Enough deliberation over the last several months. We've seen all the combine results and compartmentalized these dudes college careers... who do you want tomorrow?

• The flashy WR?
• The safer bonafide O-linemen?
• Wildcard?

Then we can go back to the tua contract projections 😂

Open thread to discuss anything Dolphins or not Dolphins.

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Hi there - I purchased tickets from someone on SeatGeek who appears to be a season ticket holder? Included with the tickets is access to something called the “Dolphins House”.. wondering if anyone on this page can tell me what that means/includes? Seems like it was an exclusive offer to Miami Dolphins season ticket holders so I thought this might be a good place to start.

First off I would like to thank the r/MiamiDolphins mod team for allowing this post, fins up. The 47th season of the International Simulation Football League is wrapping up, which means this is a perfect time to create a player and jump into the fray!

The ISFL is a free online sim league where you create a professional football player and control their journey through the pros from pre-draft to retirement. With every position available and multiple archetypes per position there are more than 30 unique player types available, anything from a ball hawk safety to a receiving running back and even a strong legged kicker. The options are endless.

Your player will compete in games (simulated in Draft Day Sports Pro Football 2021) three times a week for the duration of each season, culminating in playoffs and hopefully a chance to win the coveted Ultimus Championship. Each game premieres on our Youtube Channel nightly, Monday-Friday and hosted live with commentary through our Discord server. Each 16 game season lasts approximately 6 weeks, including playoffs. Following playoffs is a 2 week offseason. The offseason culminates in the DSFL and ISFL drafts setting the stage for the next season.

Complete stats are recorded in our league index, players are encouraged to create and develop their own wiki page within the league wiki and we even have tools for tracking historical stat records and our own Hall of Fame.

With 22 teams across the developmental and major leagues the ISFL is also a floruishing community of active users. Joining a team not only gives you the opportunity to live out your dreams as a professional athlete but as get the opportunity to engage with like minded people who enjoy getting a bit nerdy about football. Form tight knit bonds with your teammates and a hosts of former players as you root for your team to go all the way!

##Sounds great, how do I start?

If you want to jump in right away our Rookie Discord Server is the perfect place. Our team of Rookie Mentors and active user base will not hesitate to answer any questions and steer you in the right direction. If you want to read more before you dive in, check out our text Rookie Guide or our Youtube Video Series. Both are great resources to guide you through the onboarding process.

##What happens after I make my player?

After making your player you will be scouted by teams that are entirely run by other users in the league and drafted to a developmental team during the DSFL Draft which will premiere on Thursday May 16th. In the meantime you will participate in the Prospect Bowl where you will show off what you got to all the scouts. You will also be able to tune in to watch the current race for the S47 Ultimus Championship.

During your player’s career, you can improve their attributes by spending 10-15 minutes completing optional tasks each week, like predicting the winners of each game or mocking the 1st round of the draft. The league is 100% free - there is no "pay to win" and nothing costs real money to unlock. You will earn fake league currency through your player's contracts or through creating content like written articles, graphics, or podcasts. You can use it to further upgrade your player and do fun things like collecting trading cards of ISFL players!

Thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments under this post or in our rookie discord server.

##Quick Links

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Maybe not annual, I may have missed a year. Regardless, here’s some potential gems that look like they are going in rounds 5-7. Gotta be accountable for my scouting, so I’ll start with a brief recap of selections from the past few years and how they panned out:

Hits: Michael Onwenu: top notch starter for NE. I might never forgive Grier for taking Kindley instead of him. Derrick Barnes: very good player in Detroit. Malcolm Koonce: ended up getting picked way earlier. Because of course the Raiders would do that. Had 8 sacks last year. Solid player.

Not too Shabby: Benjamin St Juste: decent starter for Wash. started all 16 games last year. Hakeem Adeniji: prob was forced to play before he was ready but contributor to Cincy’s SB run. Carter Coughlin: 7th rounder just resigned with Giants. Solid special teamer and back up

Meh: Avery Williams: pretty much just a return man. Benito Jones: hey! A Dolphin! Back in Miami after a decent stint in Detroit. Still have hopes for him be a solid contributor.

Swing and a Miss: Raquan Williams, DT: didn’t pan out in Philly. Really liked his game at Mich St. Dazz Newsome: ignored all the measurables. Turns out the measurables were right. Dax Milne: still hanging on in Wash. Joe Reed: thought he’d be a nice #3 WR/kick returner. Nope. Last seen on the Bears practice squad.

