With Jeff Hafley in the driver’s seat, the Miami Dolphins are starting anew. Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers should grab their phone and start dialing. The Dolphins cut ties with Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb on Monday. Jordan Schultz wrote on X that Miami's "preference has been to find a trade partner for Tua Tagovailoa. A cut is possible in the end." With the franchise's central pieces being discarded, why not tear it the whole way down?
Jaylen Waddle has been a consistent performer during his five-year NFL career, but he might not be content with sticking around as the team rebuilds. The Steelers, meanwhile, who are aiming to keep the floor high by hiring Mike McCarthy as their new head coach, desperately need to add another playmaker at receiver.
How the Steelers can net Jaylen Waddle
Behind DK Metcalf, Aaron Rodgers didn't have a steady target on the perimeter. The mix of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Adam Thielen and Scotty Miller didn't solve the issue. Tailback Kenneth Gainwell wound up leading the Steelers with 73 receptions, and no wideout other than Metcalf finished the go-round with more than 375 receiving yards.
It's not a secret that McCarthy and Khan, the Steelers' general manager, might be looking around.
“They have the one, the two, the three third-round picks (in the 2026 NFL Draft). That’s gonna be the sweet spot for them,” NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah said last week on the "Move the Sticks" podcast. “And guess what, if A.J. Brown were to become available, if there’s other wide receivers that end up on the trade market — they’ve already done this once with DK — they could very easily parlay one of those third-round picks into trying to free another wide receiver from somewhere else."
How about Waddle, who has posted a 17-game average of 81 receptions for 1,098 yards and six touchdowns? Pittsburgh's front office should dangle Roman Wilson, Dylan Cook and a second-round pick in April's draft try to add him to the fold.
What a Steelers trade for Jaylen Waddle would send the Dolphins
The Steelers had hoped to unlock Wilson as a productive part of their passing game after selecting him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but two seasons into his career, they're still waiting. A change of scenery might help the former Michigan star, who led Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines with 48 grabs, 789 receiving yards and 12 touchdown catches in 2023.
Cook, who spent a few seasons on Pittsburgh's practice squad before stepping up and providing some stability at left tackle late this past season, would step in as a solid option to protect whatever passer's blind side.
Those two players and the early-round selection would be a fair price to pay for Waddle, who would pull defenses away from Metcalf and maybe even emerge as Pittsburgh's top option himself.