Miami Dolphins: 4 players that should be extended before training camp
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have added to their linebacker group but retaining Jerome Baker should be important.
Another impending free agent in 2022, Baker has been a consistent linebacker and leader of the defense. Baker is the leader on defense and while the Dolphins have spent money on adding linebackers, those linebackers are not replacing Baker just yet.
The Dolphins have new additions including some of their young guys who have flashed potential like Andrew Van Ginkel, Vince Biegel, and Sam Eguavoen. They also added Bernardrick McKinney this off-season as well.
Regardless, Baker is a valuable player on the Dolphins roster and is scheduled to make only $2.6 million this year against the cap. That is a great number for a starting linebacker but adding more years to his contract now, could be cheaper for the Dolphins should they wait until the end of the 2021 season.
Miami wouldn’t likely save a ton of cash by extending him this year because it is a minimal hit but it could save them cap space in the future, especially if they increase the cap hit this year against future years. Miami will have to make some moves to create more cap space and if they can send some of that towards Baker, it might be in their best interest to do so.