Olivier Vernon Playing His Way to a Nice Payday for Miami Dolphins

The longer the Miami Dolphins are without Cameron Wake, the more Olivier Vernon takes advantage of his opportunity to prove his worth.

Vernon is in a contract year, and the Dolphins defensive end is currently having the best year of his career. There have always been flashes of potential, but never have they burned so bright for so long as they've been burning this season. 

Vernon finished Sunday's game with 2.5 official sacks, and according to Pro Football Focus, Vernon registered 11 total pressures of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub (five hurries, three hits, three sacks). That makes three straight weeks in which Vernon has logged at least one sack, and also four straight weeks in which he has generated at least six combined pressures.

Wake did most of his damage with an elite first step off the line of scrimmage; he would often beat an offensive tackle before the blocker even had a chance to get set. Vernon has some of that speed, but he is showing his true value by being far more than just a one-trick pony. 

"He has more than just one move," said interim head coach Dan Campbell. "He has the bull, he has the speed, he has a spin, and when you have all of those things and you have leverage with it, a little bit like [Dwight] Freeney, it's tough especially when you have those big old long tackles because that's sometimes really how to neutralize those guys. You get under those long arms and you're able to move them. He's playing good football for us right now."

He is indeed, and if he continues to play at this level, there will be no avoiding the massive payday he's about to receive.

Make no mistake; Vernon probably won't be paid like one of the best pass-rushers in the game, but he will fit comfortably into that second-tier grouping of pass-rushers unless a team is willing to take a gamble on him developing into that top-tier guy with time. With that in mind, it's unlikely the Dolphins would use the franchise tag on him—especially given their salary-cap woes.

Right now, the Dolphins are scheduled to be $4.5 million over the 2016 salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com. The projected franchise tag for a defensive end is roughly $15 million, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald:

The Dolphins don't have a lot of options on how to proceed with Vernon; it's either a transition tag, which a team can match, or a long-term deal. 

Salguero proposes the transition tag, which has benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, it gives the Dolphins the right of first refusal to match any offer Vernon would sign. On the other hand, it opens up the possibility that teams will put together a contract which the Dolphins couldn't possibly match given their cap constraints.

The transition tag didn't work last year when the Dolphins used it on tight end Charles Clay. He took visits with both the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns as the two teams explored the possibility of signing Clay to an offer sheet that the Dolphins couldn't match.

If the Dolphins want to make sure they don't suffer the same fate with Vernon that they suffered with Clay, they need to sign their defensive end to a long-term deal. Given what other defensive ends are making, Vernon should get roughly $7 or $8 million per year and about $3 or $4 million guaranteed per year.

Those figures would put him in or around the top 12 defensive ends in the NFL, which is right about where he belongs.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.