Will Miami Dolphins Spend In Free Agency?

The Miami Dolphins will not have a lot of money to spend in March but they will have some and can get creative to get more. In fact the Dolphins could come close to having $30 million in spending cash if they so choose. Of course with that comes the reality that holes will be created along both sides of the ball.

Some of those holes need to be replaced anyways. Phillip Wheeler and Dannell Ellerbe need to be upgraded but the question is will Miami spend in free agency?

An argument can be made that they will. Joe Philbin can not be comfortable on his seat as the head coach and with the addition of Mike Tannenbaum I would have to imagine that general manager Dennis Hickey isn’t either. With Stephen Ross desperately needing success from Philbin in 2015 to justify his retention of Philbin, it would seem Miami would go “all in” to make this coming season as good as it can be.

On the other side of that coin is the fact that after 2015 the team may see it’s coaching staff gone and another retool of the front office. That would make one more inclined not to spend but to save money that can carry over into 2016 where it could entice a new head coach with spending money. Of course you play to win now unless you are building for the future.

Miami isn’t winning now and doesn’t appear to be building towards any future and that is something that needs to change. Of course you can’t really build for a future that you don’t know much about. If this was year one or year two you have a clearer idea of what direction the team is heading but this will be year four and it doesn’t look much different than it did in year one sans a few new faces to replace some underperforming old ones.

That brings us back to the free agent market where the Dolphins could be players but not likely day one opening bell players. If the team wants to win next year they can’t throw money at names like Ndamukon Suh. Or Demarco Murray. Or Dez Bryant. Or, well you get the picture. They need to be frugal in both their spending and their personnel choices. A solid free agency will make the team a lot better but heading solely into the draft to fix the problems will not solve anything this year. Not that free agency will.

It’s a very thin line that Dennis Hickey will need to walk in order to make this work and an even thinner line that Joe Philbin will walk to put into play on the field. The problem facing the Dolphins is they need both starters, guard, linebacker, cornerback, as well as solid depth players at safety, linebacker, offensive line.

It’s a make or break off-season that could make or break the season late. The Dolphins have little room for error as many believe the days of Buffalo and New York being walkovers are over and the Patriots who are one game away from another Super Bowl show no signs of slowing down. Miami is neither climbing nor regressing and that too is a huge problem.