The regular season came down to the wire for the Miami Dolphins as they were knocked out of playoff contention in the final week of the regular season following a loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The team finished eighth among the AFC and earned the No. 18 overall pick in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft for their efforts. However, they are also in possession of the No. 3 overall pick thanks to their 2019 trade with the Houston Texans. Houston finished 4-12, third worst in the league.
The NFL’s Free Agency Period is Coming and Miami’s Focus Should Be On Center Ted Karras
Before the draft though, we have the NFL’s free agency period. It’s apparent that at least 31 teams in the league need to fill some kind of talent gap.
Miami’s most notable expiring contract is that of center Ted Karras, who started the entire season at center in his first and only contracted year for the team after coming over from the New England Patriots. Despite his decent market value the team should not need to franchise-tag him to keep him around, but it will need to put in extensive effort and negotiate a new contract if it plans to keep him.
Dolphins Facing 13 Other Free Agents
Other free agents on the team consist of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, running backs Matt Breida and DeAndre Washington, wide receivers Isaiah Ford and Mack Hollins, left tackle Julie’n Davenport, right guard Adam Pankey, nose tackle Davon Godchaux, linebackers Elandon Roberts, Kamu Grugier-Hill and Vince Biegel, free safety Kavon Frazier and punter Matt Haack.
Players with the most questionable value that the Dolphins will question whether to work on deals with will likely be Fitzpatrick, Brieda and Haack.
A Positive Re-Sign Should Be Fitzpatrick
On the positive side of the spectrum is Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, while not a star by any means, has been decently consistent and appears to be as dedicated as one can be to a team, albeit just having spent two years with the club.
Miami Can Let Brieda Walk
Brieda appeared to carry a good portion of the workload at RB as both a rusher and receiver during his time spent in San Francisco, but he saw a large lack of field production when he came to Miami for this past season. The back saw less than half the carries from the season before, with just 59 carries and nine receptions on the season totaling for 400 all purpose yards and he didn’t get into the end zone even once. With Miami finding RB Myles Gaskin as a diamond in the rough and using Salvon Ahmed as a backup, along with early speculations that it could target a back in the draft, there isn’t much typing the club to Breida.
Dolphins Need to Protect their Punter
Haack has been the team’s punter for the last four years, and he’s been incredibly consistent. He averages approximately 45 yards per punt every season he has been on the team and had his best season being 2019. His production however has gone down from 83 and 87 punter per season in his first two years to 69 and 68 in the last two years. But, this is a sign that the Dolphins are having higher offensive production and shouldn’t be a factor that works against Haack. Haack has also only had one punt blocked which is impressive. It’s important to note that Miami moved on from successful punter Matt Darr for Haack in a shock to the NFL, so the Dolphins will likely offer Haack a new contract.
Miami Has $24 Million, Restructuring of Contract to Work With
The team has just under $24 million dollars in cap space for this upcoming FA period, which should be more than enough to either resign these players or fill the holes that they will leave if these players are not re-signed. Miami will also have some flexibility to go out and be spenders in FA especially if some contracts are terminated or restructured, as is expected.
– Christian Chappell is a Sports Contributor for Full Press Coverage Miami Dolphins. Like and follow on Follow @cmoneypc Follow @FPC_Dolphins and Facebook.