Without further adieu, the 2024 late round gems:

Tyrone Tracy, RB, Purdue: good speed, good balance, can catch the ball, impressive in the Big 10, which can be tough sledding. I’ve seen him ranked 10-12 for RBs. Ridiculous. This guy is a no doubt NFL RB. I’m giving him my lock of the year.

Edefuan Foshio, LB, Washington: Walk-on who earned a scholarship. Plays hard and smart. And with heart. Lots of excellent measurables.

Tip Reiman, TE, Illinois: Basically an extra O-Lineman. Just a force in the run game. Wipes people out. Always plays with good leverage. Better receiver than he’s given credit for. Has all the earmarks of one of those TE’s that stays in the league for 10 years because he does all the little things well.

Mo Kamara, Edge, Colorado St. I’ve seen him ranked consistently between 13-15 amongst edges. Silliness. Not sure any part of his game is an A or A+, but nothing about him is a C- either. He’s gonna be an excellent rotational player.

Javion Cohen, G, Miami: I may be looking thru Hurricane colored glasses but there’s a lot to like here. Is he a fit for the Dolphins? Nope. Not nearly nimble enough for that scheme. But in the right situation he’s potentially a solid starter. Worst case scenario he’s solid depth at G.

Til next year, adios.

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We’re only a few weeks away from the NFL draft, and through the first few weeks of free agency the Miami Dolphins have engaged in a more conservative free agency than the approach I outlined in my previous entries. We let both of our two most important free agents walk to monster contracts. Instead, the Dolphins have been more judicious with free agent signings of their own.

Ahead of the draft, let’s take some time to review the moves the team has made, those they haven’t, and how those decisions might inform the team’s draft strategy.

• Part I: Cap Compliance
• Part II: Quarterback
• Part III: Offensive Line
• Part IV: Skill Positions
• Part V: Defensive Line
• Part VI: Linebackers
• Part VII: Secondary
• Part VIII: Pre Draft

#Pre-Draft

The Dolphins currently have a projected $3,253,294 remaining in cap space per Over the Cap with 67 players rostered. The team’s free agency is starkly defined by who the Dolphins haven’t signed rather than who they have. Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt left in free agency to $27.5 million and $20 million per year deals to the Raiders and Panthers respectively. Christian Wilkins’s contract is the second most (behind Kirk Cousins’s deal with the Falcons) awarded for a player changing teams; Hunt’s is fifth. Additionally, the Dolphins have not, as of yet, extended Tua Tagovailoa.

These decisions characterize a much more conservative approach than I predicted ahead of free agency. While the team has been fairly aggressive using void years to reduce the 2024 salary cap impact, they’ve been careful to avoid major financial commitments. While Shaq Barrett’s contract is the most egregious example of relying on void years, nearly every multi-year deal we’ve signed adds the maximum number possible to prorate the signing bonus out over five seasons. Despite that aggressive structuring, the Dolphins haven’t signed a single player to a contract which averages seven figures per season.

Jordyn Brooks’s three-year deal worth $8.75 million per year is so far the crown jewel of the Dolphins’s free agency spending which has seen the addition of only five players with an average per year greater than $4 million. The strategy speaks to a belief within the team building that the Dolphins faltered down the stretch last year largely due to poor depth.

Importantly, though, the signings also signal a major difference in priorities. After letting Wilkins walk, the team has replaced him with Benito Jones, Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, and Teair Tart. The first three have all signed virtually identical one-year contracts worth $1,790,000. Tart’s deal is for $1,152,500, the same value as the contract we re-signed Da’Shawn Hand to.

Before we dive into specific positions and contracts more deeply, let’s take a look at how our depth chart currently shakes out.

Defense

Offense

Special Teams

Before even considering the quality of incumbent players on that depth chart, the lack of depth at a couple positions jumps out immediately. The Dolphins figure to head into the draft particularly thin at guard (to the surprise of nobody) and safety (especially considering how often the Ravens used three safety looks). We’ll keep that in mind as we go through our free agency moves by position groups and consider how that might impact our draft decisions.

###Interior Defensive Line

The Dolphins currently have nine interior defensive linemen under contract: Zach Sieler, Da’shawn Hand, Jonathan Harris, Benito Jones, Neville Gallimore, Isaiah Mack, Daviyon Nixon, Brandon Pili, and Teair Tart. The combined 2024 salary cap charge of these nine players is only $16,871,500.

