The consequences of the big AFC East trades for the Miami Dolphins

The AFC East landscape certainly got a new look on Tuesday with not one but two major trades, sending star wide receivers to the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets.

The quick reaction from the Miami Dolphins' perspective is that their hopes of winning the AFC East – assuming they even solve their problems – suffered a minor setback when Davante Adams was traded to the Jets and Amari Cooper headed to Buffalo.

Even from a wild card perspective, the trades are likely to make things more difficult for the Dolphins. They still have two games left against the Jets, who will be harder to beat with Adams, and one against the Bills, who were already a problem for the Dolphins without Cooper.

On the other hand, the Dolphins' matchups against the Las Vegas Raiders on November 17th and the Cleveland Browns on December 29th should be even more in their favor than before, as these two teams have already had offensive challenges with Adams and Cooper, respectively.

Another effect of the Cooper trade is the increasing likelihood that the Week 17 game at Huntington Bank Field will be moved from its current Sunday night slot — because the Browns look like a dumpster fire right now, and they don't look that way , as if they were. I'll feel better soon.

The two wide receiver trades will make the Dolphins' remaining schedule more difficult. The games against Las Vegas and Cleveland already looked like matchups that the Dolphins should win.

With the addition of Adams to an offense that also includes Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard, the Jets now have one of the best wide receiver trios in the NFL. If Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle can get going and Odell Beckham Jr. can make the impact he hopes for, the Dolphins could be in the conversation.

Other top trios include Seattle's DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jackson Smith-Njigba; San Francisco with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings; Houston with Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell; and Tennessee with DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd.

But as mentioned, Hill and Waddle have been pretty quiet since the Dolphins' opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they'll need to get back to their highly productive ways if Miami wants to get things back on track and make a push for the playoffs.

The Cooper and Adams trades came exactly three weeks before the NFL trade deadline, and it would certainly make sense to expect more moves around the league.

The Dolphins could potentially be involved in one of these cases, but if they were, it would certainly be something other than a big-name wide receiver like Davante Adams or Amari Cooper.