Miami Dolphins have work to do before tampering begins on Sunday
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have several players that will soon be talking with other teams. The NFL’s legal tampering period begins tomorrow. The question is what will the Dolphins do, today?
Miami will enter the free agency period and league new year with around $35 million in cap space. Brian Flores spoke with the media earlier this week and channeled the Rolling Stones when he said, “you can’t always get what you want” in reference to questions about the market.
What Miami can do is take care of some of their outgoing players should they desire. We know that Miam tendered Nik Needham and a couple of others but several more will hit the market including Ryan Fitzpatrick that Flores said he would love to have back, Matt Breida, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Ted Karras, Vince Biegel, and Davon Godchaux to name a few.
The Dolphins are not likely to sign any of them. What Miami fans are waiting for are the restrucutred deals and potential trades.
Two players that fans are keeping a close eye on are Xavien Howard and Ereck Fisher. Both have rather large price tags. For all the good that Chris Grier has done as the Dolphins general manager, the contracts haven’t been good. See Kyle Van Noy and his $50 million plus.
Howard will cost Miami $13.5 million in cap space but he isn’t likely going to retructure without a bigger payday. There have been rumors that he wants to redo his contract already and wants to be paid more. Trading Howard would split the $13 milliion in half for dead money and cap savings.
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Flowers played well last year but his contract comes in at $10 million. The problem for the Dolphins is that he would not save the team any more than $975,000 in cap space and the team would have to eat $10 milliion. While some have speculated that he could be released if he doesn’t restructure his deal, it is pretty safe to assume he isn’t going anywhere.
Personally, I think Emmanuel Ogbah should get a new contract. He played well last year and was a bright spot off the edge. He is due to earn $7.5 million in 2021 and all of that is recovered if he is released. While I wouldn’t release him, extending him could save a few million if the Dolphins needed it. The same can be said for Jerome Baker, albeit with less savings.
While Miami fans have circled tomorrow on their calendars, the real market opens on the 17th when all the deals can be made official. Miami could wait for that day to make any cap moves. Jakeem Grant, Albert Wilson, and Allen Hurns are three wide receivers to pay attention to in the coming days.