Draft picks, signings and coaching that could send the Dolphins to the Super Bowl

As we near the sunset of the 2023 NFL offseason and begin preparations for the final roster tweaks before the new season officially begins, let’s talk about what the Dolphins have already done and what they can still do to catapult the team into the Super Bowl conversation.

Free agency

The Dolphins were very active in free agency, kicking off with the blockbuster trade for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The trade talks for Ramsey likely began after the Dolphins and cornerback Byron Jones agreed to part ways, leaving a gaping hole in the secondary.

Miami has signed some pretty under-the-radar guys that could quietly have a solid niche on this team, including

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Chosen Anderson, Braxton Berrios, Dan Feeney, David Long Jr., Deshon Elliott, and Mike White. We haven’t seen the splash signing that will headline newspapers, but it’s a nice little haul for cheap.

The Dolphins missed out on some big-name free agents that fans were clamoring for, such as Bobby Wagner, Javon Hargrave, Tremaine Edmunds, Jessie Bates, Odell Beckham Jr., and even Lamar Jackson, who the crowd was pretty split on after he demanded a trade out of Baltimore.

But who are the guys still available — or even cut candidates — that the Dolphins could pursue to push them over the edge as a Super Bowl contender?

OLB Leonard Floyd

The 30-year-old former Pro-Bowler has had three straight seasons of 9 or more sacks for the Los Angeles Rams. He remains unsigned, for whatever reason, and is young and fresh enough to remain an every-down pass rusher off the edge, or even a situational pass rusher if the scheme calls for it.

Floyd may have wanted too much money at first, but it’s mid-April and the market is essentially dead. If the Dolphins wanted an additional pass rush piece with the proven track record of Leonard Floyd, they should make it happen. With the quarterback talent in the AFC, it is essential to have a consistent pass rush to be a contender.

RB Ezekiel Elliott

Now, before you exit out the page, hear me out.

A vast majority of Dolphins fans are clamoring for Miami to trade for Dalvin Cook. I don’t believe the Dolphins have the assets to do so. Is it possible? Maybe. But is it likely? Not really.

Ezekiel Elliott was released by the Dallas Cowboys amid the emergence of Tony Pollard and the steady decline in Elliott’s production over the last several years. The former first-round pick from Ohio State has rushed for over 1,300 yards three times in his career — albeit the last 1,300 yard season he had was in 2019.

Nonetheless, even while sharing carries with Pollard, Elliott still rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2021, scoring ten times, while narrowly missing the 1K mark last year in only 15 games played as he lost a lot of carries to Pollard.

If the Dolphins want to continue running by committee, and they sure seem like they do, adding Elliott to a team-friendly “prove it” deal could really make the rushing attack fun and add an element of hard-nosed running into the mix. Elliott is a load to tackle at 226 lbs, and is still only 26 years old.

S Adrian Amos

It is almost criminal that Adrian Amos hasn’t been signed by a team yet.

Amos, coming off a quietly stellar year with a career high in tackles, is primed to sign with a contender to act as a depth piece or even dime safety. Amos was a team captain for the Green Bay Packers last year and is well-respected among his peers. Amos has tallied seven interceptions in the last four years in Green Bay.

Now, we don’t know what kind of money Amos is looking for, but with a dwindling market for veteran safeties, the Dolphins may be able to lure him in with a heavily incentivized contract. Adding a solid vet to a secondary that already looks to be a pretty dominant one solidifies their status of “all in” for 2023, and provides a ball hawk safety that has a nose for the football on a defense that struggled to create turnovers in 2022.