What to Know About New Dolphins Tackle Caedan Wallace and a No-Brainer Trade

The Miami Dolphins swung a trade with their AFC East counterparts Monday

New England Patriots offensive tackle Caedan Wallace walks to practice for training camp at Gillette Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Miami Dolphins are still looking for answers along the offensive line, and they've decided to take a shot with a discarded recent New England Patriots draft pick.

The Dolphins acquired Caedan Wallace in a trade Monday along with a 2029 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round selection, pending Wallace passing his physical.

The trade came after a report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz that the Patriots were going to waive Wallace on Monday, which would have made Wallace available to any team via the waiver wire, with the Dolphins having the 13th spot in the claiming order (until after three weeks of the 2026 regular season when the claim order will turn to the current NFL standings).

In acquiring Wallace, the Dolphins has inheriting his contract, the same as they would have by claiming him off waivers. And considering the really, really minor draft compensation (when you consider losing a sixth-round pick in two years), it made sense for the Dolphins to not want to risk a team ahead of them in the waiver order stealing Wallace.

THE LOWDOWN ON WALLACE

Wallace (6-5, 314) played 10 games with two starts in his two seasons with the Patriots after arriving as a third-round pick out of Penn State in the 2024 NFL draft.

A tackle in college, Wallace played six games with two starts as a rookie before incoming head coach Mike Vrabel switched him to guard in 2025.

Wallace couldn't make much of an impact last season and an injury early in training camp pushed him down the depth chart this summer.

While Wallace played both positions with New England, the Dolphins listed him as a tackle in the press release announcing his acquisition.

At that spot, he will compete with Marques Cox, Kevin Cline, Gottlieb Ayedze and veteran Charlie Heck for roster spots behind starting tackles Patrick Paul and Austin Jackson.

The Dolphins also have a couple of guards with the flexibility to line up at tackle if necessary, including veteran Jamaree Salyer and rookie first-round pick Kadyn Proctor, but it looks like they'd prefer not moving players around the offensive line.

Considering Cox, Cline and Ayedze all are former rookie free agents, Wallace does seem to have a legitimate opportunity to earn a roster spot if he can make a quick impression on the Dolphins coaching staff.

THE DOLPHINS-PATRIOTS CONNECTION

Wallace becomes the second former New England player to join the Dolphins in the past week.

He joined tight end Jeremiah Franklin, who Miami claimed off waivers Wednesday.

This is the first trade between the Dolphins and Patriots since 2022 when Miami sent wide receiver DeVante Parker to New England. In exchange for Parker and a 2022 fifth-round pick, the Dolphins got a 2023 third-round selection that they packaged with tight end Hunter Long in the deal with the Los Angeles Rams that brought Jalen Ramsey to Miami.