23 days until FA and the Miami Dolphins have players to address
By Brian Miller
The NFL’s new year will kick-off in 23 days and teams like the Miami Dolphins have decisions to make on their roster before it arrives.
With free agents pending and some players that may not be back next season whose salaries will be purged, there is a lot that will happen for the Miami Dolphins in the next 23 days as time on the calendar ticks away.
While it is possible, it is unlikely that any moves get made this week at the NFL Combine in regards to players being released. We could see a player receive an extension when members of the Dolphins executives meet with an agent or two of a current player on the roster.
Perhaps no other player currently on the roster has been more scrutinized as it relates to the 2020 season than safety Reshad Jones. The Dolphins do not have to make a move with him before free agency as he is under contract. That is a benefit they have with more than Jones as it relates to players who may be considered overpaid. Miami has enough cap space to do whatever they want and retain all of their higher-paid players.
At some point Miami will need to make a decision and if it is to keep players like Jones, Albert Wilson, and Daniel Kilgore. Jones carries the most dead money at just over $8 million according to OverTheCap.com while Wilson carries the most to save, at $9.5 million. None of these players, unlike in years past, need to have a decision made on them by the start of the league new year, but several impending free agents will either get a year or two extensions or tendered.
This year’s impending FA list includes Walt Aikens, Evan Boehm, and linebacker Vince Biegel. Those are the three big free agents and the good news is none of them will command big contracts or long term deals. This is the product of the Dolphins gutting the roster to start over in 2019. It is paying dividends now.
Miami won’t have to worry about the franchise tag or the transition tag because none of their players are in a position to need it to be retained. Miami can concentrate instead on the smaller contracts that likely will come with little or no guaranteed money. You can see all the impending free agents by going to SpotRac.com.