The Miami Dolphins' major setbacks this week with Malik Willis and Zach Sieler going on IR very well might slow down or stop the progress they had made in recent weeks, but they could prove beneficial if the objective is for the team to land the highest possible pick in the 2027 NFL draft.

In fact, it's not outrageous to suggest they might have taken the lead as the most likely to land the No. 1 overall pick.

The Dolphins currently hold the No. 3 position with their 1-7 record, standing behind only the winless Los Angeles Chargers and the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have the same 1-7 record as the Dolphins, but would have the tiebreaker advantage with the strength of schedule, where the weaker the opponent combined winning percentage the better for these purposes and Tennessee has a huge advantage right now at .428 compared to .627 for Miami.

That .627 is the highest in the NFL, which will punish the Dolphins two different ways, and even now it's probably fair to suggest the Dolphins will lose out in just about any tiebreaker scenario.

The question then becomes whether the Dolphins will finish with the worst record in the NFL, which has become more of a possibility after the losses of Willis and Sieler, and who their competition will be for that distinction.

In that sense, it actually was a pretty good trade deadline for Miami.

THE NON-MOVES THAT HELPED

Heading into Week 10 of the 2026 regular season, seven teams find themselves with two or fewer wins, and Washington has one tie along with their two wins.

The other six are the Chargers, Titans, Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts.

Among those teams, the players who were traded this week were Jets safety Andre Cisco, Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis, Titans safety Amani Hooker, and Colts wide receivers Josh Downs and Keenan Allen.

But it could have been a lot worse.

The Eagles had a trade to send edge defender Arnold Ebiketie to the Cincinnati Bengals before it was nixed when the Bengals discovered it might hurt them with compensatory picks down the line. The Chargers had a trade in place to send starting linebacker Daiyan Henley to the Denver Broncos for two draft picks until the Broncos rescinded the deal overnight.

And then there were the other players who once were believed to be on the move who stayed put. The Colts, for example, once were believed to maybe be trading Jonathan Taylor and/or Daniel Jones. The Chargers supposedly would entertain the idea of moving Khalil Mack and/or Derwin James.

Hanging on to those players could or should help the Chargers and Colts win some games down the line — maybe in the case of the Chargers as dysfunctional as their offense has been all season.

That's obviously good for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins will face both of those teams down the stretch, starting with the Colts this Sunday, where a loss will be a win when it comes to the 2027 draft.

The next two weeks are big for the Chargers — and consequently for the Dolphins — with a Monday night game against the Ravens and new starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett followed by a home game against the Jets.

The Titans had their bye last weekend after tough losses against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, but don't have many games down the stretch that would be categorized as very winnable — the two that come to mind are home games against Washington in Week 13 and Indianapolis in Week 15.

With Simmons and Hooker gone from the defense, Tennessee looks like a strong candidate to end up with the first overall pick for the second time in three years.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, looked like they were ready to win some games after their close losses against New England and Detroit, but the outlook has changed because they'll now be starting a quarterback who's never played a down in the NFL and be without one of their best defensive players.

The Dolphins will face the Colts and the Jets over the next three weeks when Willis will be on IR and Kyle McCord will be at quarterback, but maybe Willis will be back for the Week 16 game against the Chargers, one that could have major draft ramifications.

The bottom line is the Dolphins look more likely to have a shot at the top pick now — after the Willis and Sieler news and after the trade deadline — than they did at the start of the week.