Pros and cons of the Miami Dolphins claiming Leonard Fournette

Should the Miami Dolphins claim Leonard Fournette?  It’s a tough call.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced Monday that they are releasing running back Leonard Fournette.  With this move, the other 31 teams are able to put in a “waiver claim” for him.  The Miami Dolphins are fifth on the waiver list (which is the same as the NFL draft order).

Many fans will clamor for Miami to pick him up.  After all, fans want the Dolphins to acquire every big-name player that becomes available.

Why claim Fournette?

The reasons for acquiring Fournette are almost so obvious that they don’t need repeating but, for those unfamiliar with his work, let’s state them ‘for the record’.

Fournette can be a ‘beast’ between the tackles, as evidenced by the 1152 yards rushing he had in 2019; good for 7th in the

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league.  Meanwhile, his 76 receptions for 522 yards show he is equally adept at catching the ball out of the backfield.  In short, his physical gifts and stats show why he was the 4th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Another reason to claim Fournette?  If head coach Brian Flores really likes the player, the ‘waiver wire’ is probably the only way that the Dolphins can acquire the talented back.  It’s highly unlikely that Fournette would choose the Dolphins if he’s a free agent; likely preferring a playoff contender to the still ‘rebuilding’ Dolphins.

Why shouldn’t the Dolphins claim Fournette?

First and foremost, claiming Fournette comes with a $4.167M salary.  The Dolphins currently have $23.8M in salary cap space so they could afford him but that’s $4M less that can be carried over to next season.  With the salary cap actually expected to go down next season, because of lost revenue due to coronavirus, Miami could really use that money to improve a team that’s expecting to be a playoff contender in 2021.

Secondly, Fournette is the kind of back that gets better with more carries.  Part of the reason why Jacksonville reportedly let him go is that they felt he wouldn’t be happy in a ‘running back by committee’ system.  With the acquisitions of Matt Breida and Jordan Howard, Fournette may find it difficult to get the carries needed to be productive in this Dolphins offense.

Other factors to consider are Fournette’s injury history (missed 2 games in 2017 and 8 games in 2018) and perceived ‘attitude problems’ cited in a tweet by Andrew Gibson (via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo).

Bottom line:  The risk/cost of claiming Leonard Fournette isn’t worth the potential gain of acquiring his services for one season.

However, if Fournette were to clear waivers and choose to come to Miami on a veteran minimum salary, that’s another story…..