Inside look at 2 low-key trades Dolphins seem to have won — how they happened and why
New rule:
Like books, never judge trades by how they’re covered.
There’s a decent chance you’ll be wrong.
We — and by we, we mean most every media outlet, local and national — crushed the Dolphins’ many moves just before the start of the season.
By adding more than a dozen players in the 10 days leading up to Week 1, the tank never seemed more real. And when the Dolphins lost their first two games by a combined 92 points, there was real talk that this might be the worst roster constructed in the modern era.
Weeks later, the perception has changed. Yes, the Dolphins are still winless — two-touchdown underdogs Monday against the Steelers — but progress has been made.
And new names and faces have emerged.
Two of the more surprising – and encouraging: Offensive lineman Evan Boehm and linebacker Vince Biegel.
Both ended up in Miami via trades that happened two days apart. The Dolphins acquired Boehm from Colts for undisclosed, late-round trade compensation. Biegel was the return from the Saints for Kiko Alonso, whom the Dolphins likely would have cut if they couldn’t find a taker.
Neither acquisition moved the needle at the time. The trades weren’t blockbusters like the Laremy Tunsil or Minkah Fitzpatrick deals.
But they were part of Chris Grier’s plan to build a complete roster, not just in 2019 and but also beyond. All that roster churning had a purpose: to take fliers on players who might simply need a fresh start and change in scenery.
The view today: The Dolphins flipped an aging, overpriced player on the outs and what will probably be the equivalent of a late seventh-round pick for two promising young talents at positions of need.
Boehm has emerged as one of the Dolphins’ best and most versatile offensive linemen. He’s played well at both right guard and center, where Boehm has filled in for an injured Daniel Kilgore the last couple weeks.
And Biegel has made an impact in a limited, albeit effective role on defense, ranking second on the team with two sacks through six games.
“For me, it’s continuing to wrap my mind around what they’re wanting from me,” Biegel said recently. “As the weeks have progressed, I feel like I’m becoming more and more comfortable with this defense. What they want of me, what they expect of me, my roles.”
Added Boehm: “I think a lot of the younger guys, it took them a while to understand, ‘I can be playing, I can be starting this week.’ One time, they could be taking all the scout team reps. The next day, they can be taking all the [first-team] reps. I think we’ve gotten better and we’ve gotten more comfortable with each other.”
Boehm has lived the experience he described. He didn’t play on offense in the Dolphins’ opener, and then got just 14 snaps from scrimmage in Week 2, backing up Danny Isidora (another preseason pickup by the Dolphins).
But when Isidora went down with a significant foot injury against the Cowboys, Boehm stepped in, and hasn’t come out of the lineup since. He slid over to center when Kilgore got hurt in the Redskins game, and is expected to make his second straight start at that position here Monday.
“I thought Boehm really handled everything really well from an operation standpoint,” Dolphins coach Chad O’Shea said. “I think that’s the biggest concern with the center – a center that hasn’t played – is all the things that are required from a communication to a snap, especially playing in a road environment with some of the various cadences or lack of cadences, the silent cadence that we use. So I thought that Boehm really handled himself very well in the [Bills] game.”
Boehm, a former fourth-round pick by the Cardinals who also spent time in the Rams organization, thought he’d have a significant role with the Colts in 2019 after starting four games for Indianapolis last season. But he was disabused of that notion pretty quickly in training camp; the Colts had him running with the third team.
He had a feeling his time was short in Indy — “it pissed me off,” he acknowledged — and the Dolphins did too. Miami’s offensive line was a mess in August, and Grier decided the best way to improve it was via trade. The Dolphins targeted Boehm, and feared he might not make it to them if he was placed on waivers.
So they swung a trade, sending an undisclosed, conditional draft pick for Boehm and a (presumably lower) pick. We might not know Boehm’s trade cost until March or April, but it’s safe to say the Dolphins got good value.
Same with the Biegel deal. Alonso was a bad fit for the 2019 Dolphins, both in terms of scheme and salary structure. He wanted out, and the Dolphins wanted him gone. Usually, teams in that position are left with little leverage, because other NFL organizations wisely think, “Why give up an asset for a player when you can just wait for him to get cut?”
But the Saints and Dolphins have long had a good relationship — thanks in part to Saints executive Jeff Ireland, who was Miami’s general manager from 2008-2013 — and New Orleans agreed to send Biegel, who wasn’t going to play much on a veteran-laden team, out east.
Like Boehm, Biegel wasn’t an immediately contributor for the Dolphins. He began his time in Miami on the scout team, but it didn’t take long to get his coaches’ attention.
“His strengths are his motor and his physicality,” said Dolphins linebackers coach Rob Leonard. “You don’t have to say anything to Vince to get him going so I can coach that. I can tame you down. I can’t tame you up. He lights a fire to the whole defense. Now we’ve just got to get that motor pointed in the right direction and I think he can help us. I like Vince a lot.”
Leonard admits he has had to channel that energy — “don’t kill the quarterback” in practice, he once told the young defender — but since entering the rotation, Biegel has been a wrecking ball. And he’s been more productive than Alonso, who had just 11 tackles entering Week 8.
So what’s next?
Both Boehm and Biegel are in contract years, and stand to make themselves real money this year. The Dolphins control Biegel’s rights in 2020 (he’ll be a restricted free agent in March), while Boehm will be free to sign with any team he wants.
The Dolphins surely would want to keep both (at the right price, of course). They’re looking to emerge from this season with a core group of talented players around whom they can build next offseason. And both seems open to staying. What’s more, each is grateful to be part of this 0-6 ball club, even though the teams they left are on track to play in January.
“I want to play football,” Boehm said. “I want to be put in a situation where I can go and help this team. If that’s at right guard, if that’s at center, if that’s backing up Danny, if that’s backing up the left guard or the right guard. I want to help this team win, no matter what. I’d rather be here playing some ball than sitting on the bench.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 10:17 PM.
