Zach Sieler knows his name has come up as the November 10 trade deadline gets closer. The Miami Dolphins defensive tackle made clear this week where he wants to be. “I would love to stay here,” he said before Sunday’s home game against the New England Patriots.
Albert Breer reported on Friday that the Dolphins have turned away several teams that called about trading for Sieler and center Aaron Brewer. Miami is 1-5 after beating the New York Jets 28-25 last week for its first win under new head coach Jeff Hafley, but the team does not appear ready to move one of the leaders of its defense.
“God has a plan”
Sieler was asked whether he would ever go to general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and ask not to be traded. He said that is not how he works. “I’ve always been kind of a guy, I’m just going to keep working every day and whatever happens happens,” he said. “God has a plan. But I’ve had some talks with some people.”
Then he explained why he hopes to stay. “I would love to stay here. The time I put in here, the players here, I really feel connected to the fans here, and just everyone down here in South Florida is just amazing,” Sieler said. “So to be able to see the ship turn and be a part of that would be huge.” It would “mean a lot to me,” he said. “So it’s exciting, but you know, whatever happens happens, and I’m prepared for the journey.”
Asked if he senses that the team wants to keep him, he said: “I would hope so.” He praised Sullivan, Hafley and the rest of the staff for “being open and honest,” and added: “I respect the heck out of them.” If something does happen, he said, “it’s a two-way street.”
Seven years in Miami
Sieler, 31, was a seventh-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 out of Ferris State and joined the Dolphins in 2019. He became one of the best interior pass rushers in the league in Miami, with back-to-back 10-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, the most by a Dolphins defensive tackle in a single season. This season he has 17 tackles, two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in six games. He is under contract through 2029.
“We can do this”
Sieler said the win in New Jersey gave the young team something it needed. “Confidence. Just the confidence from the guys to be like, look, we can play in the league, we can do this, like what we’re doing is working,” he said. “We just got to keep believing in it.” He wants Miami to “hopefully go back to back.”
He also said the Dolphins reviewed the win the same way they would have reviewed a loss, as Hafley asked them to. “You want the same lens on a win or a loss on your technique, on your fundamentals,” he said. “Because it’s obviously a lot easier to sit there and feel good about it.” Sieler said the young defensive linemen around him are now “helping take some stuff off my plate,” so the line can “play faster as a unit.” He also liked Hafley’s fourth-and-1 decision at the end of the Jets game: “It’s not players, it’s not coaches. It’s all of us as one to win these games.”
Josh Uche faces his first team
Edge rusher Josh Uche will see a familiar opponent on Sunday. The Miami native was a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2020 and spent four-plus seasons in New England, including an 11.5-sack season in 2022, before he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2024 season. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles last season and signed with his hometown team this year. He has 25 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble in six games for Miami.
Asked what he thinks about when he looks back on New England, Uche said: “Some close friends, growth. I was 21 years old. Some great people, great memories and just, you know, some tough football.” As a Miami kid living in Foxborough, he said, “I definitely didn’t really fit in,” but he found his group of people in the building. He said the Patriots still have the “DNA of New England,” which means “discipline, well-coached football,” and he expects “a tough, physical game.”
Uche said he wants to stay in Miami for a while, and he listed his reasons. “I think it starts with the head coach, just the energy he brings, no toxicity, it’s all football, all ball, all details, all discipline,” he said. Next, he named defensive line coach Austin Clark and “that old school type of football,” and then the locker room. “Regardless of the situation, regardless of the outcome, there’s no pointing fingers,” he said. “It’s just like, we’re just bros.”
The 4-3 Patriots visit the 1-5 Dolphins on Sunday, November 1, at 4:25 p.m. ET, which is 11:25 p.m. in Cairo.
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