Miami Dolphins: Laremy Tunsil-Jadeveon Clowney trade could work

Could the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins come together on a preseason trade involving Jadeveon Clowney and Laremy Tunsil?

We’ve seen a number of blockbuster moves in the NFL over the last year, including the New York Giants’ trade of Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns for Kevin Zeitler, Jabrill Peppers, and draft picks involved. Could the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans be up next?

The Dolphins are rumored to be interested in trading away some of their veteran players. They’ve already collected a variety of draft picks for 2020, including extra picks in the second round (via Saints), fourth round (via Titans) and sixth round (via Cowboys).

Could the Dolphins be in the market for more picks? Maybe they will be in the market for some players to build around?

If the Dolphins are dangling names like Laremy Tunsil out there for trade bait, the return better be impressive.

With two years left on his rookie contract, Tunsil has proven to be a very good left tackle in the NFL and those obviously don’t just grow on trees. The Dolphins also lost right tackle Ja’Wuan James in free agency this offseason, so it’s not like they have just an over-abundance of depth.

But the 2020 NFL Draft class is said to be very strong at tackle, so could the Dolphins try to maximize Tunsil’s value now and get a star player defensively, taking advantage of the Houston Texans’ desperate need for offensive tackle help?

It’s not a terrible idea, and Houston beat writer John McClain seems to think the Texans will ultimately trade Clowney for a left tackle.

In this trade scenario, the Dolphins would get themselves a star defensive player to pair with their other cornerstone pieces in Minkah Fitzpatrick and Christian Wilkins.

The Texans would finally have a legit player to block for DeShaun Watson’s blind side.

This trade obviously weakens the Texans off the edge and the Dolphins at tackle, but it would seem to benefit both teams a fair amount. There could obviously be some draft considerations involved as well.

If the Dolphins were able to send one of their extra picks along with Tunsil to the Texans for Clowney, perhaps the fourth-rounder, it’s a trade that would certainly work in both teams’ favor in the immediate future.