Miami Dolphins Free Agents: Ranking Re-Sign Priorities for Miami
When a salary cap limits your budget the way the NFL's salary cap does, then teams like the Miami Dolphins have to prioritize their spending in the offseason.
Usually atop the list of priorities is re-signing your key free agents before they hit the open market. You want to get this taken care of first, that way there aren't as many holes to fill when the market officially opens for business and the draft comes up.
It also helps because it breeds familiarity and continuity, which are both big helps on the field and in the locker room.
However, you can't re-sign them all, and priorities have to be made because of the salary cap and how much room you have.
Even if you have plenty of cap room (see the Dolphins' cap situations in 2013 and 2014), some sacrifices have to be made, no matter how tough they may be. Jake Long, Reggie Bush and Sean Smith in 2013 all come to mind, and at least in the case of Long, the Dolphins were proven correct by his time in St. Louis.
Here's a ranking of Miami's impending free agents ranked by how important re-signing the player should be to the team.
Miami's Impending Free Agents
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There are only seven players on this list despite there being 20 impending Dolphins free agents, those of whom are broken down in this table.
| Player | Position | Free-Agent Status |
| Matt Moore | Quarterback | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Jimmy Wilson | Safety | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Knowshon Moreno | Running Back | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Jason Fox | Tackle/Guard | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Louis Delmas | Safety | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Charles Clay | Tight End | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Jared Odrick | Defensive Tackle | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Daryn Colledge | Guard | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Samson Satele | Center | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Jason Trusnik | Inside Linebacker | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Kelvin Sheppard | Inside Linebacker | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Daniel Thomas | Running Back | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| LaMichael James | Running Back | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| T.J. Heath | Running Back | Unrestricted Free Agent |
| Derrick Shelby | Defensive End | Restricted Free Agent |
| Jonathan Freeny | Outside Linebacker | Restricted Free Agent |
| R.J. Stanford | Cornerback | Restricted Free Agent |
| Jerome Messam | Running Back | Restricted Free Agent |
| Michael Thomas | Defensive Back | Early Restricted Free Agent |
| Jordan Kovacs | Safety | Early Restricted Free Agent |
From this list, we won't count lower-tiered free agents such as Jason Trusnik (a good special teams player but replaceable) or any of the restricted or early restricted free agents, as the Dolphins should retain the ones deemed worth retaining (Jonathan Freeny, Derrick Shelby).
7. Matt Moore
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Kicking off the list and barely hanging on is backup quarterback Matt Moore.
Thanks to a very good season by Ryan Tannehill (one that showed plenty of potential and progress), it seems that the importance of Moore on Miami's roster shrank more and more.
This was a good thing, as Moore represents a Band-Aid and not a cure. Tannehill is more likely to be the cure to the Dolphins' ails, and he showed that this season.
Meanwhile, as for backing up the quarterback, the better (and cheaper) direction to go in would be through the draft, where the Dolphins can find and attempt to develop a quarterback.
So why even have Moore on this list?
While the younger drafted quarterback is the better way to go long term, Moore does provide the Dolphins with some security in case of an injury at the position. It's a spot the Dolphins never want to be in, but it is nice to know it's there.
I personally wouldn't sign off on what amounts to an extended warranty (I've never purchased one by the way, nor have I ever needed it), but the Dolphins might feel differently about that. Because of that, they might decide to bring him back.
6. Jimmy Wilson
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Here's another player I'd rather see the Dolphins part ways with, yet the team might see things a bit differently.
Jimmy Wilson isn't quite right at safety, but he's not the most trustworthy player at nickelback, either.
No matter what the position, Wilson graded out at minus-7.4 on Pro Football Focus, and his penalty grade was minus-1.8, as he committed five penalties this season.
It felt like he had committed more.
Wilson also had issues making tackles, and he seemed to get burned in coverage a lot.
The only reason to sign Wilson is to keep the depth he provided on the team, but the Dolphins seem to have a replacement for him in either Will Davis, Walt Aikens or even both players, which is the right move for them to make.
If Miami brings Wilson back, I'd understand, but preferably, let him go.
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5. Knowshon Moreno
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The Dolphins need a back that can complement Lamar Miller.
Knowshon Moreno was supposed to be that back in 2014, and in his first game, it looked like that was the case.
However, Moreno would only play in two more games the rest of the season, as injuries kept him on the sidelines.
Since he only signed a one-year contract, the Dolphins have a tough decision to make: keep Moreno on for another year and see if he can last and provide what they hoped he would, or go in a different direction.
Moreno brings good pass-blocking skills and an ability to catch passes out of the backfield, and he is still fairly young—he'll be 28 years old at the start of the season.
The downside is the injuries, especially to his knee, which knocked him out for the season.
4. Jason Fox
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Why is Jason Fox on this list?
Depth—depth at a position that desperately needs some.
The Dolphins do have to look for at least one new guard, and they could use a tackle to groom to take over for Branden Albert on the left side. But you can't have too many linemen.
Looking at the Dolphins' free-agent offensive linemen, Jason Fox seems to be the best bet to bring back. He's still fairly young (26), he can play either tackle or guard if needed and he held his own when he replaced Dallas Thomas in the final two games of the season.
3. Louis Delmas
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Louis Delmas couldn't last a full season with the Dolphins, thus validating claims that he's injury-prone despite his young age.
Yet, the Dolphins should—nay, must—re-sign him this offseason.
Delmas had a great impact on the Dolphins secondary when he played. It created turnovers, and the unit—and defense as a whole—performed well when Delmas was on the field.
Sadly for Delmas, the injury in question was a torn ACL, and while he should be ready for training camp, there will be questions surrounding him.
Despite those questions, he's worth another shot from the Dolphins.
2. Charles Clay
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This is the first of two players whom the Dolphins are going to have to work hard to keep from hitting the open market.
What offense wouldn't want to have Charles Clay? Sure his 2014 was a down year compared to 2013, but 58 catches for 605 yards is a pretty good down year.
He could use more touchdowns, though.
Clay would work best not as the first tight end option, but as the second tight end—a smaller, shiftier tight end who can also be used as an H-Back (his original position) or pass-catching fullback.
This will make Clay quite a hot commodity on the free-agent market.
The Dolphins should re-sign him, but it will come at a price.
1. Jared Odrick
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The Dolphins must re-sign Jared Odrick.
They should be on the phone with his agent right now, as you're reading this piece, trying to figure out a deal to keep the defensive tackle in aqua and orange.
Odrick has had a big impact on the Dolphins in every full season he has played, recording 16.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, 11 pass deflections and 104 tackles in his first full season in the league.
In 2014, Odrick played well at defensive tackle, finishing with one sack, 23 tackles and a Pro Football Focus grade of 9.0, which included grades of 1.0 against the run and 7.3 against the pass.
He made holes for Miami's linebackers and safeties to crash through on blitzes, while also helping to spring Miami's defensive ends.
Odrick is a versatile player, too, having the ability to play as a 4-3 defensive tackle (his position the last two years), 4-3 defensive end and 3-4 defensive end.
You don't let players like this go without a fight—you make them your top priority in the offseason.
If the Dolphins fail to do this, they will be forced to rebuild their defensive line, something that will be much tougher to do without long-time defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers, who's now a defensive coordinator with the New York Jets.
Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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