AFC East Rumors: Dolphins, Wilson, Patriots, Jets
After Day 3 of the draft, the Dolphins added some safety depth and special teams help by picking up Kavon Frazier. But, before that, the Dolphins chatted with ex-Patriots safety Tavon Wilson about a minimum salary contract, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter) hears. Wilson, who is presumably gunning for a better deal, declined.
With that, Frazier will fight for his place in the Dolphins’ sardine-packed safety group. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Wilson will look for his next opportunity. Last year, Wilson made 13 starts for Detroit and registered 98 tackles, five passes defensed, two fumble recoveries, and one sack. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 26 safety in the entire NFL. Still, he hasn’t been able to score an offer to his liking and he hasn’t heard much, if anything, from the incumbent Lions.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Jets‘ draft has drawn positive reviews from most in the football world, but ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini isn’t sure if they did enough to strengthen the cornerback position. Jets GM Joe Douglas waited until the fifth round to take a corner and, when they did, they tapped Virginia product Bryce Hall, is coming off of ankle surgery. As Hall heals up, the Jets may look to explore what’s left of the league’s free agent cornerbacks.
- Did the Patriots reach with third-round tight ends Devin Asiasi (UCLA) and Dalton Keene (Virginia Tech) in the third round? Mel Kiper Jr. and one scout that spoke with ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss say that’s the case, though Reiss notes that they were both near the top of the Pats’ TE board heading into draft weekend. On the whole, this was viewed as a soft TE class, but that was one of the Pats’ biggest needs. Of course, they’d be in a much better spot if Rob Gronkowski opted to make his return with New England. Instead, Gronk will reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
- On draft week, the Bills picked up Tre’Davious White‘s fifth-year option, a no-brainer move that will keep him in the fold through the 2021 season.
Dolphins Waive RB Samaje Perine, Three Others
The Dolphins signed a running back (Jordan Howard) and traded for one during the draft (Matt Breida). As a result, they waived Samaje Perine.
Miami waived Perine, long snapper Taybor Pepper, safety Montre Hartage and linebacker Terrill Hanks on Sunday.
Since coming into the league as a fourth-round Redskins pick in 2017, Perine has bounced around. His career started somewhat promisingly, with the Redskins using him frequently as a rookie. The Oklahoma product rushed for 603 yards in 2017. Since, he’s gained only 48 rushing yards.
Perine has spent time with the Bengals and Dolphins since his Redskins departure. He does not have vested-veteran status and will return to the waiver wire.
Pepper worked as the Dolphins’ long snapper throughout last season. However, Miami drafted a snapper — LSU’s Blake Ferguson — in the sixth round on Saturday.
Dolphins To Sign S Kavon Frazier
A four-year Cowboys contributor, Kavon Frazier will move on to a second team. The Dolphins are signing the free agent safety, according to his agency (Twitter link).
Frazier played in 44 games with the Cowboys, starting two, after Dallas drafted him in the 2016 sixth round out of Central Michigan. He primarily functioned as a special teams player during his time with the team. Frazier spent most of last season on the Cowboys’ IR list, landing there in late September.
The Dolphins have both Bobby McCain and Eric Rowe signed to long-term deals, and they used a third-round pick on Texas safety Brandon Jones. The Dolphins also brought back former 49ers starter Adrian Colbert. Frazier figures to compete for a depth spot and a role on Miami’s special teams units.
Miami will begin its virtual offseason program this week.
Eagles Deal No. 164 To Dolphins
The Eagles moved down in Round 5, sending their 164th overall pick to the Dolphins. With the selection, Miami took Boise State defensive end Curtis Weaver.
Philadelphia will slide down to No. 173 and pick up a seventh-round choice (No. 227) for doing so.
Weaver was productive as a pass rusher throughout his career, recording at least 9.5 sacks in each of his three college seasons and twice ending seasons with double-digit sacks. Weaver registered 11 as a freshman and 13.5 as a junior in 2019 and bypassed his senior season to enter the draft.
Scouts Inc. graded Weaver as a third-round talent. The Dolphins have now drafted three defensive linemen and signed two defensive ends in free agency. Weaver will attempt to carve out a role on a team that now employs Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah. The Dolphins also have former first-rounders Charles Harris and Taco Charlton.
