The Miami Dolphins might’ve figured out their backup tackle situation.
Miami landed tackle Caedan Wallace and a 2029 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round selection.
This comes just minutes after the Dolphins placed kicked Zane Gonzalez on the season-ending injured reserve list, waived running back Anthony Hankerson and signed cornerback Nick McCloud. Unless Miami opts to bring in another kicker, Riley Patterson will be the starter for 2026. McCloud has played for four teams over the last five seasons and started 20 games.
A third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Wallace was en route to being waived Monday afternoon when the Dolphins swooped in with an offer, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Wallace appeared in 10 games — two of them starts — during his two-year stint with the Patriots. As a rookie, he oscillated between left tackle (40 snaps) and right tackle (58 snaps), according to Pro Football Focus. Wallace started 40 games at right tackle for Penn State.
The trade for Wallace proves that the Dolphins learned a valuable lesson: their backup tackle position could have been the downfall of this team. That’s because when right tackle Austin Jackson exited practice due to injury, his replacement — Charlie Heck— made edge Chop Robinson look like the second coming of Micah Parsons.
And while it didn’t quite work out for Wallace in New England, the expectations for the third-year pro won’t be as high considering the presence of Jackson.
The trade also somewhat solidifies rookie Kadyn Proctor’s place at left guard. A career left tackle, Proctor could eventually end up at his original position in the future but now, the Dolphins will to try him out at guard for the start of his NFL career. This idea, however, assumed Jackson stayed healthy, a non-guarantee considering he’s played just 32 games since 2022.
This story was originally published August 10, 2026 at 4:27 PM.
Miami Herald
C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.