Dolphins trade Charles Harris to Falcons

The Miami Dolphins are trading defensive end Charles Harris to the Atlanta Falcons, according to a report from The Athletic’s Jason Butt. The move would return an undisclosed draft pick to the Dolphins.

Harris was a first-round pick by Miami in 2017, but he never performed to the level expected. In three seasons with the Dolphins, Harris recorded 61 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, and two passes defensed. There was hope last season that he would break out as the Dolphins shifted him from a pure 4-3 defensive end into a hybrid with 3-4 rush linebacker responsibilities as well. He never seemed comfortable, however, and the production did not materialize. The Dolphins made Harris inactive for games near the end of the season.

Miami waived defensive end Taco Charlton on Thursday, signaling a complete shakeup of the team’s pass rush for the 2020 season. The team added defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah along with linebacker Kyle Van Noy this offseason to bolster pass rush and blitz responsibilities, as well as selected Jason Strowbridge and Curtis Weaver, both in the fifth round, in last week’s NFL Draft. Andrew Van Ginkel, a 2019 fifth round pick, demonstrated pass rush potential near the end of his rookie season after missing the first half of the year on injured reserve.

Update (9:05am): According to the Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad and the Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley, the Dolphins are receiving a seventh-round pick in return for Harris.

A seventh-round pick in return for a first-round pick from just just three years ago is painful, but given Miami was likely to cut Harris, they at least received something in return for a player who never lived up to his potential or the expectations placed on him.