Even on a heavily back-loaded deal, Christian Wilkins alone will count for $10,300,000 against the Raiders’s salary cap in 2024. If that doesn’t scream asset reprioritization, I don’t know what does. It’s unlikely that the Dolphins carry more than five interior defensive linemen onto the final 53 roster. Depending on who those five end up being, it’s entirely possible that the cap charge we carry into week one for interior defensive lineman is barely more than Wilkins’s 2024 cap charge alone for the Raiders.

Was the decision based more on personnel decisions than finances? The move to Anthony Weaver at defensive coordinator means scheme changes, and maybe the way the Ravens ran their defensive interior can give us a clue to answering that question. I’ve read two suggestions as to why the decision to move on from Wilkins might be schematic rather than financial: we’re likely to run fewer interior defensive linemen and that Weaver’s defensive lines have a greater emphasis on nose tackles.

PFF tracked a total of 12715 defensive snaps by Ravens players last year. I charted across the team how those snaps were divided by each player and compared across the team to get a picture of how often the Ravens defense lined up at different positions. Interior defensive linemen (players in the DE, NT, or DT positions as PFF defines them) accounted for only 18.69% of the Ravens's defensive snaps. Considered another way, that means that on an average play, the Ravens had 2.05 interior defensive linemen on the field. Of those interior linemen, on average 1.63 of them were defensive tackles and defensive ends lined up inside the offensive tackles accounted for the other 0.42. A further 19.72% of their snaps came from edge rushers (defensive ends outside the tackles or outside linebackers).

Running only two interior defensive lineman would make sense if a team ran a lot of 4-3 fronts, but, on average, the Ravens don’t. Defensive ends lined up outside the tackle account for only 8.92% of the Ravens’s defensive snaps. That means they run 0.98 edge rushers from that alignment per snap, so clearly they’re only averaging 3 down linemen per snap. That could mean they’re running 3-4 fronts more often, but they line players up at outside linebacker only marginally more often. Outside linebackers account for 11.64% of the Ravens’s defensive snaps or 1.28 players at that alignment per snap.

This all sounds like we’re heading in a direction that suggests that maybe the reason the Dolphins didn’t retain Wilkins is because Zach Sieler already plays a high volume of defensive snaps and the way that the defense we’re likely to run under Weaver works involves fewer interior linemen. The positional alignments actually showed, though, that Ravens had a similar total number of snaps on the defensive interior (and more if you consider when they lined defensive interior lineman up outside the tackles) and a larger percentage of their total defensive snaps than the Dolphins did.

Team|Total|A Gap|B Gap|Over Tackle :-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-: Miami|2432|207|1765|460 Baltimore|2330|268|1610|452

The Dolphins had a total of 12,173 defensive snaps last year, so the 2,432 snaps by defensive interior linemen accounts for 20.00% of that total. That’s marginally, but not appreciably, higher than the 18.32% of snaps by Ravens defensive interior linemen and the gap assignments outlined in the graph above don’t represent a meaningful difference either.

Also worth noting: I’ve heard a lot of discussion that the Ravens’s defensive scheme relied more heavily on a true nose tackle. The numbers don’t really bear this out; nose tackles specifically accounted for only 2.12% of the Ravens’s defensive plays or 0.23 nose tackles per defensive play. That works out to a nose tackle playing between one in every four or five snaps. Again, that’s not significantly different from what the Dolphins ran with Raekwon Davis primarily at the nose whenever we needed one and the gap assignments in the chart above bear this out as well.

It should be pretty clear that the decision to move off of Wilkins was not motivated by scheme. There’s little reason to believe that had we kept Wilkins that his or Sieler’s role would have changed dramatically with the change at coordinator. This was purely a decision not to try and meet Wilkins’s market--and given what he was ultimately paid, that’s a defensible position.

So what will the Dolphins do to replace Wilkins? Is drafting a defensive tackle in the cards? Consider the 2023 defensive snaps by position along the defensive line among the five free agent interior defensive linemen the Dolphins have signed or re-signed this year:

While there’s some momentum behind drafting an interior defensive lineman in the first two rounds, I’m not holding my breath based on the moves that the Dolphins have made so far. Nobody in the list above strikes fear into the hearts of opposing offensive lines, but among them and alongside Zach Sieler, we’re looking roughly at the snap counts that the Dolphins are looking to replicate on the defensive interior.

There’s a very reasonable bet that the Dolphins head into the 2024 season with Sieler and four of the five above. Gallimore and Jones are both very cheap, but both also have fully-guaranteed deals that likely guarantee their roster spot. Hand and Harris both offer unremarkable savings, but their contracts are replaceable. Between Sieler, Gallimore, and Jones, that’s three players locked into what’s likely going to be only five spots on the interior defensive line with six players under contract already competing for those last two spots. Tart has the leg up there. Nearly half of his contract is guaranteed, making him more expensive to replace even with a minimum salary contract than to keep, though not by much.

