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.
Tight end needs to be a priority for the Miami Dolphins.
Kudos to Durham Smythe for having a solid second half of the season in regards to receiving but we all know that the tight end position has been the equivalent to the 9th important guy on Danny Ocean's team.
There were way too many times when Tua was going downfield in situations that didn't at all call for it. Yes, a good amount of that is because Mike McDaniel can't help himself and loves nothing more than having 3rd and 4 and calling a play to go 18 yards up the sideline or one of those in-breaking routes he can't get enough of.
The other reason this happened in my humble opinion is that there wasn't a player that he trusted to command the short middle of the field consistently.
I think it was before the Cowboys game when Greg Olsen told McDaniel that he needed to get the tight end more involved. McDaniel said that was the next progression in the offense.
Well, that progression needs to be a reality this coming year.
Some realistic tight ends that I'd enjoy Miami researching are Noah Fant and Harrison Bryant.
In the NFL Draft, we all know about Brock Bowers. I've loved everything about Bowers for years but he's likely to be gone at 21. Guys such as Ja'Tavion Sanders out of Texas and Ben Sinnot are guys that can really stretch the field and can also block well enough in McDaniel's system, I think.
Naturally, the Miami Dolphins need to address the offensive line, especially the center position.
Just like how the Sun rises every day, the Miami Dolphins need to work on the offensive line.
The line actually did better this year compared to other years. Some of that can be attributed to Mike McDaniel's quick game offense and Tua instantly getting the ball out of hands. But still, the line performed well even in the running game.
But you can make the case that besides Austin Jackson, no other position on the line is accounted for heading into 2024. Robert Hunt is a free agent, and Connor Williams is coming off an ACL tear and is also a free agent. I have no idea who the left guard is because Isaiah Wynn was lost early in the season, and a rotating door of players was used there. And Terron Armstead is contemplating retirement. All signs are pointing to him returning.
I'm sure the Dolphins will address several positions along the line in free agency and the draft. The center position is the one I really want them to focus on. We saw how life was when Connor Williams went down in the Titans game. To me, that was the epicenter of when things started cratering for the Dolphins.
I won't list the free-agent centers out there, but here's a list. You'll love who they have ranked #1.
But I already wrote a few weeks ago about how the Miami Dolphins need to do extensive research about Jackson Powers-Johnson out of Oregon. He's a guy who is a center, not a guard who can do center stuff, who you put in day one and have him there for 6+ years.
Another corner or two is what the Miami Dolphins have to bring in.
If you want to go ahead and make the case that the Miami Dolphins have a new cornerback coming, one that they drafted in the 2nd round last year, you can do that. They have Cam Smith and I have to bet unless the universe is indeed the cruelest thing ever that Cam Smith will be used on the field.
But even still, the Dolphins need more. They always end up with a ton of injuries in the secondary so having a plethora of guys that can go in is important.
Plus, with Xavien Howard being cut after June 1st, Grier needs to focus on the cornerback room, like he always does. It sucks because Howard has been a consistent player since getting here in 2016. I think he's been the best play Miami has had since he got here but we all knew it was ending this way.
We don't know exactly how new defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver will be playing his front seven, which sort of dictates what the secondary will be doing. He said in his intro press conference that when he blitzes, he wants it to mean something as opposed to when you blitz and want it to have zero meaning. He also said he plans on using Jalen Ramsey as a highly sought-after chess piece that everyone loves.
In lieu of all that, I'm just going to make the blanket statement that the Miami Dolphins need more help at cornerback. You cannot go into training camp with Kader Kohou as the only real option opposite of Ramsey.
There are some really good options in free agency, and I wouldn't be completely shocked that even with the Dolphins' cap situation, they don't go out and pay for another corner. Some realistic names that I can see Miami kicking the tires on are Levi Wallace and Keisan Nixon. Some early college guys I like are TJ Tampa from Iowa St. and Kalen King from Penn State.
Chris Grier loves himself corners and has a decent track record(just let me forget about Noah) of bringing in decent secondary help. No, I don't know exactly what happened with Cam Smith but I'm guessing it was out of Grier's hands.
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