Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hyde: Why did Wilson cost Dolphins so little?
While you’re applauding, while you can’t believe the Miami Dolphins steal of Isaiah Wilson, while you’re considering how this offensive line might look next season, here’s a thought to ponder:
No team offered even a seventh-round pick for the 2020 first-round pick.
No team outbid the Dolphins’ offer of a swap of seventh-round picks.
No other team like Cincinnati (desperate for help on the offensive line) or Kansas City (did you see its tackles in the Super Bowl?) wanted a player who Tennessee drafted 29th last spring.
It’s a no-lose situation for the Dolphins on the one hand. A swap of seventh-rounders? For a tackle just taken last year in the first round? Maybe they get something for nothing.
That said, you don’t know the extent of Wilson’s behavior in the manner NFL teams must. But you know Tennessee State police broke up a party Wilson attended in training camp, and he seemed to consider jumping off a secondfloor balcony ... you know he lost control of his car, hit a concrete wall and was charged with DUI
... and you know he played four snaps as a rookie in part because of COVID-19 restrictions.
You also know Tennessee general manager Jon Robinson had no contact with Wilson since December and said last month the tackle needs to make a, “determination on whether he wants to do what it takes to play pro football.”
Finally, you know Wilson came from a similar Brooklyn background and attended the same lavish Poly Prep Country Day School that Dolphins coach Brian Flores did years earlier. Can such shared background help Flores save Wilson’s career? It seems to be part of what the Dolphins are betting on.
Wilson even ran the Wildcat — as the featured running back — on a play at Poly Prep.
This is a low-risk, potentially good-reward chance here — but it’s also a risk no other team wanted to take. The risk isn’t the swap of seventh rounders. The risk might not be the approximate $4 million in guaranteed money left on his rookie deal considering in many cases it would disappear with a DIU conviction. The risk, really, is the idea of spending time and investment on a player who
apparently showed no desire or discipline as a rookie.
South Florida typically isn’t the place to bring players with commitment issues. But you see the lure here for the Dolphins. The cost is nothing — and still no other team apparently wanted to pay.
Some are comparing this to Flores’ mentor, BIll Belichick, taking on problem cases in New England. Randy Moss. Corey Dillon. But this isn’t like that at all. Those players had great portfolios as NFL players. Wilson has no portfolio at all.
Wilson, a Georgia teammate of Dolphins guard Solomon Kindley, could play right tackle or simply provide quality line depth. The Dolphins get to address the other areas they need in free agency and the draft.
All at a cost of a seventhround pick.
Put it in the nothing-ventured-nothing-gained file. And nothing really is ventured here. The question becomes if something is gained when it all plays out.