While it’s not inconceivable that the Dolphins could draft an interior defensive lineman at 21 or 55, the current roster construction suggests it's unlikely. Jer’Zhan Newton or Byron Murphy II could very well be on the board at 21, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Unless someone we really love falls to 55, all signs point to the Dolphins relying on cheap veteran depth to fill out their rotation on the interior defensive line.

###Edge Rushers

The Dolphins are in an interesting position regarding edge rushers headed into the 2024 draft. Phillips and Chubb both suffered season-ending injuries near the end of 2023, and that puts their availability for the beginning of the 2024 season into question. The team has already reinforced depth at the position by signing Shaq Barrett to a one-year deal. The contract is heavily backloaded with four additional void years so that only a fraction of his total cap charge counts in 2025.

Given the situation, signing Barrett is a savvy move by the Dolphins. Barrett’s far removed from his 2019-2021 run with the Buccaneers during which he logged 43 sacks in three seasons, but he’s consistently graded well over the past few seasons and even posted his career-best pass rushing grade from PFF this past year (82.6) despite only producing 5 sacks. Barrett will get the opportunity to prove he’s worth at least one more contract next year after he turns 32.

All things equal, though, the Vikings paid only $3 million more per year for Andrew Van Ginkel. They also added void years to Van Ginkel’s deal so that his 2024 cap charge is only $650,000 more than Barrett’s. If the Vikings choose to move on from Van Ginkel in 2025, they’re on the hook for only $2.2 million more than we will be when the rest of Barrett’s contract voids. For a team as tight on the cap as the Dolphins are, it’s understandable that the team would prioritize a total of $3 million in savings in guaranteed money, but it’s close enough that I can sympathize with those disappointed in the move.

The Dolphins also recently brought in Carl Lawson for a meeting, and while no contract has been signed, he’s another veteran with upside that makes sense for a team looking to add depth to the edge. Lawson, of course, has serious injury concerns of his own. He missed the entire 2021 season but had a solid bounce-back year in 2022 before missing the majority of the 2023 season. That injury history suggests he’s likely to be cheap, but I expect he won’t be signed until after the draft when his contract would no longer count against the compensatory pick formula.

That, of course, leaves the door open for the Dolphins to draft an edge rusher high. While it appears that the team is making an effort to fill out depth at the position through free agency, depending on how the draft falls, someone like Jared Verse (less likely) or Laiatu Latu (more likely) could conceivably be available at 21. Latu’s injury history would make me nervous given that the only reason we’d consider spending a first on an edge rusher is because our top two edge rushers suffered late season-ending injuries last year. All things considered, whether the Dolphins draft an edge rusher in the first (or even the second) hinges entirely on their confidence in Chubb and Phillips and their timelines to return from injury.

Ultimately, how we move forward here is too difficult to predict without understanding how far along Chubb and Phillips are. Seeing news that Phillips is out golfing and confident he’ll return is encouraging, but without a concrete timeline, it’s still fuzzy. More than any specific position, the Dolphins need an impact player in the first round. They need someone who’s going to get a significant number of snaps, and given the defensive front alignments discussed above, if Chubb and Phillips are on track to come back, a first round edge rusher would likely see lower snap counts. As much as I don’t think that the Dolphins do it, if we’re looking at defensive line in the first we’d likely be much better off taking Newton or Murphy if they’re available; an interior defensive lineman alongside Sieler would see much more playing time across the season and be a better use of a third first-round pick in four years at the same position.

One other point of interest will be whether or not the Dolphins pick up Phillips’s fifth-year option shortly after the draft. I expect that we will, but if he has complications returning from injury, I could see them holding off. Ultimately, I think the risk is worth the reward here.

###Linebackers

Like at defensive tackle, the Dolphins have made a concerted effort in free agency to revamp the group of linebackers. Although we saw the anticipated the departure of Jerome Baker, the Dolphins brought on a pair of veteran free agents at the position: Jordyn Brooks and Anthony Walker.

Brooks figures as our starter opposite David Long. PFF graded Brooks as average across the board except at pass rush. He’s effective as a blitzer with 13 total pressures on only 43 pass rushing snaps with six sacks last year. PFF’s coverage grade of only 59.9 for Brooks is at odds with some other analysis which rates him highly in coverage but in a defense that did him few favors with his assignments. Given his three-year, $26.25 million contract, though, there’s no doubt that the Dolphins are committed to him. The team doesn’t have a realistic out on his deal until the final year of his contract.

