AFC East MVPs: Who Is the MVP of the Miami Dolphins?

Defensive end Cameron Wake is the best player on the Dolphins roster without a question.

He wouldn't have earned a four-year deal worth a maximum of $49 million (per the Palm Beach Post) unless the Dolphins felt he was vital to the defense.

He's one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL, so finding logic behind him as the Dolphins' Most Valuable Player is as easy as Wake makes getting after the quarterback look.

Reliability

Wake missed the first two games in his first year in the league, but since then, hasn't missed a single game.

He wasn't always a big part of the Dolphins defense, playing just 18.3 percent of the defensive snaps in 2009 according to Pro Football Focus. But once he jumped onto the map as a top-notch pass-rusher, he immediately became a fixture in the defense. He played 89.5 percent of the snaps in 2010 and 80.3 percent in 2011.

Not only is he always healthy, but he's almost always on the field. That kind of reliability is hard to find.

Production

To put Wake's production into perspective, he accounted for 26.8 percent of the team's total QB pressures, 31.7 percent of the QB hits and 20.9 percent of the sack production for the team, according to Pro Football Focus.

Getting him re-signed long-term was a must.

Losing him in that defensive front would result in the Dolphins needing to replace much of the effectiveness of their pass rush. Whether the Dolphins are running a 3-4, a 4-3 or some combination of the two, they'll be much better off with a pass-rusher like Wake coming off the edge.

Value

As one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL, it's not hard to see where Wake's value is to the Dolphins defense, especially in a league that is predicated more and more on passing.

Just one look at Wake's stats in comparison to the rest of the team shows his exact value to the defense.

But according to Nate Jahnke of Pro Football Focus, Wake will finally be utilized in a way that will maximize his value to the defense:

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Last year Wake was used like a defensive end in four man fronts on 52.8% of Wake’s snaps. On another 16.2% of snaps, he was one of three or fewer players with their hand on the ground. While precisely where he lines up in comparison to the offense might change, he is still used to playing with his hand on the ground and rushing the passer from there.

The main difference is he will go back into coverage less often. He went into coverage 53 times last year, where 13 of those came from him having his hand on the ground and then going back. He didn’t have an interception last year and only one pass defended. Instead he will be doing what he’s good at, which is going after the quarterback which should help his fantasy value.

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With the impact of Wake's contributions to the pass rush last season, the Dolphins and their fans have to be excited that he will continue to be a fixture off the edge in 2012.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.