Miami, FL
Evaluating the Proposed Idea of a Jaelan Phillips Trade

Tyreek Hill’s name has been mentioned in one hypothetical trade after another this offseason, but there’s another prominent Miami Dolphins player now getting that treatment.
In a unique mock draft where he suggested a trade at every slot in Round 1, Bill Barnwell of ESPN proposed the Miami Dolphins trade edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the San Francisco 49ers, along with pick 13 for the 11th overall pick plus a fourth-round selection.
Even though Barnwell’s exercise prompted this suggested deal, trade speculation about Phillips likely will pick up as he will likely play the 2025 season on his fifth-year option.
Phillips is also coming off two major season-ending injuries, a torn Achilles in 2023 and a torn ACL in 2024.
We examine the pros and cons of a potential Phillips trade and the potential thought process behind Barnwell’s proposal.
The main pro for this potential Phillips trade is the Dolphins moving up in the first round of the upcoming draft. Barnwell cited the idea that the Dolphins should try to get in front of the Dallas Cowboys to select a defensive lineman.
This makes sense from the Dolphins’ perspective, as the team is incredibly thin on the defensive line, especially on the interior. Currently, the team has just two interior defensive linemen who are expected to play significant snaps next season.
Zach Sieler is a budding star, but Benito Jones is a limited role player who shouldn’t be expected to be highly productive.
Moving up from 13 to 11 to draft a player like Michigan’s Kenneth Grant could make sense for the Dolphins. Obviously, giving up Phillips to do it isn’t ideal, but the Dolphins have a lot more depth at edge rusher than on the interior.
Bradley Chubb is returning next season, and he’ll be paired with Chop Robinson after he had an excellent second half of the 2024 season. From a depth perspective, the Dolphins have Mohamed Kamara, William Bradley-King and Quinton Bell.
There’s a fair argument that the Dolphins need help at edge rusher, too, but they’re at least deeper at that spot.
The other pro of a potential Phillips trade is avoiding paying Phillips a significant long-term contract. As mentioned earlier, Phillips is slated to play on his fifth-year option this coming season, accounting for $13.3 million against the cap.
That’s a bargain if Phillips returns to his pre-injury levels, but that’s a tough bet to make. We know Phillips’ work ethic is incredible, but he’s played in just 12 games across the last two seasons.
It would be hard to blame to the Dolphins for not wanting to commit significant dollars to Phillips long-term. In Barnwell’s scenario, the Dolphins would get some value for Phillips without taking the risk that he would get hurt again in 2025.
There are several issues with Barnwell’s proposal and the idea of trading Phillips in general.
For starters, merely netting a fourth-round pick and moving up two spots in the draft is not much value for a player with Phillips’ upside. Barnwell noted that Phillips’ value in the trade would be equivalent to the 91st pick in the draft.
Phillips’ numbers from last season aren’t great because he played in only four games, but he recorded 22 sacks in his first three seasons, including 6.5 before his Achilles injury eight games into the 2023 season.
A player with that caliber of pass-rush upside is worth much more than the 91st pick in the draft, even with Phillips’ recent struggles to stay on the field. Plus, the Dolphins already have five picks on Day 3 of the draft, so adding an additional fourth-rounder doesn’t make sense.
While Phillips’ value in a vacuum is subjective, his potential value to the Dolphins this season isn’t. Although Miami has some edge depth, Phillips is arguably the best player in that room.
Robinson had a nice end to his rookie season but is still a developing player. Chubb has his own injury concerns, and none of the other depth players have anything close to Phillips’ pedigree. Simply put, the Dolphins need Phillips to play well this season.
Head coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier are under a lot of pressure to win games this coming season. The chance that the Dolphins get a player with more talent than Phillips in the draft or at this point in free agency is pretty low.
Even if they chose to replace Phillips with another edge rusher in Barnwell’s hypothetical trade-up, they’d choose between players like Shemar Stewart, Mike Green, Mykel Williams and James Pearce.
Those are good players and wouldn’t be bad picks, but they’re entirely unproven. The Dolphins aren’t in a position to be cycling through talent — they need as much talent as possible all over the roster.
The Dolphins trading Phillips isn’t the worst idea, but moving him to jump up two spots and add a sixth Day 3 pick doesn’t make Miami better in 2025, which should be the team’s focus.
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Miami, FL
New video shows Hungarian man charged in 2 Miami-Dade murders

