2018 NFL free agents: Top five running backs available for Dolphins
That time is drawing near, the early phase of the off-season where the Dolphins have been filling holes in order to set up picking the best player on the board come draft time.
Or so they say, there are just too many holes for that to take place. But that’s another story. Focusing on the upcoming free agency the money will be spread too thin. After the projected cuts of Julius Thomas and Lawrence Timmons allocating some $12M. $16M is the amount the Dolphins will be on the hook for the moment Jarvis Landry signs his franchise tag tender that was offered him on the first day of eligibility.
The Dolphins have carryover of $8M so cut that in half. And that is what is left in this imaginary exercise. So the greater the asking price of the better FA’s the more you have to factor cuts made to allocate them. Also those cuts bring with them more holes to fill which has been the point of FA in the past for the Dolphins.
The top five FA RB’s according to NFL Trade Rumors and some contract estimates according to Spotrac.
Le’Veon Bell: this is the cream of the crop a playmaking game changer who is such an integral part of the Steelers they are willing to pay him $12M to keep him. He is projected to get tagged if he hasn’t been already. It isn’t even in the question he would be a target.
Dion Lewis: he is projected to be let go from the Patriots who won’t pay exorbitant prices for RB’s. That price is said to be over the $5M range. Local beat writer Armando Salguero is very high on this player. As for myself I don’t favor former Pats RB’s as they have mostly faltered after leaving, which might be due to the system they came from.
Jerick McKinnon: I could see some interest here by looking at his stats, almost half his production came from passes of which he nearly matched Jarvis Landry’s average coming just a half yard short on average. If the price is right (estimated $4M) he could be in the mix. But a big drawback could be him wanting a lead role.
Jerick McKinnon said he appreciated his role this season with the Vikings, but as he heads to free agency, he’d ideally like to go somewhere he can be the featured back: “I want bigger and better things for myself. We’ll see what happens.” #Vikings
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) January 22, 2018
Carlos Hyde: it’s odd but I felt he is older than he is which is 27. But anyway, the guy is more the bruiser type but is also good with passes having averaged six yards this last season. He appears to be getting better and it’s odd there is not much commitment from the 49ers to want to keep him. If he plays near a full season with a fair amount of carries he is going to get you close to 1k yards the passes are the cherry on top. However his asking price maybe too high being estimated close to $6M.
Damien Williams: I added him here rather than following the protocol of the list because I feel there is a fair chance he is brought back if the price is right. To me he had a down year. But that might be from my own expectations of his past performances with Ryan Tannehill with whom he might have better chemistry with. Looking at his last average yards per target catches downfield the season past it is nearly three more yards than what he had with Jay Cutler.
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Of the above five the names that pop out at you will most likely cost too much for the Dolphins to even think of signing. Unless something magical happens to open up more cap space.
There are a few more players way down the list I feel might fit. That is if my hunch is right on coach Gase wanting a pair of backs to work with ( he has stated he does) and if he wants them to be of similar function ( the power run came by chance)
read my old story on that here.
Those backs are Christine Michael from past performances and Mike James for potential, I’ll also add Storm Johnson to that last category who was with the Miami Dolphins but got passed over.
The biggest buzz will be for RB C.J. Anderson who is speculated to be cut by the Broncos but was later updated to them wanting a trade. He was almost a Dolphin player but the Broncos matched. And he also seems to be a fit as well as having a connection with coach Gase.