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Once the Carolina Panthers’ hopeful left tackle of the future, Greg Little is instead headed to the Miami Dolphins after two underwhelming seasons in a trade that only cost his new team a 2022 seventh-round pick.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on the Dolphins’ acquisition of Little on Tuesday, and featured the minimal compensation it cost them to swing the trade:
As the 37th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, expectations were high for Little, who showed a lot of potential and played stiff competition in the SEC at Ole Miss. However, injuries and lackluster performance led him to appear in only 14 games with just six starts across the past two years.
Rookie Brady Christensen played left tackle well at BYU, but the Panthers have been working him at right tackle behind Taylor Moton, and there’s a chance Christensen could slide inside to guard eventually.
So, the left tackle situation in Carolina isn’t great. Cameron Erving is currently projected to be the starter, as he’ll be tasked with protecting new quarterback Sam Darnold‘s blind side.
Regarding what Miami is getting in Little, well, the fact that the Panthers gave him up for hardly anything doesn’t bode well. Then again, the Fins have an extremely young group of offensive linemen, and Little at least has the talent and experience to spur on more competition.
Thinking about it from the Dolphins’ perspective, too: They are taking a low-risk, potentially high-reward flier on Little by sacrificing a draft pick next year who’d probably struggle to make the roster anyway.
See where the Dolphins and Panthers rate in our latest NFL power rankings