Odds Put Dolphins as Favorites to Get Taylor

The Pro Bowl running back has been given permission to seek a trade

Here we go again.

After weeks of speculation about whether the Miami Dolphins would end up signing star running back Dalvin Cook, we now have the Jonathan Taylor watch.

The 2021 NFL rushing leader is unhappy in Indianapolis and reports surfaced Monday that the Colts have given him and his agent permission to seek a trade. And, yes, it's the Miami Dolphins who are being viewed as the favorites to acquire him should the Colts ultimately decide they will move him and are satisfied with a trade offer.

The Dolphins are the favorites as Taylor's 2023 team if not the Colts by both Draft Kings Sportsbook and BetOnline.

🗣️ Jonathan Taylor’s next team odds!

The Miami Dolphins are the current favorite to land the star RB at +250 👀 pic.twitter.com/gl6D2bO9QO

— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) August 22, 2023

With both oddsmakers, the Bears and Ravens also are among the favorites.

Why the Dolphins?

Pretty simply really. They have a lot of solid running backs, but not a high-end talent like Taylor, and it may be what separates them from a large group of AFC challengers to top contender status.

Besides, it's not like the Dolphins have been afraid to make huge deals recently, as evidenced by the trades for Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Jalen Ramsey just in the past 17 months alone.

WHAT THE DOLPHINS HAVE TO SAY

The topic of a potential Taylor trade naturally came up in the media sessions of Dolphins assistant coaches Tuesday and that of running back Raheem Mostert, who led the team in rushing yards last season.

As one would expect, the Dolphins played Switzerland and stayed neutral.

“You have to stay in the now, but understand this is a business,” Mostert said. "I’m not worried about another man coming in. I’m worried about perfecting my craft.”

Running backs coach Eric Studesville said that Taylor has been a great player since he entered the NFL in 2020, but also was complimentary of his running back room.

And when he was asked whether that running back room was good enough to help the Dolphins have a great 2023 season, he replied, "Whoever is in our room is going to give us the best chance to win and we're gonna coach them that way and we're gonna put them on the field. And you never know if it's enough until you get to the point where you know if it's enough."

The trade request by Taylor has been the culmination of a disagreement with the Colts that dates back a few weeks.

And when it first surfaced, Eric Edholm from NFL.com put the Dolphins first among the teams that represent the best fit to land Taylor.

"Any team interested in Dalvin Cook probably would be interested in trading for Taylor, so the Dolphins certainly fit in that regard," Edholm wrote. "Miami’s backfield might be in decent enough shape ... but the Cook interest suggests they might want some more juice out of the position.

"Does Taylor fit in a Mike McDaniel offense? Well, sure. Speed is the name of the game in Miami, and Taylor has plenty of it, turning in the fastest run from any ball-carrier during the 2021 season. And even if Taylor might not be a perfect fit from a third-down standpoint, the Dolphins would appear to have enough other options to fill that role if needed."

Edholm aptly pointed out the reasons the Dolphins wouldn't make that kind of move, namely their salary-cap situation for 2024 in light of Taylor's impending UFA status and the fact that maybe they're tired of surrendering draft capital to acquire veterans.

THE TAKE ON THE JONATHAN TAYLOR IDEA

The Dolphins, do have a lot of depth at running back after re-signing Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin in the offseason and then adding De'Von Achane in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, but Taylor simply is on another level in the same way that Cook is.

Taylor actually is even better than Cook, plus he's played in the NFL only three years as opposed to six for Cook, so he's got less wear and tear on body.

And, unlike Cook, there aren't many folks who actually believe the Colts would ever think of simply releasing their disgruntled running back, so a trade is how the Dolphins can get him.

So what could a trade for Taylor look like? Fan Duel proposed at the time this hypothetical deal involving the Dolphins: Taylor for Jeff Wilson Jr., a 2024 second-round pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick.

But reports Monday night suggested the Colts would be looking for a first-round pick or the equivalent by way of multiple picks.

As a point of reference, to get Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers, the San Francisco 49ers had to send them second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a fifth-round selection in 2024. And let's just say that Taylor and McCaffrey are comparable talents.

Much more significant than the trade compensation question are the salary-cap ramifications.

The Dolphins already are more than $32 million over the projected 2024 salary cap, per overthecap.com, with six players with a cap number exceeding $20 million. And then there are the players on the current roster in line for new (read: bigger) contracts, such as Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Connor Williams, Zach Sieler and potentially Tua Tagovailoa, whose cap number jumps to at least $23 million on his fifth-year option.

THE DOLPHINS, COOK AND PAYING BIG MONEY FOR A RUNNING BACK

As was the case with Cook, any discussion of a potential Taylor move has to include the reality that the Dolphins haven't spent big money on a running back in a while. They did sign Chase Edmonds to a two-year, $12 million contract in the 2021 offseason, but that included a modest $6.1 million in guarantees.

As with Cook, though, the question is whether adding Taylor to the offense could be the final move to push the Dolphins into the mix of Super Bowl favorites.

Of course, we could point out that the Dolphins could have had Taylor at a rookie contract and with no trade compensation cost had they simply selected him with the 30th overall pick of the 2020 draft instead of taking cornerback Noah Igbinoghene after trading down with the Green Bay Packers.

But that's in the past.

In the present, Taylor's status remains a big story around the NFL, and the Dolphins once again find themselves part of the equation simply because they've been going for it.