Walker signed a much more modest deal (only one year, $1,377,500), but the majority of his deal is guaranteed. Walker has graded consistently above average over the past three seasons in Cleveland, but has been otherwise unremarkable as a rotational linebacker. He’s cheap depth, though, so there’s little to complain about here.

Based on snap counts, the Ravens fielded an average of 2.08 inside linebackers per play. No doubt that number is inflated by having a combination of Roquon Smith and Patrick Queen headlining that group, so we shouldn’t expect the Dolphins to quite replicate that production, but that should give you a sense of how the Ravens ran their front “seven” a little differently than most.

As you’d expect in the modern NFL, the Ravens ran six man fronts on a majority of their plays with a fifth man in the secondary on just over 60% of their defensive plays. Given these breakdowns, though, I don’t think it’s a coincidence though that the two positions with the most committed depth headed into the draft are the defensive interior and inside linebacker.

While it wouldn’t shock me to see the Dolphins draft an inside linebacker late, Long, Brooks, and Walker are already locks for the position and even though there are cap savings available for doing so, I wouldn’t count on moving off Duke Riley this year. While Channing Tindall also offers some cap relief if released ($951,373), it’s negligible over the cost of his replacement (at least $785,000). That’s ignoring the recent signing of Cam Brown who would ostensibly be rostered as a linebacker but almost exclusively plays special teams.

I’d be confident that all five of those players will make the 53-man roster, and I’d be shocked if more than five inside linebackers make the cut. Like at defensive tackle, our rotation here seems more or less set. There’s certainly the possibility that the Dolphins could draft somebody who bumps one of Riley, Tindall, or Brown off the roster, but I don’t expect the team to go into the draft with that as a priority.

###Secondary

The flip side of all of the discussion above on the defensive front seven is the secondary.

As mentioned, the Ravens used a fifth defensive back on about 60% of their defensive snaps. That’s pretty normal for the league, but what’s interesting about the Ravens is who’s playing that extra slot corner position. All players in the secondary accounted for 5,569 defensive snaps for the Ravens last year. Safeties accounted for 2,667 (47.89%) of those snaps. That’s an important distinction because that means that while players at free or strong safety alignments accounted for only 33.26% of the defensive snaps among the secondary, players ostensibly rostered as safeties had much higher participation in the defense which is to say that safeties lined up as corners (overwhelmingly slot corners) very frequently for the Ravens.

It will be interesting to see whether the Dolphins attempt to do the same. Walker has already gone on the record about intending to move Jalen Ramsey around more in the secondary given how controversial it was last year that he didn’t travel and shadow the offense’s best receiver. The Dolphins made a surprise investment signing Kendall Fuller to replace Xavien Howard as the team’s boundary corner opposite Ramsey. I think we should all be thrilled with that move. Fuller has been a solid CB1 in Washington for the past four seasons, and he figures to be a massive upgrade over Howard at a much more sustainable price. He also has positional flexibility having played outstanding mostly as a slot corner in his first four seasons in the league with Kansas City.

Kader Kohou has been solid as a slot corner the past couple years, though he’s struggled on the boundary, and though we’ve re-signed him, Nik Needham was never outstanding outside but was also best in the slot. We also signed Siran Neal from the Bills who has played 60% of his (limited) defensive snaps from the slot (though he figures more a special teams contributor).

The team’s depth at safety is also a disaster. Jevon Holland is a top tier free safety who is likely due for an extension (hopefully later this summer after Howard’s cap clears in June) and Jordan Poyer is a fantastic bang-for-your-buck get who will mostly play strong safety. Behind them, though, the Dolphins only have Elijah Campbell. Campbell is fine as depth, but only $355,000 of his one-year deal is guaranteed, so his roster spot is hardly set, and he’s been nothing special over his three years in the league. More importantly, as of writing the Dolphins don’t have a single safety rostered in 2025. While it’s likely that we extend Holland, Poyer and Campbell are both playing on one year deals and there’s no guarantee that they’ll be back next year.

This all leaves the Dolphins in what I see as a pretty awkward place in the secondary. The team has an absolute glut of players who can perform well at slot corner. At minimum, I expect that we’ll see Ramsey, Fuller, and Kohou all play meaningful snaps lined up as a slot corner. We should also feel confident in our starting depth outside with Ramsey and Fuller and at safety with Ramsey and Holland. The problem is the depth behind them, especially if we’re going to be moving Ramsey and Fuller around (like we should).

