ESPN insider reveals Dolphins' odd trade deadline plan amid 2-6 start

The 2-6 Miami Dolphins are heading into a Week 9 Thursday Night Football matchup against the 2-5 Baltimore Ravens. While both teams have the same win total heading into Week 9, there's a major difference in the direction of both franchises.

While Baltimore is eyeing a division title through a second-half comeback, the Dolphins are looking at the trade deadline as sellers, not buyers, amid a lost season.

However, according to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, despite their 2-6 record, the Dolphins are expected to act on an odd trade deadline plan this season that doesn't align with the typical behavior of a 2-6 team, or worse, at the deadline.

Dolphins expected to employ strange trade deadline plan

"From our file: Miami is not punting on 2025 as it relates to the trade deadline," Fowler reports. "Could do a deal that makes sense, but will be more reactive than proactive. Not considered to be heavy sellers at the moment."

From our file: Miami is not punting on 2025 as it relates to the trade deadline. Could do a deal that makes sense but will be more reactive than proactive. Not considered heavy sellers at the moment. https://t.co/PLDGDfIrny

With a loss to the Ravens on Thursday night, the Dolphins would be 2-7. With the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots running away with the division, it's clear that the Dolphins aren't likely to be in the division race, let alone the playoff picture.

And yet, despite their poor record, Miami isn't expected to be a heavy seller at the deadline. While they could still move on from some of their assets, like Jaelan Phillips or Bradley Chubb, it's not expected to be a fire sale this season.

For a team like Miami, that will be without Tyreek Hill in the future and needs to execute a major overhaul of the roster from top to bottom, not accumulating draft capital, especially for their expiring contracts, doesn't make much sense.

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While not every player that could be available has to be moved, the Dolphins not planning to be heavy sellers amid a lost season is a very odd stance to take.

Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier seemingly have safe jobs, so selling off some of their veterans or players who aren't seeing the field a lot wouldn't hurt their job security. While some organizations might hesitate to move on from players due to job security concerns, the Dolphins don't have such a worry.

It's a unique position to be in, with a few strong trade pieces and likely interested teams. But the Dolphins aren't expected to proactively seek out trades, despite a great opportunity to recoup draft picks for the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts.

The 2025 season is essentially all but lost, and yet, the Dolphins aren't planning to be major sellers. There's still time for Miami to change its tune, but with under a week to go until the deadline, the Dolphins need to decide to open themselves up to more trades than they are now, according to Fowler's report.

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