The Miami Dolphins will miss Bobby McCain after his release today

In 2015, the Miami Dolphins added a cornerback that they converted to safety, today Bobby McCain will be a free agent for the first time in his career.

According to multiple reports, the Dolphins will be releasing McCain this afternoon and have already informed him that it will happen. McCain was the team’s captain and a leader on the field, he was solid in his role at safety and rarely heard his name mentioned for a bad play or angle but the Dolphins need cap space and McCain was taking up too much at a position that the Dolphins are deep at.

McCain was the 7th highest-paid player on the Dolphins roster with a cap hit of $7.14 million in 2021. Releasing him will save the Dolphins $5.6 million with a $1.4 million dead money hit. If the Dolphins designate him a post-June 1st cut, they will save $6.4 million but that money would not be available until June 1st. The Dolphins need to sign their rookie class.

At safety, the Dolphins will have Brandon Jones who played well last year, Eric Rowe, 2nd round pick Jevon Holland, and Clayton Fejedelem but McCain was consistently good and rarely made mistakes.

Over his six-year career with the Dolphins’ McCain started 55 of 87 games but only started double digits in a season twice. He had seven interceptions and a forced fumble with 254 tackles. He played corner his first four years in the league before transitioning to safety in 2019 under Brian Flores where he played one season at free safety and one at strong.

McCain is far from being irreplaceable and the Dolphins will be able to or should be able to match his production but he was a team-first player and a veteran leader and that isn’t always easy to replace.

Malik Hooker visited the Dolphins over the weekend and could be a cheaper option to replace McCain and give the Dolphins some flexibility while Holland adjusts.