The hope is certainly that Cam Smith can step up into a meaningful role at outside corner in his second season, but that doesn’t help the dismal depth at safety. It could be given the depth we have at slot corner that the Dolphins move safeties to the slot less (it’s certainly never been a big part of either Holland’s or Poyer’s games). There is another potential solution that I think the Dolphins could strongly consider.

Draft Cooper DeJean at 21. I know that defensive back isn’t where most people are focused as far as the Dolphins team needs, but our depth situation means it probably should be. DeJean specifically is a compelling option because of his positional flexibility. Perhaps the best trait DeJean has is that while he’s played mostly on the boundary in college, many project him to be a top safety or slot corner in the NFL. DeJean also potentially solves problems in both the short and long term.

In the short term, he can rotate between safety, boundary corner, and slot corner as the need arises. He can move outside when Ramsey or Fuller move inside. He can split reps in the box with Poyer. He didn’t play deep much in college, but it certainly figures like he can play there as well in rotation with Holland and Poyer.

In the long term, there’s the point I already mentioned about our lack of safeties committed in 2025 and beyond, but Fuller and Ramsey are also both free agents in 2026, half way through DeJean’s contract. While we hope that Smith steps up to replace one of them, that leaves another opening on the boundary. Even Kader Kohou will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. Whether DeJean develops as a safety, outside corner, or slot corner, there’s a long-term place for him on this team.

Even if we don’t go for DeJean in the first, the Dolphins need to figure out an answer for additional depth at outside corner and safety in 2024. Killing two birds with one stone with a do-everything player in the secondary seems like a good way to get your first round pick playing meaningful snaps across the roster.

###Tight Ends

I know there’s some enthusiasm for the Dolphins to get Brock Bowers in the draft, but put it out of your mind. The team’s not going to trade up to get him and drafting a tight end in the first round has arguably a worse track record than drafting a running back there. At least first round running backs are frequently productive during their first contracts in addition to being poor value in terms of cap spending.

The Dolphins have already made their moves at tight end, so I wouldn’t expect us to draft someone in the second either. After he was released from Atlanta, the Dolphins agreed to terms with Jonnu Smith on a two-year, $8.4 million deal. The deal includes three void years, although per OTC only one of the three is utilized so far. That suggests that even though the Dolphins have an out on his contract in 2025, we’re more likely to restructure or extend him to bring that cap figure down and push prorated signing bonus into those empty void years.

J. Smith was solid in Tennessee under Arthur Smith, underwhelming after he got his big deal contract in 2021 to go to the Patriots, and then had another solid year after being reunited with A. Smith in Atlanta last year. Good news for the Dolphins, A. Smith is part of the Shanahan coaching tree under Matt LaFleur, so there’s reason to be optimistic about his scheme fit.

J. Smith and Smythe (after his restructure) are locks as the top tight ends on the Dolphins roster in 2024. Behind them we’re returning Julian Hill and Tanner Conner and added Jody Fortson from the Chiefs. The three figure to compete for a third tight end spot, and all have similar contracts which give them no roster security ahead of camp. It’s conceivable, but unlikely, that the Dolphins add a tight end in the draft to compete for that third spot, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I’d also rate it unlikely that the team carries more than three tight ends onto the final 53-man roster.

###Wide Receivers

Headed into free agency the Dolphins were extremely top-heavy at receiver with Jaylen Waddle (who will almost certainly receive his fifth-year option designation shortly after the draft) and Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins have re-signed Braxton Berrios to another one-year deal worth $2.15 million with $1.2 million guaranteed. The team also re-signed River Cracraft to a league minimum deal with no guarantees. There’s also word recently that Erik Ezukanma is expected to return.

The team clearly isn’t done with wide receiver, though. Unless Ezukanma suddenly breaks out, the team lacks a true third wide receiver behind Hill and Waddle, and the Dolphins know it. There’s been a lot of reporting around the offer the Dolphins have out to Odell Beckham Jr., but they’re still apart on the money. OBJ’s free agency has been exceptionally quiet except for the meeting with us, though that might change after the draft. There’s a lot of wide receiver talent in the draft this year, and a lot of teams are headed into Thursday with a need at the position. OBJ likely is holding out that somebody gets left out and needs veteran help.

For what it’s worth, I really like OBJ as an option, and waiting makes more sense from a financial point for us. I appreciate that the team is holding to their offer and waiting to see how things play out, but I think OBJ is underrated at this point in his career as a third option. Last year, OBJ’s 1.92 yards per route run was best among the wide receivers on the Ravens and 38th among 211 receivers. That’s higher than several big-name receivers like Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, DaVonta Smith, Tee Higgins, Garrett Wilson, Curtis Samuel, and Gabe Davis, several of whom got big deals this last year. His 14.9 yards average depth of target was also 34th in the league and he had only a single drop. His receiving grade was 28th best in the NFL.

