Dolphins Made Risky Bet With What They Told De'Von Achane

Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane had a breakout season in 2025, rushing for a career-high 1,350 yards and eight touchdowns.

Achane added another 488 yards receiving and four touchdowns in the passing game.

The new regime of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley decided Achane would be a key part of their rebuild, signing the running back to a four-year $64 million deal.

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During an appearance on Terron Armstead’s podcast “The Set” on Monday, Achane revealed that Sullivan and Hafley said the Dolphins were not planning on trading him. They envision him as a key player to build the offense around.

“I feel like they kind of made it clear that … we’re not trading him, he’s one of the players that we’re going to build the offense around,” Achane said, via a transcription from NFL Media. “That was something that (they) kind of said off the get-go, so I wasn’t worried about that.

“I talked to both of them 1-on-1 when they first got here, and they kind of laid out all this stuff, like, ‘we’re not trading you.’ That was set from the get-go.”

The Dolphins are taking a risk by building the offense around their running back this season. Miami could have received good value for Achane in the trade market, selling high after his promising season in 2025.

What’s more curious is that the Dolphins decided to keep Achane and trade wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, something new quarterback Malik Willis took issue with this offseason. The move to trade Waddle came after the team released Tyreek Hill.

Miami has issues on the offensive line and at receiver. It’s unclear how Achane will perform this season as league defenses focus their attention on one of the few playmakers on the Dolphins.

The Dolphins could have attempted to build the offense around Achane, Willis, and Waddle. Instead, Miami will hope its backfield can produce enough to keep the passing game interesting, but the prospect doesn’t look promising this spring.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 8:43 PM.