Miami Dolphins trade a wide receiver, acquire a running back on NFL deadline day
The Miami Dolphins subtracted one backup receiver and added a backup running back in an eventful final 90 minutes before the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday.
The Dolphins dealt receiver Isaiah Ford to the New England Patriots for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2022.
The Dolphins then tried to address a struggling running game — one that will be without their leading rusher, Myles Gaskin, for the next three games — by trading a 2021 conditional sixth-round pick to Kansas City for veteran running back DeAndre Washington and a 2021 conditional seventh-round pick.
Gaskin is on the shelf with a sprained MCL, a source tells the Miami Herald. He has rushed for 387 yards and two touchdowns on 100 carries. Gaskin sustained the injury late in Sunday’s win against the Rams.
Washington has just three carries this year, for five yards, but has 1122 rushing yards on 4.0 per carry in his four previous NFL seasons with the Raiders.
He scored eight touchdowns in four seasons playing in Oakland, including five starts, and last season ran for 387 yards on 3.6 per carry and caught 36 passes for 292 yards.
The 5-8, 210-pound back was drafted by the Raiders in the fifth round out of Texas Tech in 2016. Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie drafted Washington when McKenzie was general manager of the Raiders.
He won’t be available to play this weekend because new players must pass five COVID-19 test before becoming eligible to play with a new team.
The trade left Miami with six running backs on its 53-man roster, in addition to fullback Chandler Cox.
As for Ford, he wasn’t playing much to begin with — he had one catch for 10 yards in 17 snaps on Sunday — and the Dolphins could at any time activate Antonio Callaway to their 53-man roster.
The Dolphins have one open spot on the 53 after both trades.
Dolphins wide receivers coach Josh Grizzard on Tuesday sounded excited to see Callaway, who’s eligible to practice as a Dolphin for the first time on Wednesday after coming off a seven-game NFL suspension.
“You see stuff he’s done back to his Cleveland days,” Grizzard said. “He played some meaningful plays and has done a good job in this league. Any time you can add someone with his quickness, suddenness and speed, it’s a positive for the team. He’s been working and he’s done a good job” in meetings.
Callaway is on the Dolphins’ practice squad after serving his a drug-related suspension. The team has also given increased playing time in recent weeks to rookies Malcolm Perry and Lynn Bowden.
Ford, a seventh-round pick in 2017 whose contract expires after this year, had 41 catches for 428 yards and zero touchdowns in 16 games as a Dolphin. This season, he caught 18 of 29 targets for 184 yards. He never started a game for the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have been keeping six receivers active most games: DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Ford, Jakeem Grant, Mack Hollins (one of Miami’s best special teams players but rarely used on offense) and one of two rookies who were former college quarterbacks: Bowden or Perry. Callaway at some point figures to replace the jettisoned Ford on the active roster on game days.
OFFENSIVE LINE UPDATE
The Dolphins will have a critical lineup decision to make when left tackle Austin Jackson eventually returns from a foot injury that has sidelined him for the past three games.
And they’re not ready to commit to what that decision will be.
As was the case with Jackson in the lineup, the offensive line has continued to be very good as pass blockers but subpar as run blockers with a new lineup that features Jesse Davis at left tackle and rookie Robert Hunt at right tackle. Davis was at right tackle — and Hunt on the bench — before Jackson’s injury.
The interior of the line (Ereck Flowers and Solomon Kindley at guard, Ted Karras at center) has remained the same since Jackson’s injury.
Asked if the Dolphins will automatically reinsert Jackson in the lineup when he’s healthy, offensive line coach Steve Marshall said Tuesday: “Austin hasn’t put a helmet on for a month. We’ll make that determination when he’s cleared. He hasn’t missed a beat mentally. You’ve got to make sure he’s healthy and full speed. That [a looming lineup decision is] the least of my concerns right now. Whenever Austin is ready, he’s chomping at the bit.”
Dolphins coach Brian Flores declined to say how close Jackson is to returning but said he’s a couple of “rehab” sessions on his foot from being able to practice. He’s eligible to return from the injured list at any time.
The Dolphins have permitted only 11 sacks, which is tied for ninth best in the league, and Pro Football Focus said Jackson (four starts and 154 pass-blocking snaps) and Hunt (three starts and 90 pass-blocking chances) have been responsible for none of those sacks and Kindley has been accountable for only one sack in seven starts and 263 pass-blocking snaps.
But Miami’s 3.6 yards per-carry rushing average is second worst in the league, ahead of only Indianapolis.
“We need to be more consistent on a down-after-down basis,” Marshall said.
▪ The Dolphins released cornerback and former third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley from their practice squad.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
