Breaking News: Dolphins Ink Brent Grimes To 1 Year Deal

Aug 16, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons corner back Brent Grimes (20) tackles Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Brandon Tate (19) during the second quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Josh D. Weiss-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins, in front of the April draft, are still plugging holes.  While they used a bulk of their future salary cap to ink WR Mike Wallace, they have signed quite a few players to short term “prove it” type deals.  Today, they have added another.  Former Atlanta Falcon CB Brent Grimes has chosen a one year deal with the Dolphins.

Grimes had two year deals on the table from two other teams, most notably the Cleveland Browns but he chose the one year deal with Miami instead.  Grimes is one of the better zone coverage corners in the NFL however his season was derailed last year by an Achilles tear that ended his season.

Grimes would have likely been the top free agent corner on the market had he not incurred last years injury.  He will not be available for a full slate of the OTA sessions but he appears to be making enough progress to be available sometime during training camp.

The biggest question with Grimes, aside from the fact that he is a small corner, is his injury and his ability to come back from it.  The Dolphins are also banking on the same from OG Lance Louis who is also recovering from an injury.  The Dolphins and Jeff Ireland are banking on their medical team to get these guys back 100%.

Regardless, the Dolphins will be facing a tough 2014 free agent road when most of the players are going to hit the market after one year deals.  In addition to Lance Louis and Brent Grimes, the Dolphins will also closely watch the progression of TE Dustin Keller.

For now, the Dolphins have added their first corner-back of the free agent season.  While it will not shore up the secondary, it will give the Dolphins more options with their early draft picks.  The Dolphins currently have six in the first four rounds.  1 1st, 2 seconds, 2 thirds, and 2 fourths.

UPDATE:  The deal is reportedly worth 5.5 million dollars on the one year.  It’s a high end contract this off-season for corners.  There is likely incentives built in and it’s unknown what the guaranteed money is.  It’s likely the Dolphins will now try to restructure Dimitri Patterson and possibly Richard Marshall as well.  Patterson is due to earn 4.6 million this season and the Dolphins will likely look to the draft to find the competition for Grimes and Marshall.

Grimes told media that the Dolphins really wanted him in Miami and that is why he chose to go with the Phins over multi-year deals elsewhere.