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – New video evidence has come to light showing the man who detectives say is a confessed brutal murderer.
Police say Zsolt Zsolyomi is seen in surveillance video near the scene where one of his two suspected victims was found gruesomely killed.
Officials believe the video shows the 26-year-old outside the Miami Beach apartment building on Pennsylvania Avenue back in November, the night before 66-year-old Carlos Villaquiran was found face down in six inches of bathtub water, strangled to death.
Zsolyomi is first seen at 11:08 p.m. dressed in black with a ball cap on, walking back and forth.
About 20 minutes later, he’s seen smoking a cigarette.
Another 15 minutes pass and the man in the video is seen opening up a dumpster and appearing to drop something in it.
Months later, his second suspected victim in Little Havana, Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco, was found dead in the driver seat of his crashed car, also strangled with both front seat-belts wrapped around his neck.
Police say Zsolyomi was recorded walking out of the vehicle and leaving the scene before officers arrived.
Investigators say both victims were older, gay and disabled.
Zsolyomi is from Hungary and was in the country illegally at the time of the murders after overstaying his visa.
He was arrested on Feb. 19 for the murders of the two men.
And while he was put on an immigration hold, he has not been deported.
Jail records show he is still behind bars in Miami Dade on a no bond hold, waiting for his next day in court which is scheduled for May.
If convicted, Zsolyomi could also be one of the first to fall under a new Florida law calling for the automatic death sentence of undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes like murder.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Miami, FL
Miami Heat Have Put Bad Habits On Display in 0-3 Run vs. Chicago Bulls

The Miami Heat have come up short in each of the last three months when facing the Chicago Bulls. As a result, they’ll open the postseason at the United Center as the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in round.
In order to play one more game beyond Wednesday’s 9-10 matchup, the Heat must find a way to secure a different result. Erik Spoelstra has won head-to-head matchups in play-ins against Billy Donovan in each of the past two years, but is just 13-16 against his coaching counterpart after his Heat has suffered three losses to the Bulls in a 70-day span.
An inability to hold leads or get a handle on Bulls star Josh Giddey has hindered Miami, and if you don’t study history, you’re doomed to repeat it. Spoelstra will be reminding his team of how they’ve come up short, so we’ll do the same here. Below is a snapshot at how the meetings between these teams unfolded:
Feb. 4 – Bulls won 133-124 at United Center
Miami had a couple of days to prepare for this game after opening February with a win in San Antonio but fell despite a 70-point first half and a 12-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis shot 10-for-10 to share top scoring honors with Giddey (24 points).
Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball, each out for the year, were in Chicago’s starting five. Miami was two days away from moving Jimmy Butler, who was banished from the team, so its bench consisted of the currently injured Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Terry Rozier and Alec Burks. Only Burks is expected to see extensive action in this play-in game.The teams combined to hit 36 3-pointers, firing up 85.
March 8 – Bulls won 114-109 at Kaseya Center
This marked the third loss during the Heat’s 10-game skid last month, but was the first game they were favored in. After strong performances against the Cavs and Timberwolves, Miami was expected to handle Chicago at home, led 36-24 after a quarter and entered the fourth up 89-78. The Heat again fell apart in the fourth, lost the rebounding battle and were caught from behind despite the Bulls shooting 13-for-43 from 3-point range.
Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 22 points, but Kyle Anderson was still catching DNPs from Spoelstra and Rozier remained a key reserve, scoring 15 points and hitting five 3-pointers. Giddey finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, while Zach Collins added 18 points and 15 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic sat, but the Bulls did have their trade deadline acquisitions, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter. Jones had a huge steal and bucket in the final minute, while Giddey knocked down a huge 3-pointer late to help seal the comeback win.
April 9 – Bulls won 119-111 at United Center
In a game Miami needed to give itself a chance to claw out of the No. 10 seed, it again led after a quarter but were terrorized by Giddey, who finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Vucevic also shined with 20 points, 11 boards and eight assists, while Huerter added 22 points and seven assists. Coby White missed all five of his 3-point attempts but picked it up in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points. Buzelis added 17, so all five Chicago starters scored in double-figures.
Wiggins returned from a lengthy absence due to hamstring issues for the Heat and played well, but wasn’t as explosive as he had been before his injury. Adebayo shot just 6-for-15 and will need to be better. Tyler Herro scored 30 points but was criticized for pulling up for a 3-pointer instead of taking a wide open layup following a steal with Miami down five in the game’s final minute. Davion Mitchell was the Heat’s best player, finishing with 17 points, eight assists and four steals.
Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com
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