Miami acquired quarterback Kyle McCord from Green Bay on Tuesday for a 2028 sixth-round pick, the 203rd selection in a draft three years out. The trade gives the Dolphins a developmental arm behind Tua Tagovailoa and Skylar Thompson while costing Green Bay nothing to exit a position they no longer needed after signing Jordan Love to a $220M extension in July.
McCord, 22, started 24 games at Syracuse in 2023-24 after transferring from Ohio State. He threw for 9,802 yards and 71 touchdowns across two seasons in the ACC, then went undrafted in April. Green Bay signed him as a free agent in May, released him in August, then re-signed him to the practice squad in September. Miami is his third organization in six months. His base salary pro-rates to roughly $200K through the end of the 2025 season.
The move addresses Miami's third-string depth after Thompson, their backup, missed time earlier this season with a thumb injury. Tagovailoa has sustained four documented concussions since 2022, including one in Week 2 this year that sidelined him through Week 8. The Dolphins went 2-4 in his absence. Tyler Huntley started five of those games under a one-year, $1.1M deal; he becomes a free agent in March. McCord now sits behind Tagovailoa and Thompson on the depth chart, but the front office is buying an option on a younger arm with starting experience against Power Five competition.
For Green Bay, the trade clears a practice-squad spot without cutting McCord outright, preserving the relationship while monetizing a player they were unlikely to elevate. The Packers carried four quarterbacks through training camp—Love, Sean Clifford, Michael Pratt, and McCord—before cutting to two. Clifford remains the backup on a two-year, $1.9M deal. Pratt, a seventh-round pick in 2024, is on injured reserve. Green Bay now has one quarterback on the active roster, one on IR, and a sixth-round pick in a draft cycle when they currently hold eight selections after last year's trade activity.
Miami's quarterback spending for 2025 sits at $49.2M in cap space, nearly all of it Tagovailoa's $48.6M hit under the four-year, $212.4M extension he signed in July. Thompson costs $1.2M against the cap. McCord adds $200K. The Dolphins are 7-8 entering Week 17, one game behind Denver for the final AFC wild-card spot. Their playoff odds are 22%, per FiveThirtyEight. They face Cleveland, the Jets, and the Bills to close the season.
McCord's arrival also positions Miami for the 2026 offseason, when Tagovailoa's contract becomes cuttable with $47M in dead money but no further guarantees. The Dolphins would save $27M in 2026 and $58M in 2027 if they move on after next season, though that scenario assumes another significant injury or performance decline. McCord gives the front office a second option behind Thompson if that decision tree opens. He also gives offensive coordinator Frank Smith a younger developmental project than Huntley, who turns 27 in February and has started 12 games across four NFL seasons with a 4-8 record.
The trade is the first between Miami and Green Bay since 2019, when the Dolphins sent a 2020 seventh-round pick to the Packers for offensive lineman Cole Madison, who never played a snap for Miami. That pick became tight end Dominique Dafney, who caught 10 passes in two seasons before Green Bay released him in 2022. The Packers now hold two sixth-round picks in 2028, their own and Miami's.
McCord joins a quarterback room that includes Tagovailoa, Thompson, and no one else on the active roster or practice squad. Miami has until Saturday's roster deadline to decide whether to elevate him for Week 17 or keep him on the practice squad through the end of the season. The Dolphins have two practice-squad elevations remaining for McCord this year under NFL roster rules. If they want him available for the playoffs, they would need to sign him to the 53-man roster before the postseason begins.
The takeaway
Miami bought a **$200K** Tua injury hedge with college starting experience; Green Bay turned a fourth-string QB into a 2028 pick.
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