Miami Dolphins should not bring back Albert Wilson in 2020

The Miami Dolphins do not need salary cap space but they do have salaries that they should not be paying and Albert Wilson has one of them.

Albert Wilson is an exciting player watch when he has the ball in his hands and he can electrify and offense but the Miami Dolphins are paying him way too much for a player that isn’t a number one receiver.

In 2020, receiver Albert Wilson will count $10.8 million against the salary cap. The Dolphins are expected to have $94 million in cap space but releasing Wilson will push the Dolphins coffer to over $100 million. Wilson’s release would add $9.5 million to cap space with only $1.3 million in dead space.

$10 million is a lot pay a receiver who hasn’t hit the level that the team expected. In 2018, Wilson was moved to the IR after a hip injury ended his season. He appeared in only seven games that year. In 2019, he returned to appear in 13 games starting four of them.

Wilson has 742 yards on 69 receptions in his two seasons with the Dolphins. He has 5 touchdowns and averages 10.8 yards per catch. While it’s not fair to compare players, especially when injuries are involved, Isaiah Ford in 2019 had 244 yards and posted 10.6 yards per carry. His salary in 2020 will be an ERFA tender deal.

More from Phin Phanatic

• 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
• Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
• 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
• Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
• The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft

Wilson has everything you want in a receiver, on paper, but he has yet to explode in this offense. To be fair, his recovery from the hip injury was tough and he wasn’t the same player he was before the injury, at least not early on. That is expected. The question is whether or not the Dolphins view him as a viable top receiving option in 2020 because if they don’t see him in a big role, they need to let him go.

Wilson isn’t likely going to take a pay cut, he would do better on the free-agent market than what he might likely restructure in Miami for. He won’t get $10 million on the market though either. Trading him is unlikely as his salary is high and the compensation would be a late to late mid-round draft pick at best. Even if the Dolphins were to eat some of that contract, they wouldn’t get much in return.

The best action for the Dolphins is to either make him a big part of their offensive plans or release him.