Dolphins G.M. Chris Grier has done a masterful job of leveraging assets for more draft picks. He could have more moves to make.
Or maybe he’s already made his moves. Maybe, via the bang-bang trades from four weeks ago that resulted in the Dolphins moving from No. 3 to No. 12 and then to No. 6, the Dolphins still have their eyes on a quarterback.
When news broke of the first trade, which saw the Dolphins drop from No. 3 to No. 12, many (me included) assumed that it meant they won’t be taking a quarterback to potentially supplant Tua Tagovailoa. That perception didn’t change when the Dolphins gave up a future first-round pick to jump back to No. 6.
Maybe it should have. Maybe it still should. If the Dolphins have decided that Trey Lance and Justin Fields represent significant upgrades over Tagovailoa, one of them most likely will be available at No. 6. And the Dolphins surely know that.
With the Bengals, who most likely won’t trade out of the No. 5 spot (they never trade down), not taking a quarterback, at least one of those two quarterbacks will be available, with the worst-case scenario being that Mac Jones will be on the board if the 49ers take, for example, Fields and the Falcons then take Lance.
Regardless, the presumption that the Dolphins are out of the quarterback market because they willingly gave up the third pick may not be entirely justified. At the end of the day, they could still get the guy they would have taken at No. 3, plus a free first-round and third-round pick.
That ultimately may be the case, regardless of who they choose. When it’s all said and done, the Dolphins may be picking with the sixth selection the same guy they would have selected if they’d not traded the third pick. One of the benefits of keeping their cards close to the vest is that, if no one knows what they would have done at No. 3, they can always claim that they got the guy they would have taken.
None of this means they’ll be taking a quarterback at No. 6. The point is that it shouldn’t be assumed that they won’t, especially if they really like Fields and Lance and if they’ve decided based on a year with Tua that the ceiling lands somewhere below “franchise quarterback” territory. In six days, we’ll know the answer to a question that is far more fascinating than meets the eye.