Dolphins Carroll To Hit Market
By Brian Miller
Sep 15, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Miami Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll (28) against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
There is only a few days left between now and the start of free agency. There are fewer days between now and the official start to legal tampering. Teams can not start talking to players until the start of free agency but they can start discussing contracts with that players agent on Saturday. So far the Miami Dolphins have locked up one of their impending free agents. Brent Grimes. Another, Nolan Carroll is ready to test the waters of free agency.
The Dolphins have expressed interest in bringing back the 22 game starter but despite his good 2013 the Dolphins still do not view him as a must have starting CB. So while it’s likely Carroll received a low ball offer, he will hit free agency where he will get a good idea of what other teams value him at. The Vikings could be the first team to kick those preverbal tires.
According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Carroll is drawing unofficial interest from the Vikings where former Dolphin GM Rick Spielman still calls the shots. No there is no connection between the two. The fact that Carroll is drawing interest early has to be a solid indicator of the interest that Paul Solia and Randy Starks will be greeted with. Both are Pro-Bowl defensive lineman in a buyers market.
In the case of Solia, his agent David Canter has said that while the door isn’t closed to a return it doesn’t look good. Randy Starks has apparently moved out of his home in Miami and is waiting to see what happens come next Tuesday and the days afterwards when the tours begin. Aside from those three, there hasn’t been much talk about Miami’s other scheduled to be free agents.
The entire line will have to be remade outside of Mike Pouncey. Tyson Clabo, John Jerry, Bryant McKinnie, and Richie Incognito will all be free agents while Jonathan Martin’s agent has expressed that Martin may not want to come back to Miami even if they ask him to. The line is expected to be a big part of the early free agency period for Miami. Two other back-up lineman, Will Yeatman and Danny Watkins are also hitting free agency as are guards David Arkin and Randy Thomas.
Chris Clemons is still on Miami’s radar but it’s unknown if any talks have started let alone are ongoing. Dustin Keller is coming off a major knee reconstruction but his veteran minimum is still pretty high for a guy who may not get on the field this year. Armon Binns and Marlon Moore are slated to become free agents while on defense LB Jonathan Freeney and CB RJ Stanford will hit the market barring new deals.
With Brent Grimes no longer in the “need to” column, the Dolphins can work on prepping for the opening of the market while they consider the futures of their remaining free agents to be.