphins acquiring him: how it impacts the team’s young backs.

The Dolphins have Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon II set to back up Achane this season. Wright is a player the team traded a future pick to select in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Gordon is a promising rookie who has played well during the preseason.

Both of those players have value in short-yardage situations. Wright and Gordon are bigger backs, and the latter has run incredibly hard during the preseason.

Adding Robinson to the mix would cut down on Wright’s and Gordon’s opportunities a good bit. Although Robinson is better than them right now, is he that much better to warrant taking development chances away from Miami’s young backs?

Honestly, it’s hard to say. Wright couldn’t get on the field last season and was super inconsistent when he was. Gordon looks great running through NFC North backups, but his last season at Oklahoma State was rough.

Gordon was a sixth-round pick, but Wright was a player the Dolphins invested in quite a bit. We won’t know if the Dolphins’ investment in Wright was worthwhile if he doesn’t get a chance to play this season.

Final Word on Robinson

This is a tough one. There’s no doubt Robinson would make the Dolphins better in the short term, but he also feels like a bit of a luxury.

Wright and Gordon are unproven, and Achane has battled injuries at times (including right now), but the Dolphins have bigger problems than running back. The team invested in Wright, so never giving him a fair shake seems suboptimal.

You could argue that Wright got his fair shake during his rookie season and training camp. While it’s true he got a shake, I’m not sure that would qualify as a “fair” one. Wright needs game reps behind the Dolphins’ starting line; nothing he does in camp will be more valuable than that.

On the flip side, Robinson and Achane would be an excellent thunder and lightning duo. Robinson is about as consistent as they come, and the Dolphins' running game was anything but consistent in 2024.

This truly feels like a situation where the price of the trade should dictate the decision. If the Dolphins can acquire Robinson for a late Day 3 pick, it would be less about “fit” and more about getting a good player at a discount.

If the Commanders are looking for an early Day 3 or Day 2 selection, the Dolphins might want to hold off. It's also worth considering if Robinson Jr. wants a new contract. He's set to be an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason, so giving up draft picks and paying him might not fit into Miami's current roster-building mentality.

In that scenario, the Dolphins could wait to see if Robinson gets waived. Given that he's been away from the team, it seems unlikely that Washington would hold onto him.

Either way, it makes sense for the Dolphins to be involved.

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