The Miami Dolphins History of Trading Down in Round 1 (And How It Worked Out)

The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to have the 11th and 30th overall selections in the 2026 NFL draft, but it's easy to envision them working out a trade to move down in the first round to pick up additional assets. Or even trade out of the first round altogether.

It's been suggested in a couple of national mocks already, including one that had them going from 11 to 15 in a swap with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and another from SI's Conor Orr, who had them trading down from 11 to 23 and getting a 2027 first-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles.

This is something the Dolphins have done before, admittedly with different folks running the draft now that new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan is getting ready for his first draft with Miami.

In fact, the Dolphins did it the last two times they had multiple first-round picks to begin with, in 2020 and 2021.

The Dolphins already are scheduled to have seven of the top 94 picks in the 2026 draft, but this isn't considered a particularly impressive class of prospects, which could entice them to increase their odds with more selections lower than their original spots.

It also could be that the Dolphins might look to pick additional 2027 draft picks with a trade or two this weekend.

One scenario that has been suggested involves Miami surrendering the 30th overall pick this year to drop down and gain perhaps as high as a first-round pick in 2027 if a team like, say, the Arizona Cardinals wants to get back into Round 1 to snatch quarterback Ty Simpson and give itself the fifth-year option on a pricey position.

This being Sullivan's first draft, there's no way of really knowing exactly how aggressive he will be in terms of moving up and down the draft board. We certainly wouldn't expect him to be like former Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson, who became famous for his many draft-day trades, but we also have to remember his statement about always picking up the phone if other general managers call him.

Here’s a rundown of the Dolphins’ all-time draft trade-downs in the first round.

2021 — 3 to 12 with San Francisco

The trade details: This was the famous Trey Lance trade that also was accompanied by the Dolphins moving back up to 6 by giving up one of the two extra first-round picks they got from the 49ers to move down nine spots.

The verdict: The trade-down was fabulous from this vintage point because getting two future first-round picks while staying with a top 12 pick was insane value. We didn't like the second half of the trade nearly as much given how good a draft 2021 was at the top and we certainly didn't like the selection of Waddle at 6 (even though he was a good player for Miami) when they could have had Penei Sewell, Patrick Surtain II or Micah Parsons.

2020 — 26 to 30 with Green Bay

The trade details: This was the third Dolphins first-round pick that year, the one that came from the Houston Texans as part of the Laremy Tunsil trade, and they sent it to the Packers to pick up an extra fourth-round selection.

The verdict: If the Dolphins had their eye on Noah Igbinoghene all along, it made sense to pick up the free fourth-round pick because there was no risk involved that somebody would take him at 27, 28 or 29. The problem here is with the selection itself because Igbinoghene was a flop with the Dolphins he was traded to Dallas after three seasons. On the flip side, the Packers (with Sullivan working as a co-director of player personnel for them at the time) made it out great with this trade because it landed them Jordan Love, who has emerged as a franchise quarterback after sitting behind Aaron Rodgers.

2016 — 8 to 13 with Philadelphia

The trade details: To move down only five spots in the first round, the Dolphins gladly took LB Kiko Alonso and CB Byron Maxwell off the Eagles’ hands and then they were able to get Laremy Tunsil with the 13th pick after his draft-night fall related to the ill-timed (for him) release of the bong video on social media.

The verdict: Not sure how much better this could have worked out for the Dolphins. Tunsil was an absolutely steal at 13, and on top of that Alonso and Maxwell were major contributors for the 2016 Dolphins as they made the playoffs in Adam Gase’s first year as head coach.

2010 — 12 to 28 with San Diego

The trade details: This was a very interesting and complex deal, with the Dolphins sending picks in the fourth and sixth rounds along with the No. 12 selection to the Chargers for pick number 28, picks in the second and fourth rounds, and linebacker Tim Dobbins.

The verdict: The Dolphins ended up taking Jared Odrick and Koa Misi with the top two picks from the Chargers and they became decent starters for the defense, while Dobbins didn’t make much of an impact. San Diego took running back Ryan Mathews. The Dolphins got good value in the trade, but they did lose out on the chance to draft a player who could have made a bigger impact than Odrick and Misi combined, whether that would have been Brandon Graham, Earl Thomas, Mike Iupati, Maurkice Pouncey, Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant or Devin McCourty.

1999 — 24 to 27 with San Francisco, 27 to 39 with Detroit

The trade details: Trader J.J. getting busy. In his final draft with the Dolphins, Jimmy Johnson made four draft-day trades, starting with trading down in the first round twice. The first time he got a fifth-round pick to move down three spots; the second time, he got picks in the second, third and fifth rounds for surrendering the 27th overall selection.

The verdict: Let’s start by pointing out the 1999 draft was not a very good one and what ended up happening is the Dolphins got a lot of players in the end but few who really made an impact. These were the players the Dolphins missed out on after the two trades that were selected between 27 and 39 when Miami took running back J.J. Johnson: Aaron Gibson, Andy Katzenmoyer, Dimitrius Underwood, Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, Kevin Johnson, Charles Fisher, Chris Terry, Barry Gardner, Mike Peterson, Jon Jansen, Mike Rucker. Not a memorable group.

1998 — 19 to 29 with Green Bay

The trade details: To move down 10 spots in the first round, the Dolphins picked up a late-second-round pick (the 60th overall).

The verdict: This was the Randy Moss draft and the trade cost the Dolphins the chance to take him as he ended up lasting until the 21st overall selection. Even if we give Johnson a pass for not knowing that ahead of time, this trade proved a bust for the Dolphins, who ended up with John Avery at number 29 and three players (after moving down from the 60 spot) who didn’t make the 53-man roster as rookies, while missing out on not only Moss but also Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca.

1994 — 16 to 20 with Green Bay

The details: To move down only four spots, the Dolphins got a third-round pick by the Packers.

The verdict: This one worked out great not only because Miami still got Tim Bowens at number 20, they used the third-round pick to get an extra second-round they used on longtime starting center Tim Ruddy.

1987 — 14 to 16 with Minnesota

The details: This wasn’t a dramatic deal, with Miami getting a mere fifth-round pick to move down two spots.

The verdict: The Dolphins did better in turning the fifth-round pick into the selection of two offensive linemen who made the roster, Mark Dennis and Chris Conlin. The drop in the first round didn’t matter because 16th overall pick John Bosa didn’t pan out (mostly because of injuries) but neither did the 14th and 15th picks, D.J. Dozier and John Clay.

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