The Miami Dolphins entered the 2024 NFL draft without third- or fourth-round selections, making the team an obvious candidate to trade back in the first round to recoup some mid-round value.
But when teams came calling for the No. 21 overall selection Thursday night, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier wasn’t interested.
“The phone calls all at that point were really coming into us about people trying to move up to our spot,” Grier said Thursday night. “We had about four or five teams that were trying to move into our spot and as the board kept falling to us, which we thought it would … we decided to stay where we were because the offers weren’t enticing enough for us to move.”
It’s anyone’s guess how much the Dolphins were offered for the No. 21 pick. Three selections after Miami took pass rusher Chop Robinson, the Detroit Lions traded up from No. 29 to No. 24 by making a deal that sent a third-rounder (No. 73 overall) to the Dallas Cowboys.
According to most trade value charts, that was a big price to pay to go up five spots in the first round and would’ve been fair compensation to send the Lions from No. 29 to No. 21.
It would make sense if the Dolphins were hypothetically offered the No. 73 selection to slide down eight spots in the order. And it would also be logical if Miami determined it was unlikely to end up with a player as good as Robinson by taking that deal.
Grier told reporters Thursday night that Robinson “was our targeted player.” So much so that other teams couldn’t convince the Dolphins to slide away from the No. 21 pick.
