NFL Trade Rumors: Dolphins, Jennings, Sweat, Patriots, Chargers, Bills

We’ve seen a bit of a change of trade deadline strategy in Miami since the departure of former general manager Chris Grier. With Grier, the Dolphins were not planning on being very active at the trade deadline. There was some thought that interim GM Champ Kelly would be a bit more open to hearing offers, and after some initial refusal of that notion, the team has changed its tune.

We’ve seen this a bit in rumors, as edge rushers Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, and Matt Judon have been the subject of some calls, and the Dolphins have even seemed more open to the idea of trading wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. According to Armando Salguero of OutKick, team owner Stephen Ross “approved of” — and even encouraged — Kelly selling off valuable players, if he could.

Additionally, per Salguero, Ross informed head coach Mike McDaniel that his job was safe for the season and would continue to be safe “if he can rally the team.” It’s anyone’s guess how McDaniel is expected to improve the team’s performance as the front office auctions off its best players, but that appears to be the challenge posed to the fourth-year head coach. This challenge puts particular stress on McDaniel’s handling of the quarterback position moving forward, following rumors that Tua Tagovailoa could face a demotion from his starting role.

Here are a few other rumors as we have under 48 hours remaining until the trade deadline:

• 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings has worked his way up from the practice squad in his rookie season to a full-time starting role in his fifth year with the team. Jennings sought an extension in the offseason, and he threatened a trade request in order to gain leverage in negotiations. Some teams reportedly called at the time, but with so many injuries at the position already, San Francisco rebuffed them. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, those same teams appear to be interested again. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has claimed he “would be very surprised” if Jennings gets dealt, mostly because they’ve yet to see the return from injury this year of Brandon Aiyuk. Rapoport suggests that, aside from that, Jennings wouldn’t be off the table.
• We’ve already reported that the Titans appear to be open for business in the trade market with every player except rookie No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and start DT Jeffery Simmons. Any other player is seemingly available. Some have been surprised that this apparently includes last year’s second-round defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, but Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com sees the reason. Per McCormick, the team has “not been enamored with him” so far. If someone with interest in the 24-year-old out of Texas comes with the right price, it sounds like Tennessee would be willing to part with him.
• With Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson dealing with his recent toe injury, and with New England’s rushers underwhelming so far this year, rumors have made the rounds that the...