Lance Trade a Hot Topic Again ... And Still Great for the Dolphins

The San Francisco 49ers CEO said at the owners meetings he didn't regret the team's big trade to land Trey Lance and the Miami Dolphins clearly are happy about that deal

Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb figure to be two key players for the Miami Dolphins next season and beyond, and the team has the San Francisco 49ers to at least in part thank for being able to land them.

We couldn't help but think of that this week after what came out of the owners meetings, particularly with GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan essentially saying that 2022 seventh-round pick Brock Prudy will be their starter if healthy, leading to CEO Jed York being asked to revisit the big 2021 draft trade with the Dolphins to be able to land Trey Lance with the third overall pick that year.

Not surprisingly, York said he didn't regret the investment the team made in Lance — because what else is he going to say, particularly while Lance is still with the 49ers? — but it's pretty safe to say the Dolphins would make the trade again in a heartbeat.

And, yes, it's because that trade helped them land Hill and Chubb.

And while columnist Omar Kelly wrote last week that the Hill acquisition from the Kansas City Chiefs was the most beneficial trade in team history, this 2021 trade with the 49ers belongs in the conversation.

REVISITING THE MEMORABLE DOLPHINS-49ERS DRAFT TRADE

To refresh the memory, to give the 49ers the chance to take Lance with the third overall pick in that 2021 draft, the Dolphins received the 12th overall pick that year; first- and third-round picks in 2022; and a first-round pick in 2023.

The Dolphins packaged the 2022 first-round pick with four other selections to get Hill from the Chiefs; and used the 2023 first-rounder in the trade that brought Chubb from the Denver Broncos last November.

As all Dolphins fans know (or should know), the Dolphins traded the 12th overall pick in 2021 to move up to No. 6, giving the Philadelphia Eagles a 2022 first-round pick along with a 2021 fourth-rounder to take Jaylen Waddle and also got a 2021 fifth-round selection that they turned into wide receiver Erik Ezukanma (after a draft trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers).

Hill and Waddle have teamed up to give the Dolphins the most explosive wide receiver tandem in the NFL, if not in NFL history, though one could argue the price was steep to get Waddle (the 15th overall pick in 2022 to move up just six spots in 2021).

What is undeniable is the value the Dolphins got for that third overall pick in 2021.

And, yes, it was an offshoot of another memorable trade in Dolphins history, the deal that sent Laremy Tunsil to the Houston Texans in 2019.

THE END RESULT OF THE DOLPHINS-49ERS 2021 DRAFT TRADE

For this deal alone, the trade tree at this time looks like this:

Dolphins get:

-- WR Jaylen Waddle

-- WR Tyreek Hill

-- LB Bradley Chubb

-- LB Channing Tindall

-- 2025 5th-round pick

Dolphins give up:

-- 2021 3rd overall pick

-- 2021 4th-round pick

-- 2022 1st-round pick

-- 2022 2nd-round pick

-- 2022 4th-round pick

-- 2023 4th-round pick

-- 2023 6th-round pick

-- 2024 4th-round pick

-- RB Chase Edmonds

So, yeah, we get why York says he doesn't regret the Lance move. We know the Dolphins still have to love the Lance move.