Phin Phanatic
FanSided

Miami Dolphins and AFC East rival Jets take different paths in free agency

By Brian Miller

ELMA, IA - JULY 25: Beef and hogs sides hang in the cooler awaiting processing at Elma Locker & Grocery on July 25, 2018 in Elma, Iowa. The locker custom butchers hogs and cattle and other livestock for area customers. According to the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the U.S. and the top state for pork exports. The state sends about 50 million hogs to market each year and its pork exports totaled more than $1.1 billion in 2017. Pork producers in Iowa are bracing for the impact a trade war with China and Mexico may have on their bottom line going forward. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
ELMA, IA - JULY 25: Beef and hogs sides hang in the cooler awaiting processing at Elma Locker & Grocery on July 25, 2018 in Elma, Iowa. The locker custom butchers hogs and cattle and other livestock for area customers. According to the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the U.S. and the top state for pork exports. The state sends about 50 million hogs to market each year and its pork exports totaled more than $1.1 billion in 2017. Pork producers in Iowa are bracing for the impact a trade war with China and Mexico may have on their bottom line going forward. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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The Miami Dolphins will play the Adam Gase led New York Jets twice each year until Gase gets fired and the two clubs took different routes in free agency.

One of the reasons that the Miami Dolphins moved on from Adam Gase is that he didn’t want to rebuild the roster. Instead, he wanted to win now. Defining the difference between win now and trying to win are two different things sometimes.

In Gase’s mind, winning now meant spend, spend, and spend. That wasn’t going to float with Stephen Ross who has over the years, spent, spent, and spent. The problem was that Adam Gase’s track record with adding new faces didn’t work out really well for Miami. Or Adam Gase.

Now Gase has moved on to the Jets and the Dolphins are moving forward with Brian Flores in what many view as a throwaway 2019 season as they rebuild the roster with a new mindset and vision.

Last Wednesday free agency began in the NFL and the Jets and Dolphins took two very different approaches to the NFL’s version of a meat market.

In Miami, the Dolphins have been one of the lowest spending teams in free agency. They have passed on Trey Flowers and allowed Ja’Wuan James and Cameron Wake to walk. Opting to change their team moving forward, the Dolphins have signed only a handful of low-cost veterans.

While Miami is sticking to their plan to spend a lot less the Jets and Adam Gase are the highest spending club in the NFL. The Jets have $117 million committed in guaranteed money.

New York is doing what the Dolphins have done for years, adding big name big-ticket free agents with the hopes to turn around the franchise. The Jets have added RB Le’Veon Bell, defensive stalwart C.J. Mosley, OG Keleche Osemele and others to their roster bolstering both sides of the ball. The question is will it work?

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Adam Gase is supposed to be an offensive genius but in Miami it wasn’t the quarterback or the running backs, receivers, or tight-ends that were the biggest issue. It was Adam Gase’s ego and play calling that eventually led him out of Miami.

This off-season has been a dynamic change for both clubs and the Jets are trying to position themselves to make a run at the Patriots. Miami is trying to make a run at a top quarterback prospect in 2020.

It is too early obviously to know which way is going to work out the best for each club but a few years from now we should have a better idea of whether or not Miami’s plan worked and if the Adam Gase era in New York is good or bad.

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