Cedrick Wilson could slip into open market for Chiefs to consider

If the Chiefs want to take a look at some potential help in the slot, Cedrick Wilson is a name that’s could enter the free agent market.

As it turns out, Miami wasn’t exactly the right fit for Cedrick Wilson.

Last season, the Dolphins decided they wanted to significantly upgrade their wide receiving corps. The Kansas City Chiefs helped with a major part of that by trading them Tyreek Hill in exchange for five draft choices. Beyond that, the Dolphins also convinced Wilson to leave the Dallas Cowboys by offering him a three-year deal potentially worth nearly $23 million with well over $12M guaranteed.

Wilson ended his first season with the Dolphins with only 12 catches in 15 games—good for 144 total yards from scrimmage and a disproportional contract for the next two years.

If you wonder why the Dolphins spent so much on Wilson in the first place, it was because Wilson played excellent football in 2021 as the Cowboys’ slot receiver who took advantage of an offensive picture where CeeDee Lamb, Dalton Schultz, and Amari Cooper removed any and all pressure from opposing defenses. Wilson had room to move and he seized the opportunity with solid hands and steady production.

It wasn’t hard for the Dolphins to look at Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, and Mike Gesicki and think Wilson could provide the same on intermediate routes. Unfortunately, Wilson somehow failed to develop the trust required from Tua Tagovailoa, who showed a much greater rhythm with Trent Sherfeld, who passed Wilson on the depth chart.

Earlier this week, a report surfaced saying that the Dolphins were up to potentially trading Wilson, but that’s stating the obvious. This year, the Dolphins went out and signed slot receiver Braxton Berrios in a clear sign that they were bringing competition for Wilson. The presence of Erik Ezukanma, last year’s fourth round pick, is another player looming over Wilson on the depth chart and the team also has reason to like the long-term potential of Braylon Sanders.

In other words, the Dolphins have a crowded WR room even before the draft hits and Wilson was already the odd man out. The dead cap space would be tough to swallow at this point, but the Fins would obviously love for someone to take Wilson off of their hands. That potential team would also have a lot of leverage here. It’s also true that the Dolphins might just be forced despite the finances involved.

The Chiefs have the horses to take the top off of defenses with Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kadarius Toney. Travis Kelce will command plenty of attention himself. Skyy Moore is also around to help on the same sort of routes as Wilson, but the ranks are thin overall and Wilson could be a nice physical addition to help round out the wide receiving corps. Plus he also has return experience.

At this point, it likely wouldn’t be worth trading an asset of any kind unless Miami was going to pay a considerable portion of his salary. But if so, that’d be an interesting deal. Even more, it might be worth waiting on some vets like Wilson to hit free agency after the draft to see what the selection resembles at that point. Either way, Wilson is there for the taking for someone and Miami has little leverage to able to fool anyone—including themselves.