When the Miami Dolphins signed Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, they hoped he’d finally be the No. 3 receiver behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle that has eluded them the entire Mike McDaniel era. But a dozen games into his Dolphins tenure, Westbrook-Ikhine still hasn’t cracked 100 yards.

The former Tennessee Titans receiver, who caught nine touchdown passes last season, has just 11 receptions for 89 yards so far in 2025 and hasn’t scored a touchdown. In a Sunday victory over the New Orleans Saints, Westbrook-Ikhine played a season-low 13 offensive snaps and he hasn’t caught a pass in nearly a month.

But Westbrook-Ikhine’s participation over the next five weeks isn’t irrelevant. If the Dolphins shelved the receiver, they could actually reap a big reward in the offseason.

Here’s why:

The Dolphins currently aren’t projected to get any compensatory picks

When free agency happened earlier this year, it didn’t seem likely that the Dolphins would end up getting any compensatory picks in 2026. That suddenly had a chance to change when Calais Campbell signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals.

As of right now, it’s borderline for the Dolphins.

Nick Korte of Over The Cap currently projects the Dolphins not to receive a compensatory pick because the team added five players who qualify (Zach Wilson, James Daniels, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Larry Borom, Westbrook-Ikhine) and lost four (Jevón Holland, Emmanuel Ogbah, Robert Jones, and Campbell). Only teams with net losses receive picks.

But both Borom and Westbrook-Ikhine barely clear the threshold to qualify in the compensatory formula. Neither signed a particularly large contract with the Dolphins, but both have played just enough snaps to become compensatory free agents.

Borom, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Miami, has made 10 starts at right tackle this season in relief of Austin Jackson. But with Jackson back from injured reserve, Borom is a backup once again. With five weeks left, Borom has played in 86.1 percent of the Dolphins’ offensive snaps. If that number drops even a few percentage points, it would drop him below the cutoff and remove him from compensatory consideration. Barring another Jackson injury or a Patrick Paul injury, that seems like a given.

So that leave Westbrook-Ikhine, who has appeared in 48.7 percent of the Dolphins’ offensive snaps.

Miami needs that number to fall below 40 percent, at minimum. If Westbrook-Ikhine didn’t play another snap this season, it’d probably fall to about 34 percent or so.

That should be enough to do the trick and leave the Dolphins with more compensatory losses than gains.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s benching could earn Miami a 4th-round pick

If both Borom and Westbrook-Ikhine no longer qualified in the compensatory formula, the Dolphins would be in line for a pretty solid selection.

The lower-level additions of Wilson, Daniels, and Melifonwu would likely cancel out the similarly priced losses of Campbell, Ogbah, and Jones. The remaining free agent not cancelled out would be Holland, who signed a three-year, $45.3 million deal with the New York Giants.

That should be enough for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

Right now, the Dolphins have a decent stockpile of 2026 picks which includes a trio of third-round selections. But with a new general manager at the helm and needs all over the roster, adding another mid-round selection is a pretty attractive opportunity.

If all it takes is shelving a disappointing free agent addition to allow players like Cedrick Wilson Jr., Dee Eskridge, and Tahj Washington to take on increased roles, that feels like a no-brainer.