The Dolphin
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- Mar 19, 2019
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It’s one thing for the Dolphins to attempt to engage the Bengals in trade talks for the first overall pick in the draft and be rebuffed. It’s quite another for the Dolphins to start making significant offers for the selection.
As first explained in January, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wants Joe Burrow to be a Dolphin. And Ross, who turns 80 on May 10, potentially sees Burrow as the team’s last, best chance to find a franchise quarterback during the owner’s last, and from his perspective hopefully best, years of running the team. So regardless of whether the Bengals have said “no” to general overtures, the question becomes whether they’ll say “no” to specific offers — especially if those offers get larger and larger and larger.
A league source suggested on Thursday morning that, at some point, Ross will need to engage Bengals owner Mike Brown directly, cutting through minions and middlemen and having a frank, candid conversation about what the Dolphins will offer and whether the Bengals will say “yes.”
It’s easy to say the Bengals will continue to resist. But consider this: How many players in the NFL are truly untouchable when it comes to a potential trade? Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, maybe Aaron Donald. Beyond those four, is there any player right now that cannot be bought at any price? Does Burrow make it a quintet, without ever playing a down in the NFL?
So if Burrow isn’t a guy who would never be traded under any circumstance, what circumstance would it take to trade him? If the Dolphins offer all three of their 2020 first-round picks, would that be enough? How about all three 2020 first-round picks and next year’s No. 1?
Eight years ago, Washington gave up the sixth overall pick, two future first-round picks, and a second-round pick to secure quarterback Robert Griffin III via the second selection. Would three 2020 first-round picks be enough for Cincinnati? Would a fourth first-round pick make it an offer Brown can’t refuse?
The chances of a deal happening remain low, but it’s more clear than ever that the Dolphins are interested. The question becomes whether that interest becomes specific offers made today that force the Bengals to make a very difficult choice between a Burrow in the hand and multiple other first-round picks that could in theory become a thriving nucleus of starting-caliber players over the next five to 10 years.