Dontari Poe Leaves Miami Without A Contract
The Dolphins hosted free agent Dontari Poe on Wednesday for a visit. It was a lengthy visit, but Miami has not yet offered Poe a contract.
The Miami Dolphins hosted free agent DT Dontari Poe on Wednesday. It was the most recent, and possibly the last visit for Poe during this free agency period. Poe has also met with the Colts, Jaguars, and Falcons this offseason. Poe’s meeting at the Dolphins facility went for over nine hours according to the Miami Herald. Despite the lengthy visit, Poe left the facilities without a contract offer.
It comes as no surprise that Poe left Miami without a contract. Poe has expressed his desire for a lengthy contract, but teams are hesitant on offering him one. The former first round selection was known as one of the best run stuffing tackles in the league his first few seasons, but his production has fallen off some in the past couple of years. Last season, Poe finished with just 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.
Defensive tackles numbers can be deceiving at times because of the amount of double teams they see, but it’s concerning for Poe knowing that his 27 tackles were a career low. At age 26, it’s understandable that Poe would want a multi-year deal. On the contrary, it’s understandable that teams like the Dolphins would only want to offer Poe a one-year “prove-it” deal.
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Miami is looking for a player involved in the rotation along with Ndamukong Suh and Jordan Phillips. This player is likely to see around 20-25 snaps per game, and the Dolphins are not willing to throw big money at this type of player. With other decisions still to consider, such as extending Jarvis Landry, this is the right stance by the Dolphins.
The Dolphins could still look elsewhere to help fill the void at defensive tackle. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald pointed to Johnathan Hankins from the New York Giants as another possible target for Miami, and one that is quite possibly better than Poe. However, it’s also unlikely that the Dolphins offer Hankins a contract. Like Poe, Hankins is also seeking a long-term deal at roughly $8 million annually.
Miami would probably prefer to pay a maximum of $5 million annually on a short-term deal. If they cannot find anyone to their liking at that rate, look for them to address the position in the upcoming draft, but they’re not caving to offer any big contracts. As much as they may like Poe or Hankins, neither player is worth the amount of money they are seeking at this time.
Poe has now visited four teams, all of which have been reluctant to offer him a long-term deal based on his quality of play in the last two seasons. Hankins, on the other hand, has played well, and is a big reason why the Giants defense made a big improvement last season. However, his asking price is simply too high, and the primary reason why he hasn’t received any takers yet this offseason.
The Dolphins will be patient in finding another tackle, and in the meantime, you can expect Poe or Hankins to drop their asking price as time goes on should they remain unsigned. If Miami can agree to terms with either player at an acceptable price, then by all means, pull the trigger. If not, this is a deep defensive draft in which they can find a rookie to fill the rotation or seek a cheaper option in free agency.