If nobody gets desperate and outbids us (which could very well happen), OBJ would be a great addition to the Dolphins receivers, and if the team waits until just after the draft the signing won’t impact the compensatory pick formula either.

While I don’t think it’s likely, I wouldn’t rule out a wide receiver in the first either. If, for example, the draft leans heavier defensively than expected and Brian Thomas Jr. or Adonai Mitchell is available at 21, I could see the Dolphins pulling that trigger. The more likely scenario in that case, though, would be to trade back. I think a receiver in the second is a much more likely (and palatable) move.

###Backs

The three notable moves in the Miami backfield this offseason were extending Mostert another season (a move which had essentially no bottom line impact to the 2024 cap), rework of Jeff Wilson’s contract, and restructuring Ingold’s deal to create some cap space. Of the threemoves, Wilson’s is more interesting. The move was a straight pay cut in exchange for an additional $400,000 in guarantees; his cap charge was reduced by about a third down to just around $2.4 million with a near even split on guaranteed money that makes a cut unlikely.

Expecting to carry five backs onto the roster in 2024, the team is financially committed to both Mostert and Ingold who would cost more to release than to keep. Obviously the team isn’t moving off of Devon Achane after his promising rookie season. Wilson’s reworked deal essentially guarantees his roster spot as well unless he really blows it in camp. That leaves the remaining roster spot between Chris Brooks and Salvon Ahmed (re-signed to a barely above minimum contract with no guarantees). It’s possible also that the Dolphins could roll with only four backs on the final 53 in which case the team is already set.

Heading into free agency, I expected that we’d be quiet when it came to the offensive backfield, and that appears to be the case. Except for maybe a seventh rounder or undrafted free agent to compete with Brooks and Ahmed, I don’t expect that the Dolphins will make any more moves at running back this season barring an injury.

###Offensive Line

There’s no question that the Dolphins need to work on their defensive interior. Letting Hunt walk for a $20 million deal with the Panthers is a justifiable move, but one that leaves the Dolphins with a lot of answers inside on the line. Between re-signing Isaiah Wynn and Robert Jones, depth at guard isn’t so much of an issue, but there’s a lot of work left to be done.

Unwilling to sit out and wait at center while Connor Williams works through recovery from his knee injury. The Dolphins signed Aaron Brewer to a three-year deal worth $21 million. Brewer hopefully projects as a better fit in our outside zone blocking scheme, and he’s a bruiser in the run game, but he’s been underwhelming as a pass blocker. Brewer has some guard flexibility as well, though, so while he’s currently projected to be the team’s starting center, I wouldn’t rule out moving him to LG (where he’s played 1,299 career snaps) or even right guard (where he’s played 209) if the Dolphins draft a center.

The Dolphins also reworked Terron Armstead’s deal, including a $4.25 million pay cut in 2024 in exchange for $10 million in guaranteed salary. The deal optimistically has Armstead playing the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Dolphins averaging $16.5 million per year and then retiring in 2026 with a $10.7 million dead cap figure. I’m mixed on the deal as the additional guarantees may hurt us more in the long term than the $4.25 million savings helps in the short term, especially of Armstead retires next year, but it would be difficult for the Dolphins to address four starting offensive line spots in 2024 effectively if he had retired.

I know as a fan base that we’re clamoring for the Dolphins to draft a guard or center with our top pick, but I’m hesitant to call it a lock (even though I called for drafting Jackson Powers-Johnson earlier this off season). I think over the years the front office has made it clear how much they value interior offensive linemen and I don’t see us drafting a guard or center in the first round unless it’s a guard who has flexibility to move outside at tackle and eventually replace Armstead.

That type of move makes a lot of sense and there should definitely be players available who could fit that role, but there are also a lot of teams that need offensive tackle help and a run on the position could instead leave the Dolphins taking the fourth or fifth such player off the board at 21. The problem is that outside of maybe Olumuyiwa Fashanu, most of the tackles who could conceivably kick into guard until Armstead leaves are right tackles. Guys like JC Latham or Amarius Mims have a decent chance of being on the board at 21, but unless you’re comfortable taking them and keeping them at guard, I don’t see how you justify drafting them as a long term solution to left tackle. It just makes me nervous.

