All Dolphins

Dolphins Make It Official with Waddle and Phillips Options

There never was much doubt the Miami Dolphins would exercise the fifth-year option on their two 2021 first-round picks

Alain Poupart

Jaelan Phillips
Jaelan Phillips / Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Six days after GM Chris Grier said the Miami Dolphins would be picking up the fifth-year option on the contracts of 2021 first-round pick Jaylen Waddle and Jaelan Phillips, the team made it official official Monday.

The deadline for teams to exercise the fifth-year option on 2021 first-round picks is Thursday, but there never was any doubt with Waddle and Phillips considering how productive they've been since arriving to make the move a foregone conclusion.

The fifth-year option will mean that Waddle will be guaranteed $15.6 million for 2025, while Phillips will get $14.4 million based on the NFL salary scale, which involves Pro Bowl appearances and playing time.

The Dolphins selected Waddle with the sixth overall pick in 2021, while they took Phillips with the 18th overall selection.

Picking up the fifth-year option certainly doesn’t preclude the Dolphins for signing either player (or both) to a long-term extension.

The Dolphins picked up the fifth-year option last year on only one of their three 2020 first-round pick, that being Tua Tagovailova. They declined for both Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene, though they signed Jackson to an extension during the 2023 season.

CAUTION WITH PHILLIPS

Phillips is recovering from the torn Achilles tendon he sustained on Black Friday in a Dolphins victory against the New York Jets, while fellow starting outside linebacker Bradley Chubb is recovering from a torn ACL sustained in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens.

That no doubt played a role in the Dolphins selecting two edge rushers in the 2024 draft, Chop Robinson of Penn State in Round 1 and Mohamed Kamara of Colorado State in Round 5.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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