Former Dolphins Early Picks Update

The team's top picks in the 2017 draft were involved in transactions this weekend

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn (L) talks with Carolina Panthers linebacker Charles Harris (40) after their game at Northwest Stadium. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The top two picks in the Miami Dolphins' utterly forgettable 2017 draft were involved in transactions this weekend as they continue trying to keep their NFL careers alive.

It was bad news for former first-round pick Charles Harris, who was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles with the team on the verge of clinching the NFC East title for the second time in three seasons.

The news was better for 2017 second-round pick Raekwon McMillan, who was signed to the Tennessee Titans active roster off their practice squad. The move with McMillan comes a few days after former Dolphins starting linebacker David Long Jr. failed his physical with the Titans after they had claimed him off waivers from the Detroit Lions.

Harris played three games for the Eagles, who signed him after he began the season with the Carolina Panthers. He played three games for Philadelphia, but got 11 defensive snaps combined in those three games.

With Carolina before that, Harris played nine games with six starts after they signed him two days after their season opener — the timing ensured that they would not have to guarantee his entire 2024 salary as a vested veteran.

The Eagles were Harris' fifth NFL team, following the Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, and Panthers.

Harris had 21 tackles and three sacks for Carolina this season.

Selected 22nd overall in the 2017 draft, Harris had a disappointing tenure with the Dolphins, who traded him to the Falcons during the 2020 offseason in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2021.

That seventh-round pick (232nd overall) was traded to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for tackle Isaiah Wilson and a 2022 seventh-round selection.

Wilson, a former first-round pick, lasted five days with the Dolphins before they released because of off-the-field issues. That 2022 seventh-round pick was used on quarterback Skylar Thompson.

McMillan joined the Titans practice squad after beginning the season with the New England Patriots, for whom he played nine games with four starts.

THE DISASTROUS 2017 DOLPHINS DRAFT

Harris was part of a 2017 Dolphins draft class that has to rank among the worst in franchise history.

The rest of the draft class features McMillan in Round 2, CB Cordrea Tankersley in Round 3, G Isaac Asiata and DT Davon Godchaux in Round 5, DT Vincent Taylor in Round 6, and WR Isaiah Ford in Round 7.

Besides McMillan, the only 2017 Dolphins draft pick currently on an NFL active roster is Godchaux, who is now in his fourth season with New England after seasons in Miami.

And, of course, we don't need to remind Dolphins fans that when they selected Harris, they had the option to take a different edge defender — T.J. Watt, who went on to become a six-time Pro Bowl selection for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and is in the running for the award again this season.