The curious case of Miami Dolphins safety Reshad Jones

All Miami Dolphin fans know and understand is that their team is currently in a rebuild.  The Dolphins front office has moved on from aging players, but why is Reshad Jones still on the roster?

In case you have missed it Reshad Jones is the highest paid player currently on the Miami Dolphins roster.  Additionally, Jones is also one of the oldest players, and, he’s coming off his second reconstructive surgery on the same shoulder.  Oh, and don’t forget that he actually walked away from the team. Jones didn’t go AWOL, a la, Lawrence Timmons, rather Jones just decided that he didn’t want to play for his coaches (Adam Gase, Head Coach, and Matt Burke, Defensive Coordinator) and refused to go back on the field.

Rewind to last year, where the previous coaching staff drafted Minkah Fitzpatrick (a safety) and gave Reshad Jones a massive contract extension, you can fully understand why they were shown the door this off-season.  And lastly, with all this drama surrounding him, Jones decided it was best to skip OTA (Organized Team Activities).

All this drama, for one player and the Dolphin’s, haven’t even taken the field.  So what should the Dolphins do? Let’s break it down.

Trade him:

First, everyone needs to understand the following – Reshad Jones cap hit is 17MM.  If the Dolphins were to cut him, they would incur 25.35MM cap penalty, meaning it would cost them more to cut him than to have Jones on the roster (that right there should make you understand that Mike Tannenbaum is a complete insert comment)

You limit your trade partners, simple due to the fact that any team interested in Jones would have to over 10MM in cap space.

Based on the above, the Colts, Texans, and Browns all have over 30MM in cap space and could be ideal partners.  The interesting point is that all of them are also playoff contenders, so they could ease Jones into their lineup and hope he can be ready for the playoffs – which is something that Jones has never experienced.

In terms of what the Dolphins could expect back? Potentially, a 3rd rounder in 2021 or a 4th rounder in 2020.  To be honest, if the Dolphins could get an additional 3rd rounder, the year Trevor Lawrence becomes eligible, you make that trade right now.  By trading Jones, the would also obtain 13.1MM in cap space.

Release him:

Based on Jones’ contract, releasing him isn’t the option.  It would cost the Dolphins too much, as such, it’s not the ideal solution.  Just an FYI – if Jones plays out this upcoming season for the Dolphins, next year, the Dolphins can cut him outright and save 11.5MM against their cap.

Keep him:

Maybe Brian Flores and Reshad Jones had a great meeting and have worked out a way to co-exist.  I doubt it, but that is just my opinion. The Dolphins are stacked at the Safety position. TJ McDonald, looks to be the starting Strong Safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick is the starting Free Safety – since Jones skipped OTA, that is how the Dolphins lined up.   Now there has been talk about moving Bobby McCain to Free Safety and keeping Minkah at slot corner or even boundary corner opposite Xavien Howard.

What we are seeing is that B-Flo is building a team without Jones on the field. If Jones is on the field, based on his previous reactions, the Dolphins know that you can’t substitute him on and off the field, as he will just stay off the field.  So does B Flo decide to do something creative and build a base defense that allows his best players to be on the field at the same time?

The most ideal solution is to trade Jones to a contender.  It makes sense for both him and the Dolphins. By keeping Jones, the Dolphins could potentially explore using a vast array of formations; 3-2-6 or even 3-3-5.   What this will allow is to have the best players on the field.

The strength of the Dolphins defense is in their secondary. Regardless of what is going on with Jones, he is probably their 3rd best player on the team in terms of talent.

Minkah, Xavien, TJ, McCain, and Jones is a legit and probably a top 10 secondary in the league. The Dolphins lack talent on their defensive line and their linebackers are maturing, but there is a lot of unknowns in those two units. One thing to note, the Patriots last year, under Brian Flores, ran a 6 deep secondary 27% of the time – highest in the NFL last season.

Taking everything into consideration, Jones is one of the longest tenured Dolphin on the current roster, but he’s more of a ticking time bomb.  The Dolphins hope to be competitive this season, but with all their flaws, will Jones break out of his shell and demand a trade if the Dolphins start 0 and 4 – what happens if that goes to 1-9.

Let’s face the facts, Jones is on the wrong side of 30, he’s got a few more productive years left. Moving to a contender is the best option for him to build out his legacy and doesn’t block the development of Minkah Fitzpatrick.  Reshad Jones, thank you for your time, but the curiosity is over and it’s time to end this drama.