49ers Trade Matt Breida To Dolphins
The 49ers are shaking up their backfield and sending a member of their surplus to south Florida, dealing Matt Breida to the Dolphins for the No. 153 overall pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Miami did not previously address its backfield need but made multiple overtures to teams dangling veterans. The Dolphins discussed a Leonard Fournette deal with the Jaguars, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes (on Twitter). Those talks occurred in March, however, and did not appear to lead to a serious change Fournette would change Florida cities.
With Jerick McKinnon still in the picture for the 49ers and three other backs in that mix as well, the defending NFC champions were a candidate to make a deal. Breida is entering a contract year and was mentioned as a possible trade chip earlier this offseason. While he was the odd man out for carries in Super Bowl LIV, Breida has displayed intriguing skills during his three-year 49ers run and looks to have a much clearer path to carries in Miami than he did in San Francisco.
The speedy ex-UDFA surpassed 600 rushing yards in each of the past two seasons, filling in for McKinnon in 2018 and being part of a productive timeshare with Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert last season. Breida eclipsed 5.0 yards per carry in each of the past two years. The 49ers still have Coleman, Mostert, McKinnon and Jeff Wilson under contract. They turned to Mostert, a career special-teamer, last season and appear prepared to give him more work.
Miami traded Kenyan Drake to Arizona before last year’s trade deadline and cut Mark Walton after yet another arrest. Breida will join free agent addition Jordan Howard in the Dolphins’ new-look backfield.
Fournette remains in Jacksonville, though his place there is certainly less certain than it was exiting last season. The Jags have engaged in Fournette trade talks for over a month but have not found trade talks to be particularly enticing. Fournette has one season left on his contract, but the Jaguars have another week and change to decide on his fifth-year option.
With their No. 153 pick, the 49ers took West Virginia offensive lineman Colton McKivitz.
Bengals Eyeing Mims, Blacklock At No. 33?
The Bengals, who hold the first pick in the second round, are high on wide receiver Denzel Mims and defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears.
Rapoport also notes several teams looking to move up/down in the order. The Jets, Jaguars, and Falcons are among the clubs interested in making a leap. Potential trade partners include the Colts (No. 34) and Dolphins (No. 39), who are willing to listen on offers to move back.
Cincinnati doesn’t necessarily need any immediate help at wide receiver, as the club boasts A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and John Ross as its top three options. However, Green and Ross haven’t been able to stay healthy, and each has just one year remaining on his respective contract (the Bengals hold a 2021 option on Ross that they’ve yet to exercise). Mims would add an explosive option for new quarterback Joe Burrow, and give Cincinnati a long-term asset.
Blacklock, meanwhile, was a draft riser in recent months and was viewed as a potential Day 1 pick. Instead, he’s likely to come off the board at the top of Round 2. The Bengals already have Geno Atkins and free agent acquisition D.J. Reader on the interior of their defensive line, but Blacklock would give them ample depth.
NFL Draft Rumors: Dolphins, Raiders, 49ers
Before the Dolphins stuck at No. 5 overall and drafted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, there were rumblings that Miami wanted to trade up not for a signal-caller, but for an offensive tackle. Had the Dolphins followed through with that plan, they would have been targeting Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Thomas ended up coming off the board to the Giants at No. 4, so Miami would have had to get to the third overall pick in order to have a chance. The Dolphins ended up finding an offensive tackle later in Round 1 with USC’s Austin Jackson:
Here’s more from last night’s action:
- The Falcons were heavily linked not only to a potential trade up, but specifically to Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson prior to the draft. Atlanta did want to move up for Henderson, per Rapoport (Twitter link), but they couldn’t find a trade partner for a number of reasons. Both the Dolphins and Chargers wanted quarterbacks, the Panthers refused to trade within the division, the Cardinals were stuck on Isaiah Simmons, and the Jaguars wanted Henderson for themselves.
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The Raiders were attempting to trade back from the 12th pick before selecting Alabama wideout Henry Ruggs, according to Vic Tafur of The Atheltic (Twitter link). Speculatively, Las Vegas may have been happy to land any of the top-three pass-catchers and figured it could move down, acquire more picks, and still find a wide receiver. Instead, the Raiders surprisingly went with Ruggs, who was widely viewed as the third-best WR behind CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy.
