3 positions the Miami Dolphins have to upgrade in free agency and the NFL Draft
By Matt Serniak
The NFL combine starts next week which means that football-adjacent type stuff is about to happen again. Believe it or not, the Miami Dolphins have several upgrades to make to several units on the team. Some units need some real TLC and more diligence than others.
The interesting and kind of sad part of all this is that the Miami Dolphins are projected to be the 2nd worst team in terms of money that they have to shed to even begin signing players in free agency which starts on March 13th. Shout out to the New Orleans Saints for somehow being projected to be $20M over the cap compared to Miami.
Teams can begin "legally" negotiating with players on March 11th meaning there is absolutely no way that any teams are talking to any potential free agents right now. It's nice to know that is in no way happening.
The Miami Dolphins are projected to be around $54M over the cap. Obviously, some players will be released and some big-ticket players such as Tua Tagovailoa and Christian Wilkins might get their long-term deals which actually helps the cap.
One of those expected to be released players is Emmanuel Ogbah. Adam Schefter reported yesterday that it appears the Dolphins will be releasing Ogbah which will save the team $13.7M in cap space.
Also, the bitter-sweet news that Xavien Howard being cut after June 1st certainly forces the Dolphins to look at the secondary(foreshadowing).
The best magic trick that Chris Grier and the rest of the GMs will perform is when they take the money left on a player's salary and then convert it to guaranteed money. Not saying this is equal to water into wine but the same result of everyone getting ripped is still the same.
If you think for a few nanoseconds, you can rattle off a few units on the squad that need immediate attention with new blood. Because of the Dolphin's cap situation, I don't think they will be big-game hunters in free agency.
Instead, Grier and Brandon Shore, the Dolphin's senior VP of all things business and football, are going to have to watch Money Ball and embrace their inner Billy Beane. We're not the Oakland A's but they're going to have to do their homework and hopefully have input from the coaching staff for exactly what players they need to execute out on the field.
Make no mistake, the Miami Dolphins are a win-now team. It may not feel like that because we're still feeling the effects of the end of the season. But this upcoming season is potentially the last all-in season that the Dolphins will be selling us for a while.
This offseason is paramount and these units need the biggest makeover.