Not So Fast! MandoBomb Report: Albert Trade to Jacksonville is for a Draft Pick Not Julius Thomas

In an article published this morning, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald is going against the grain with the numerous outlets suggesting a Branden Albert-for-Julius Thomas trade:

This trade does not include Jacksonville tight end Julius Thomas. Over the weekend various local and national reports had the Dolphins trading Albert for Thomas and that is not accurate.

Although Julius Thomas is a player the Dolphins would be interested in, he is not currently part of a player-for-player swap for Branden Albert, per multiple sources.

The Dolphins would be dealing Albert for a draft pick in this trade.

Earlier in the article, he went into more details about the draft pick:

The Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to a trade that would send left tackle Branden Albert to Jacksonville in exchange for a 2018 late-round draft pick, according to a league source.

And although the teams have agreed to the compensation, which is most likely a seventh-round pick, this doesn’t mean the deal is complete.

Boy, it sure seems like March 9th is light years away at this point. This saga has had more twists and turns than the Stelvio Pass in Italy. But, let’s take everything at face value right now: which compensation do you prefer, a 2018 late-rounder and invest money on other needs, or reuniting Julius Thomas with Adam Gase?

Only time will tell. A long, long time it feels like.

At the end of the day, we are getting some kind of free draft compensation or contractual rights to a player that, previous to Branden Albert’s impending release from the Miami Dolphins, did not exist.