The Miami Dolphins made their first trade deadline deal Monday morning. The team is sending edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round selection.
It’s not surprising to see the Dolphins sell off some talent after parting ways with general manager Chris Grier and while sitting at 2-7 on the season. In fact, we wrote about why moving on from Grier indicated the team was likely to make several moves.
The Dolphins should be focused on the future now, and a big part of that future will be the 2026 NFL draft. With the Phillips trade netting the Dolphins another pick, let’s look at where Miami’s draft capital sits.
Before looking at Miami’s entire stockpile for the upcoming draft, it’s important to figure out which pick the Dolphins got from the Eagles. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting the pick is the Eagles’, not the one they have from the Jets.
The Eagles are 6-2 this season, so that pick is slated to be pretty late in the third round, barring some kind of collapse by Philadelphia. Right now, Tankathon has the pick at 95th overall, the second-to-last selection before compensatory picks start.
It makes sense that the Eagles would want to hold onto the Jets’ third-round pick, which is slated to be 67th, one selection ahead of Miami’s third-rounder based on the current standings.
For the Dolphins, however, this guarantees them a third-round pick before the compensatory formula is applied. It’s the best thing they could have gotten for Phillips anyway, but this pick will be higher and convey immediately.
The Dolphins are now up to eight selections in the 2026 NFL draft. Here’s each of them and what pick they’re projected to be through Week 9.
Round 1, 4th Overall (Dolphins)
Round 2, 37th Overall (Dolphins)
Round 3, 68th Overall (Dolphins)
Round 3, 75th Overall (via Texans)
Round 3, 95th Overall (via Eagles, Phillips trade)
Round 4, 105 Overall (Dolphins)
Round 5, 144th Overall (Dolphins)
Round 7, 219th Overall (Dolphins)
The Phillips trade gives the Dolphins three third-round picks and five inside of the top 100 selections, which won’t change regardless of the Dolphins’ final record.
Miami acquired the Texans’ third-round pick in a trade during the 2025 NFL draft. The Texans traded for a 2024 fourth-round pick to select running back Woody Marks, while Miami was content to take the pick for next season. It was the same thing the Dolphins did the previous year when they sent a 2025 third-round pick to the Eagles for a 2024 fourth-rounder that was used on running back Jaylen Wright.
Five picks in the top 100 for a rebuilding team is an excellent start. The Dolphins will have a ton of needs heading into the offseason and might have a big one at quarterback, depending on what happens the rest of the way.
If nothing else, additional draft capital that is slated to be inside the top 100 picks will give the Dolphins’ new full-time general manager plenty of flexibility to move up and down the board as desired.
Of course, Miami still has other players it could move ahead of the deadline Tuesday, like Bradley Chubb, Matthew Judon, Rasul Douglas, and maybe even Minkah Fitzpatrick.
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