Deadline for opt-out is over Miami Dolphins lose two replaceable players

The Miami Dolphins were not hit as hard as other teams in the NFL with only two players opting out of the season.

The NFL set a deadline of 4:00 pm this afternoon and the Miami Dolphins managed to only lose two players for the 2020 season and both are replaceable.

To say that Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson are replaceable is not a knock on them as players or a knock on their decision to opt-out, but in reality, neither have been stat machines and touchdown makers for the Dolphins.

Of the two, Wilson will surely be missed the most. As a slot receiver, Wilson gave the Dolphins a nice dynamic but Miami didn’t have him for part of two seasons so they are not likely to miss him a whole lot for a third.

A bigger question is whether or not either of them will be back in 2021. The contracts will remain the same heading into 2021 as if they were this year but the Dolphins can decide to release both of the players with a minimal cap hit, no more than $3 million each, at most.

This could be a good thing for the Dolphins as they try to find new faces that are young to take over the offense. With Kirk Merritt and others now getting more work and two more receiving positions open in camp, guys like Isaiah Ford will get shots they may have not otherwise had.

Of course, there are street free agents as well and teams who have lost players will start making phone calls now that the deadline to declare has passed. In all, 64 players around the league opted out, eight of those came from the Patriots. Nine of those 64, including Hurns and Allen, are wide-receivers.