Will Miami Dolphins Pursue Evan Mathis

The Philadelphia Eagles released Evan Mathis on Thursday. Naturally, many fans want the Miami Dolphins to pursue him. The questions of whether they should has been debated since before the draft when many thought Miami would make a play for the 33 year old veteran guard. The answer is yes, they should.

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The Dolphins have gone all in along the defensive line. Recently adding C.J. Mosley to work as a back-up. Mosley has 10 years in the NFL and has bounced around team to team but still has enough left in his tank, or so the Dolphins believe. While Miami has been adjusting one of the worst run defenses in the NFL from a year ago, they have done nothing to truly help their offensive line.

Miami will enter the off-season with two major questions. Who will play at guard and who will play left tackle if Branden Albert isn’t ready for the start of the season. The latter question will come down to the back-ups during training camp. It’s not so much winning the job but showing they can handle for possibly a few weeks. Guard however is another problem in and of itself.

The Dolphins are set to give the right guard position to sophomore Billy Turner but Turner didn’t play his rookie year so as far as his experience goes, he’s a rookie. The Dolphins are very high on Turner and believe that he can make a lasting impression on the offensive line. Assuming that they are correct, the other side of the line poses a bigger question where fourth round rookie Jamil Douglas and possibly Dallas Thomas will battle for the job.

Douglas has potential but would you truly put the whole of your season and possibly your head coaching job on the shoulders of a rookie? A 4th round rookie at that? Evan Mathis isn’t a long term solution at the position and he will likely want somewhere between $6 million per season and a three year deal but Mathis immediately upgrades your offensive line. The tandem of Mathis and Albert could be the best left side combination in the NFL.

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Mathis also eliminates a glaring problem on your line. The Dolphins would line up Ja’wuan James, Billy Turner, Mike Pouncey, Mathis, and Albert to form a very solid offensive line that should be able to run and pass block. The latter especially important as Tannehill has been knocked to the ground far too many times in his short career.

The Dolphins are very good at structuring contracts so it’s likely Miami could get a deal done that will be satisfying to Mathis and easily absorbed by the team. For some reason, I don’t think the Dolphins will truly take a realistic look at the former all-pro. While the Dolphins continue to beef up their defensive line it’s sad that they continue steer clear of their offensive guard positions. They did very well in fixing the right and left tackle positions but guard is holding the offense back.

The question of whether Miami will pursue Mathis or not is irrelevant. The question is why wouldn’t they? Mathis makes the Dolphins offense better, he could make Ryan Tannehill better simply by his protection. Mathis is a rare free agent that would instantly upgrade the offensive line. There shouldn’t be a question.