Miami Dolphins free agency in 2023 must consider 2024 as well
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins will have 28 potential free agents hit the market in 2023 but 2024 could see an equal amount of impending losses.
Not including players added this year on a one-year deal, the Dolphins 2024 off-season will be 16 players deep, as of the time of this writing.
While we can’t be 100% certain, Tua Tagovailoa should not be on this list. The Dolphins should pick up his 5th-year option and finally put the QB debate to bed for at least the 2023 season.
This year’s impending free agent class doesn’t really have a lot of players that really hit hard should they be lost to another team.
- Mike Gesicki
- Andrew Van Ginkel
- Nik Needham
- Jeff Wilson, Jr.
- Trent Sherfield
- Raheem Mostert
If these players are lost in free agency, it wouldn’t be ideal but Miami can replace most of them relatively easily. Out of 28 potential FAs this year, those six represent the top of the Dolphins talent but surely not all of them.
Next year it’s a different story for the Miami Dolphins.
Forget about Tua because I don’t believe any of us truly see him leaving the Dolphins this year or next. Whether these players have seen their better years in Miami or not, they will be harder to replace than most of this year’s group.
- Jerome Baker – Should he be on the roster this year
- Connor Williams
- Christian Wilkins
- Zach Sieler
- Durham Smythe
- Robert Hunt
- Raekwon Davis
- Brandon Jones
Of these players, Baker could be released this off-season and Wilkins could get a contract extension.
Miami will have to replace all three of their top defensive lineman next season and this is why 2023 is so important. If the Dolphins can find a way to identify players in the draft, they could lessen the blow for next year.
Getting several of these players extensions could save cap space for the Dolphins. It is unlikely that Miami would extend all three of their DTs but getting two of them under a longer deal would be smart.
Aside from Tua, Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene are players that won’t see a 5th-year option pick up, or at least shouldn’t. Jackson will be another offensive lineman hitting free agency in 2024. Jackson, Williams, Hunt, and Robert Jones will all need to be replaced if not re-signed.
Miami won’t have a lot of cap space to work with this year but adding free agents that could help the void that will be created next year could be important. Getting players from the draft would be more ideal and a lot less costly.