- After trading DeForest Buckner to the Colts in March, the 49ers “quietly” tried to sign several free agent defensive tackles with no success, tweets Rapoport. Instead, San Francisco moved back one pick before adding South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link), Kinlaw was off at least one team’s board due to medical issues. Most clubs, however, deemed him only a “moderate” injury risk.
- The Cowboys debated between Lamb and LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson at pick No. 17 before ultimately deciding on Lamb, per Rapoport (Twitter link). Chaisson was a popular target for Dallas in many mock drafts, but when Lamb unexpectedly fell to the middle of Round 1, the Cowboys couldn’t pass. Dallas will now feature a superb three-WR set of Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup.
Dolphins Trade 26th Pick To Green Bay, Packers Take Jordan Love
The Packers are making a surprising splash. They’ve traded up with the Dolphins to get the 26th pick, and are using it on Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
We’ve been waiting for some fireworks, and this certainly qualifies. Green Bay is setting up for the post-Aaron Rodgers era, and it’ll be very interesting to see what Rodgers thinks of this selection. The Packers gave up pick 136 in the fourth-round to move up four spots from 30. The Pack apparently “secretly coveted” Love in the pre-draft process, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
The Packers made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game last year, but it wasn’t Rodgers’ finest season statistically and he’ll turn 37 in December. Rodgers is under contract through the 2023 season, and he isn’t likely going to be too happy about a first-round rookie breathing down his neck.
It’s a bold move by GM Brian Gutekunst, and one that will take several years at least to be able to evaluate. Rodgers and others were hoping the team would draft a second receiver behind Davante Adams, but obviously that wasn’t the plan.
Love was a polarizing prospect, with many defenders and detractors in the analyst community. Viewed as a potential top pick after a dominant sophomore season where he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions, he took a big step back in 2019.
In his junior campaign at Utah State, he averaged only 7.2 yards per attempt with 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Clearly that wasn’t enough to scare off the Packers. There had been some talk that the Dolphins might take a tackle with their first pick and look to add Love later on, but obviously they ended up going with Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth pick. Love won’t be the Packers’ starter in 2020, but he’ll create a lot of drama and headlines right away. Buckle up in Green Bay.
Dolphins And Chargers Never Tried To Move Up
It took us until the 13th pick to get our first trade, and despite a lot of speculation it looks like the Lions and Giants were never that close to moving down.
Neither the Dolphins nor Chargers ever made offers for the third or fourth picks, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In hindsight, it looks like the Lions and Giants were trying to trade down and were attempting to inflate the interest. There was a lot of talk that either Miami or Los Angeles would try to leap up to take a passer, but both stood pat and ended up getting their quarterbacks of the future anyway.
Schefter notes that the Dolphins and Chargers were always content to stay where they were. Miami of course took Tua Tagovailoa, while Los Angeles drafted Justin Herbert. The Lions nabbed cornerback Jeff Okudah after being unable to find a trade partner, while the Giants picked Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. The draft has been quieter than expected so far, and it seems like there was an overwhelming supply of teams looking to move down, with a very limited demand of teams looking to move up.
Dolphins Take Tua Tagovailoa
The Dolphins ended many months of speculation, and finally got who they hope is their future franchise quarterback. Miami picked Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall on Thursday night.
There was a lot of talk that the Dolphins could go offensive tackle with their first selection, but it turns out that was a smokescreen. The team has been linked to Tagovailoa for over a year, and it was widely speculated that they tanked the 2019 season with him in mind. Tagovailoa’s devastating hip injury at the end of his Alabama career threw a wrench into things, and uncertainty about his medicals caused some teams to downgrade him.
In recent weeks momentum started to build for Oregon passer Justin Herbert, and there were reports that some inside the Dolphins’ building preferred Herbert. It’s possible that was all a smokescreen as well, and things ended up right back where they started.
Tagovailoa has apparently gotten great reports back from his doctors, although his exact timeline for returning to full-speed is still unclear. The Dolphins also have Ryan Fitzpatrick on the roster who can serve as a mentor and fill in just in case Tagovailoa isn’t ready for Week 1. In addition to his troublesome hip, Tagovailoa has also dealt with wrist and ankle injuries in the past.
If he can stay healthy, the Dolphins might’ve finally found their guy. Miami certainly won’t be tanking in 2020, after they spent big in free agency on guys like Byron Jones and Kyle Van Noy.