I’m increasingly convinced that with the way most mocks have the board generally falling, the Dolphins won’t go offensive line in round one and instead might wait to address guard or center at pick 55. I also wouldn’t rule out that the Dolphins could still have an answer on the interior of the line after the draft with Williams. If his recovery is proceeding apace, I think it makes a lot of sense to bring him back so he can start at either center or left guard depending on how we want to move Brewer around. The move would also provide much better center depth than we had last year, which was a huge problem after Williams went down.

Players like Christian Haynes or Zach Frazier might be reasonable targets in the second round. In later rounds, players like Beaux Limmer could provide some depth with starting potential with experience at guard and tackle. I mentioned earlier I’d love to pick up a guy like Mason McCormick if he falls to our day three picks.

###Quarterback

The decision not to extend Tagovailoa gives the Dolphins some flexibility moving forward. On June 2, the Dolphins will open up $18.5 million in additional 2024 salary cap space when Xavien Howard’s release is officially completed, and it’s unlikely that the Dolphins make any significant moves until that cap space becomes available. As mentioned, the team reportedly has a contract offer out to Odell Beckham Jr., but neither side appears in any rush to make a decision there.

That puts the balls back in the team’s court in terms of leverage moving forward. Tagovailoa is under contract on his fifth-year option and the team is unlikely to make additional signings that require the cap relief an immediate extension might offer.

Between the fifth-year option and a franchise tag, the Dolphins control Tagovailoa’s future through the 2025 season at least. The team isn’t exactly flush with cap space in 2025, so there would need to be some financial finagling to exercise the cap, but it’s a manageable option. For those reluctant to offer a large extension for Tagovailoa based on his first four seasons, this may offer some comfort.

I still think it’s more likely than not that the team extends Tagovailoa before the 2024 season begins. There’s still good news based on the current financial situation, however. With no immediate need for the cap space, the Dolphins have a lot more flexibility in regards to contract structure. While an extension early to leverage 2024 cap space would have involved backloading significant portions of the contract’s guarantees, there’s little reason to do that if we’re extending Tagovailoa after the draft. The team will already see an influx of cap space from Xavien Howard’s post-June 1 designation that will provide plenty of flexibility to sign rookies, a practice squad, and fill out the roster.

Consider the following contract structure.

This would be a five-year extension with $55 million per year in new money (2025-2026). It includes $150 million in fully guaranteed money at signing. The team would have an easy out in 2027 when they could save $16 million cutting him outright or $24 million with a post-June 1 designation. With a post-June 1 designation in 2026, the team could theoretically move on from Tagovailoa as well, though it would make less sense. The Dolphins would also have an out to trade Tagovailoa in 2026 where they would save $40 million.

I doubt very much that his contract actually ends up looking like this, but I think it gives an idea of how such a contract might be structured simply which mostly aligns with the current window to compete. There’s also the argument to be made that if the team is looking at a contract structure like this, they may as well just let Tagovailoa play out the fifth-year option and franchise tag him in 2025 as the cap difference would be negligible. That path will be popular among many, and it’s a justifiable path so long as you’re willing to acknowledge that a third year of the same type of efficiency we’ve seen over the past two likely earns Tagovailoa an even bigger contract in 2025, regardless of the team’s postseason success.

###Special Teams ###Dream Draft

Hi everyone! As the title says, it’s my first time going to hard rock stadium. I’m only going to be there for one day and wanted to know any advice, parking advise, or if there’s anything to do that’s close by (driving or walking distance doesn’t matter) I really want to make it a day trip worth while so any and all advice is appreciated!!

If Nate Wiggins falls to 21 do you think we would take him or stick with O line or DT?

Chargers fan here. Just want to ask a question, If you guys were general manager how much over what time period would you be willing to pay Tua? Seen a lot of dialogue on this and just want to know where yall's heads are at

Open thread to discuss anything Dolphins or not Dolphins.

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https://x.com/SharpFootball/status/1781380716741140597

My mother is an obsessive Miami Dolphins fan. She turns 70 this week and I thought getting a former player to wish her a happy birthday on Cameo would be really cool. My mother has been an obsessive fan since the 1970s, like trading cards, leather Miami jackets (we lived in upstate NY near Buffalo…yea), helmets, she used to get the Miami Dolphins Herald delivered in the 90s, etc. She claims she is going to quit watching them every year but never does. The games make her so anxious she goes to the bathroom constantly. And then watches Sports Center highlights ad nauseam for the next few days.

Unfortunately, Dan Marino is not current accepting requests. However, there are a couple of players and coaches, and I was wondering which one you think she might like best?

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