2024 NFL Draft: Could Trading Down in the First Round be the best Move for the Miami Dolphins?

Alain Poupart provides context on what trading down could provide to the Dolphins.

Hit the music and cue the lights because the 2024 NFL Draft has arrived. The Miami Dolphins first two picks are numbers twenty-one and fifty-five overall, and by all accounts, the Dolphins could go in any direction with those two picks.

General manager Chris Grier has indicated he wants to go with the best player available in the first round. He’s also stated that he does not have twenty-one first-round graded players, which clouds any real estimation of what he might do.

One of the scenarios that could play out for Grier is the possibility of moving down the draft and allocating some draft picks if he feels he could get the player he wants a couple of spots later.

Long-time NFL reporter Alain Poupart, who works for SI.com Fan Nation Network covering the Dolphins, came out with an article a few days ago that piqued my interest. It detailed teams in recent memory that have moved down the draft from pick twenty-one and what they have received in return.

The article is titled “What Could the Dolphins Get for Pick 21?” It’s a quick read, and I recommend it.

The examples Poupart used basically had the Dolphins going from twenty-one overall to the mid-twenties and getting from a solo third-round pick to possibly a third-round and fourth-round pick in return.

When you turn your attention to what players most consensus mock drafts have available, it’s not a drop-off at all, and the depth of the trenches on both sides makes this route very enticing if you can flip that into a third-round pick that the Dolphins could use for a fill-in starter or important rotation piece.

One such scenario was proposed by the five-year reigning draft king himself, Brendan Donahue.

Donahue’s latest mock draft has the Dolphins doing what Poupart suggests could be the move in the first round, moving down from twenty-one to twenty-seven. Here’s what the Dolphins compensation could look like based on their analytics.

“The projected trade based on trade value would be picks 27, 104, and 138 for the 21st pick.”

Number twenty-seven, with a fourth, and fifth-round pick mixed in, isn’t a bad trade, but I doubt Chris Grier would pull the trigger without one of the picks in return being a third-round pick. I also agree with the example of the Cardinals trading up, as they need young, high-end talent and have three third-round picks, so I see Chris Grier finessing at least one of them away in a deal.

The Miami Dolphins are not dead set on any position or defined route in the NFL draft and will play it by ear as most GMs do on draft day and be a deal maker.

In the case that he does decide to move down, Poupart’s suggested return of compensation based on past draft day deals is something Dolphins fans should consider.

Let us know in the comments if you would move down the draft into the mid-twenties for a 2024 third-round pick.