The Miami Dolphins are among the teams that made a bold decision on Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft on April 23. Miami decided to trade back a spot from their original No. 11 selection in a deal with the Dallas Cowboys.
Rather than stay at No. 11 and draft one of Caleb Downs or Rueben Bain Jr., the Dolphins chose to accumulate more draft picks. Dallas moved up from No. 12 to No. 11 in a trade with the Dolphins to select Downs, sending the No. 12 pick and two fifth-round picks (Nos. 177 and 180) to Miami to complete the deal.
The Dolphins dropped back to No. 12 and used the pick on former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor while adding extra draft capital in the process and passing on Bain, who went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 15.
On April 23, Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan explained the decision to pass on those two talented players.
“Downs and Bain are marvelous players, and I think those guys are going to be very successful in this league, no doubt about it,” Sullivan said (h/t Will Manso of WPLG Local 10 News).
“Again, we thought Proctor was rare. His height, weight, speed, production, and the things that he can do on the football field for a man his size make him an outlier. There are not many like him.
“It is no shot at Caleb Downs, a phenomenal football player, and he will have a great career. We would have loved to have him here, but we had a lot of conviction on Proctor being a very unique player in this draft and one that we can build around for years.”
Miami Wants to Protect Malik Willis
Moreover, Sullivan stated that they owed it to new QB Malik Willis to ensure that he has a solid offensive line to protect him heading into the 2026 NFL season.
“We invested in Malik, and it was important for us to protect him, to make sure that he has time to do the things that he needs to do and keep him healthy,” Sullivan added. “So that was part of the conversation as well. We’re thrilled with the pick. We’re happy to add him. We have a lot of faith in the person, and we think he’s going to be a really good player here.”
Will the Dolphins Target Wideout on Day 2?
Heading into Day 2 of the draft, the focus for Miami will likely be adding weapons for Willis. Recently, Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shared that the team intends to bolster the wide receiver group to ensure their new QB has the weapons needed to succeed in the 2026 NFL season.
“He’s going to throw the ball to some good players,” Hafley told Kay Adams on the March 30 edition of “Up & Adams.” “We’ve got, we’ve got a bunch of good guys coming back, a bunch of guys that we signed, and we’ve got a lot of draft picks, a lot of them.
“We’ve got seven in the first 100 picks. We’ll have receivers for Malik to throw to. The next time you talk after the draft and as we get the players here, I think you’re going to see we’ll get some good ones for him to throw to.”
Dolphins Get Blunt About Caleb Downs, Rueben Bain Jr. Decision