Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The rumors surrounding the Miami Dolphins desire to move up in the 2013 NFL Draft may have been recently confirmed by sports agent, Drew Rosenhaus. At least that is what he thinks.
Rosenhaus also said he expects #Dolphins to take OT in the first round: “At this point, that’s what I’m hearing from everyone”
— Ben Volin (@BenVolinPBP) April 8, 2013
The rumors have been picking up speed over the last couple of weeks, and Rosenhaus agrees, claiming the Dolphins will trade up to grab one of the three offensive tackles projected to go in the first ten picks. This would not be too much of a surprise considering they lost their talented left tackle, Jake Long, in free agency.
Long went to the Pro Bowl in each of the first four years of his five year career, and the Dolphins know it will take quite a bit to replace that kind of talent. As of now, they have Jonathan Martin penciled in at left tackle, but Martin struggled last season when forced to the left side when Long went down with injuries. One point worth considering when processing his performance is the fact that he was also in his rookie season. Martin could be the guy and just needs some time to get comfortable.
Letting a second-year guy learn on the go may not be the way that the Dolphins execs want to protect their franchise quarterback. They may feel the need to protect Ryan Tannehill supersedes all others, and if they do, they would have no problem paying the price to leapfrog into position to take a franchise tackle.
Rosenhaus could have some inside information on the situation. He lives in Miami and has been in talks with the Dolphins because he represents Eric Winston, one of the top tackles left on the free agent market. Because of his familiarity with the team, he needs to be taken seriously, and as the saying goes where there is smoke, there is (usually) fire.
Because of these reasons, moving up makes sense, but the price could be very expensive. The Dolphins have 11 picks in the up coming draft, but they also have a wealth of need. Moving up would cost them several of those picks, which would then force them to pick the rest of the way based on need.
This goes against everything the Dolphins have been setting up to do and if they were going to pay so dearly for a tackle that might be good, they should have forked out the money to keep a tackle they knew was good.
Jeff Everette is a Miami Dolphins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @jeverettesports, “Like” his page on FaceBook, or add him to your network on Google+.
