Dolphins trade away QB Ryan Tannehill, making them prime trade-up candidate in the Draft

The Miami Dolphins were already a prime candidate to take a quarterback in this upcoming NFL Draft. but they’ve just turned their QB situation from Serious to Critical by trading away their longtime starter, Ryan Tannehill.

Tennessee gave very little in this deal, giving up a seventh rounder this year and a fourth next year. It’s a good idea for them to have a solid, if unspectacular backup on staff, considering Marcus Mariota gets injured a lot. In a corresponding move, the Titans released Blaine Gabbert, who will go to a farm upstate where he can live out his years chasing butterflies and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

The other two quarterbacks on last year’s Dolphins roster were Brock Osweiler and David Fales, both of whom are currently free agents. So Miami is going to have to essentially rebuild the entire positional group from the ground up. Can they get a bona fide starter in the draft at Pick 13? That seems unlikely. The Dolphins will have to move up ahead of teams like the Giants and Broncos, who might be looking for new quarterbacks. I say “might” because if this week has told us anything, it’s that John Elway and Dave Gettleman are insane. For all we know they could both take cornerbacks and roll with what they have.

But the Dolphins absolutely cannot take that chance. If we assume the Cardinals are taking Kyler Murray, or that someone else is taking him first overall, then Dwayne Haskins is there for the taking. The Raiders’ pick at #4 would be a good spot for Haskins, and the Bucs at 5 also would be a prime target. A move like that would cost this year’s and next year’s first round picks, as well as a second this year, to start. Would the Dolphins want to do that? Maybe not, but they have backed themselves into a pretty tight corner here. And the Raiders might not want to move down to Pick 13, but that would give them three first-rounders next year as well, so it’s something to consider, if the guy they want at #4 is gone.

Perhaps a better scenario for the Raiders is if the Giants get their heads out of their collective rear ends and decide to get their QB of the future. That would presumably be Haskins, and they’d need to trade ahead of his other suitors. Hypothetically, to move from 6 to 4 would cost them both the #6 and #17 picks, which would give Oakland a whopping FOUR first rounders in this draft to address their many needs on the defensive side of the ball. Of course, the Giants might just simply tank with Eli this year and grab one of the many highly-rated QBs next year. Because at this point, why not?

The Dolphins do NOT have that luxury. They have nothing at QB and they need something now. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Raiders could stand to benefit from that level of desperation.