What the Dolphins' Reported Interest in Stefon Diggs Says About the Team and Its WR Group

The biggest development around the NFL this week involved Stefon Diggs, and there's a pretty interesting nugget that's come out involving the Miami Dolphins.

ESPN insider Adam Schefter, during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, mentioned three other teams that reached out or expressed an interest in signing the veteran wide receiver, and one of those teams happened to be the Miami Dolphins.

The other two teams Schefter indicated were interested were the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders, but Diggs ended up signing with the Washington Commanders.

"The Chiefs, Dolphins, and the Raiders all reached out to Stefon Diggs..

It was Washington all along for him and it made too much sense" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive https://t.co/cUpkkw6tZu pic.twitter.com/Kj5unVzwNu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 6, 2026

That the Dolphins would have any interest in signing the 32-year-old, four-time Pro Bowl selection frankly is pretty wild, not because Diggs isn't still a high-end wide receiver but rather because of the current circumstances of the Miami franchise.

Diggs' contract with Washington is for one year and up to $12 million and there's no way the Dolphins could have or would have thought he'd be willing to sign with them for anything close to the veteran minimum.

And yet that's what the Dolphins have given the more than dozen players they've brought in this year from other teams, outside of the one exception of Malik Willis, who's in a different category because of the hope he could become Miami's franchise quarterback.

And these days the Dolphins keep bringing players for tryouts and with no exception it's been guys with no or very little NFL experience or former first-round picks looking to revive their career.

The Dolphins also already added two veteran free agents (Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell) and three draft picks (Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Kevin Coleman Jr.) to the wide receiver position, and Diggs almost would be like overkill at this time.

Schefter didn't specify exactly when it was the Dolphins reached out to Diggs, but regardless of when it would have happened, it's still pretty, um, interesting.

WHAT DOLPHINS' DIGGS INTEREST MIGHT SUGGEST

Based on outside expectations and projections, the Dolphins are not going to contend in 2026 after resetting their salary cap and jettisoning several high-profile veterans, including wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

But head coach Jeff Hafley has rejected the notion the team is rebuilding, and bringing in somebody like Diggs certainly is not a move an organization would make if they weren't looking to win games.

So what about the large group of new wide receivers already in place?

Well, clearly that group isn't good enough yet, otherwise there wouldn't be a need to bring in a veteran likely only for the 2026 season.

The Dolphins certainly aren't going to be ready to give up on any of the three rookie draft picks, and Malik Washington looks like somebody who, while lacking explosiveness, could be around for several more years.

That puts the focus here on Atwell and Tolbert, with the suggestion that the impression they've made so far on their new coaches hasn't been up to par.

From this vantage point, neither has been particularly impactful, with Tolbert slightly better than Atwell at this point.

Overall, though, the Dolphins wide receiver corps looks very much like one that's lacking a true number 1.

But that's been the case since the offseason, and the one player with the most apparent potential is third-round pick Chris Bell, who is still looking to make his training camp debut after being placed on the Non-Football Injury list.

OTHER WIDE RECEIVERS TO CONSIDER

The next question as we move forward is whether this reported interest in Diggs would extend to other veteran wide receivers still on the market.

For example, if the Dolphins were interested in Diggs, why wouldn't they reach out to DeAndre Hopkins, who has accepted a job at Georgia Tech but reportedly hasn't closed the door on playing in 2026?

What about veteran Keenan Allen, who certainly could teach the young wide receivers about route running?

Yes, Tyreek Hill is still without a team but he's still not ready to play after his September knee injury and the Dolphins have turned that page, one would think.

The reality is that maybe Diggs was an outlier for the Dolphins given his proven track record.

But if they did indeed reach out to him, it still goes against form for what has been the M.O. for 2026.

Add us as a preferred source on Google