Five bold moves the Dolphins can make ahead of free agency
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are weeks away from the start of the NFL league new year. As March approaches the Dolphins will have a lot of internal work to do.
One of the biggest jobs the Dolphins will have will be to re-sign some of their own players, release some players, and then get ready to sign some players to finish the roster ahead of the draft in April.
The next three and a half weeks will be busy followed by an intense period of two months where the Dolphins scouts and executives will be thrust into the chaotic world of pre-draft preparations.
Miami has 21 impending free agents but not all of them are unrestricted. Most of this has been covered in previous articles regarding the free agency period so we won’t rehash it again here. What we will do is look at five bold moves that the Dolphins could and maybe should make prior to the start of the free agency period. They may not be the most popular.
A look below will show you the unrestricted group of free agents courtesy of Spotrac.
Most of the buzz seems centered on two players from this list. Defensive end Andre Branch and wide-receiver Kenny Stills. And this is a good place to start.
Kenny Stills
Miami has reported that they would like to keep Stills but the price has to be right. As the days pass and free agency creeps towards beginning, Stills’ rumored contract figures are climbing closer to $8 million per season. That is an increase of almost two million since the season ended.
Now of course rumors are just that and for now it’s hard to determine what the market will be for Stills. That will likely become more clear when the teams gather at this years NFL Combine in Indianapolis and Miami will get more information from his agent.
Miami should strongly consider not getting into a negotiation with Stills’ camp. The Dolphins can allow Stills to leave and spend that money on the other side of the ball where it’s needed far more. Stills had a very good season in 2017 but the Adam Gase offensive system should be able to absorb the nine touchdowns that Stills gave the team.
Stills has value to Miami especially given the rapport he has with Ryan Tannehill but how much of that value can Miami actually afford to pay? The Dolphins still have to look at Jarvis Landry’s contract as well and that could hinder any deep negotiations with Stills if indeed his price tag continues to rise.