Grading the Miami Dolphins first day of fake free agency

The Miami Dolphins didn’t waste any time getting to work and getting deals done on the first day of fake free agency day. The moves they made are moves that won’t bring the house down but will strengthen some units that needed depth.

The first day of fake free agency was a wild one where many teams made some big-time splash signings. I say fake free agency because none of the deals that have been made by anybody are officially written in stone. That can’t happen until 4 PM on Wednesday. But unless something unforeseen happens, several teams including the Miami Dolphins have made their team better.

In Mike McDaniel’s first go-around at being the head coach of a team during fake free agency and real free agency, the overall theme I would say he was going for was depth. Yes, he made sure he took care of a player who has played very well over the last few seasons who is one of Miami’s best players on defense, but the rest were all guys who will be starting the year behind someone else or splitting time with someone.

I have no problem with that. It’s always cool when the Dolphins make a big splash and sign the best player at a position, which grabs the headlines. But we’ve seen that plan go up in flames real fast. Instead, the Dolphins decided to go for cheaper, less-known commodities that they feel can produce.

You can make the argument that the Dolphins are letting some really good players go that have much more of a track record of making a huge impact. Guys like Amari Cooper, J.C Jackson come to mind. But it’s only the first day of fake free agency and there are still a good amount of very talented players out there. Also, when Tom Brady decided to end his ruse of a retirement on Sunday night, that sort of took away all the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that I really wanted. I would have loved it if Miami went after Ryan Jensen and Leonard Fournette. Oh well, death, taxes, and Tom Brady sticking it to Miami one way or another.

The Dolphins still have a good amount of imaginary cap space left to sign more free agents. I expect them to keep forging ahead with bolstering other areas of the team.

Here is my grade on each signing that the Miami Dolphins made on this very illustrious legal tampering day.

Editors note: A previous version was published without the grades attached. That has been fixed.