Dolphins will struggle to fill their needs and will most certainly create more
By Brian Miller
The off-season for NFL teams like the Miami Dolphins should be full of hope and fun. A team close to competing for it all should have fans excited. The Dolphins will not be one of those teams.
Miami hasn't been this close to competing for a run in the playoffs for more than 20 years. This team was close. Injuries derailed the "what might have been" train. Normally, you could look at the next year and say, "They will all be healthy!" That isn't the case with 2024.
Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb may not be back until mid-season. Connor Williams might be back a week or so before that. Those are needs for this team. More will most assuredly be coming.
Chris Grier will deal with a salary cap, injured players, impending free agents, and a lack of draft picks. His decisions have shaped the Dolphins roster and now, they are paying for some of those errors.
Defensive tackle isn't a need for the Miami Dolphins today but it very well could be a big one come March.
The Dolphins did the smart thing to get Zach Sieler locked up last year but that leaves Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis impending free agents. Wilkins will be a big money player and Davis hasn't shown enough to warrant anything more than a moderate contract.
If the Dolphins opt to keep Davis, Wilkins will be gone but they will still have a massive hole that Grier will need to get creative with to fix. Miami may save the salary of Wilkins but they will have to use part of it to not only find a starter, but likely depth as well.