Miami Dolphins free agent history

With Bill Parcells now gone from the team, there was no questions about who was running the front office. Stephen Ross was now in his 2nd season as the majority owner of the Dolphins and he was ready to spend the money to get talent to Miami. That fell on the shoulders of Ireland and the hopes that the team could turn it around. Internal friction was at an all-time high after the Stephen Ross Jeff Ireland flight to talk with Jim Harbaugh. Tony Sparano’s fractured relationship with Ireland and his disdain for Stephen Ross was boiling over and to top it all off the NFL was in a lockout delaying the start of free agency until just before the start of training camps.

2011

The Dolphins began the off-season not knowing what was going to happen by the time the league new year started. The lockout held teams at bay until two weeks before the start of training camp. Jeff Ireland made a quick impact by signing linebacker Kevin Burnett and quarterback Matt Moore. Ireland also added running back Reggie Bush in a trade with the New Orleans Saints. Miami lost running back Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Tyler Thigpen, and Pat McQuistan to the market.

2012

Midway through a dismal 2011 season the Dolphins fired Tony Sparano and named Todd Bowles the interim head coach. Miami would hire Joe Philbin after failing to attract Jeff Fisher to Miami. The Dolphins had solid cap space for free agent spending and both Ireland and Ross wanted to give Philbin all the tools to make a quick turnaround from the season before.

2012 was not a quick turnaround for the Dolphins on the field and their free agent signings didn’t help. Miami spent too much on cornerback Richard Marshall and wideout Legedu Naane. Both of whom had poor performances with the Dolphins. Ireland began the off-season however by trading Brandon Marshall to the Bears for two 3rd round picks. He also traded cornerback Vontae Davis to the Colts, a move that was highlighted on HBO’s Hard Knocks series.

Of the six players Ireland signed in free agency, only the two mentioned made the active roster. Miami lost Will Allen, Yeremiah Bell, Chad Henne, Kendall Langford, and Marvin Mitchell to free agency.

2013

With money to spend, Ireland began a trend that would follow the Dolphins each off-season to now. Ireland spent big in free agency adding linebacker’s Dannell Ellerbe and Phillip Wheeler, wide-receiver Brandon Gibson, tight-end Dustin Keller, Vaughn Martin, and cornerback Brent Grimes. The big free agent signing however was receiver Mike Wallace who would have a very tumultous two seasons in Miami despite his enormous contract.

Only Brent Grimes remains with the Dolphins and Grimes was able to recover completely from an injury that sidelined him with the Falcons a year before. Ellerbe and Wheeler didn’t fit well with the Kevin Coyle defense and their production dropped considerably from the previous season. Wheeler was interesting because the Dolphins could have signed him a year before for a lot less money but decided not to. After one season in Oakland, Wheeler had his career year and the Dolphins rewarded him with a big contract. Neither Wheeler or Ellerbe had the defensive impact that was expected.

Miami would also see a few players leave via free agency, most notably Reggie Bush, whose production was still valuable but his contract wishes were something that the Dolphins did not want to pay. The Dolphins also lost Anthony Fasano, Jake Long, Tony McDaniel, and corner back Sean Smith. With both Smith and Davis now gone, Miami was banking on the play of Brent Grimes and a pair of rookie draft picks. Jamar Taylor and Will Davis.

2013 would also be rocked by the Bully-Gate scandal and eventually cost several staff members their jobs.

Next: Dennis Hickey