We knew it was going to be close. And we still don’t know for sure. But we’re pretty darn sure former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James just cost the Dolphins their third-round compensatory pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. How? That’s a great question — considering the NFL’s formula for calculating compensatory picks is still a mystery.
But there are a lot of smart people on the outside of the NFL looking in and over the years, they’ve been able to reverse engineer a lot of the variables that go into the league’s decision on which team gets what. For the Dolphins, Miami spent next to zero money in free agency this past spring. That makes them a prime candidate for compensatory picks in the event they have players leave. Defensive end Cameron Wake left for Tennessee and James left for Denver — the latter getting a monster deal for four years and $51 million to man the right tackle spot in Denver.
That contract, the second-highest salary for any right tackle in the NFL, had Miami ready to cash in with another top-100 pick, via the end of the third round. Awesome, right?
Not anymore. Because you see, James has played in one game so far through Week 7. Listed as questionable Thursday night, Miami needed James to play to preserve its hopes of keeping the top-100 selection. Now that James has missed his sixth game this season, forecasts will now project the Dolphins to be eligible for a fourth-round compensatory pick instead.
It’s a frustrating development for the Dolphins and certainly a frustrating development for James, who continues his odd cycle of significant injuries in odd seasons in the NFL. James has played in 47 of a possible 48 games in the years 2014, 2016 and 2018 and just 16 of a possible 39 in the years 2015, 2017 and 2019.
