Miami Dolphins Blueprint for Winning Free Agency
Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin is firmly on the hot seat. Whether general manager Dennis Hickey is feeling the same way or not could be the determining factor in how aggressive the Dolphins are in free agency.
They could also be affected by their salary-cap situation, which is not one of the best in the NFL. They currently have only $1.86 million in cap space, according to sports contracts website Spotrac. Without a few cap-clearing moves, the Dolphins won't be in attack mode come March 10, the opening of free agency.
With that being said, there are several moves the Dolphins need to make in order to have a successful free-agency period, from in-house decisions to signing players from outside the organization.
Here's a look at some of the steps the Dolphins can take to set themselves up for a winning 2015 season—their first since 2008.
Players to Re-Sign
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Matt Moore
The Dolphins have had one backup quarterback since 2011, and while Matt Moore is approaching 31 years old, he is not going to command a high price tag on the open market, nor will he be a lock to start for another team.
Jared Odrick
This one may be a bit of a pipe dream, as Jared Odrick is likely to draw a high-dollar figure as a free agent. Odrick may have logged only one sack in 2014, but there are few interior defensive linemen who can be as disruptive in the passing game. Couple that with Odrick's overall versatility (positionally between 3-4 defensive end and 4-3 defensive tackle, and skill-wise between run and pass defense) and it's clear the Dolphins need to find a way to keep him around for the long term.
Daryn Colledge
The Dolphins spent a lot of resources to improve their offensive line last offssason, but there is still work to be done. Offensive guard Daryn Colledge played 763 snaps last season, according to stats website Pro Football Focus, but also finished the season with a minus-22.8 grade, which ranked 74th out of 78 qualifying guards. Clearly, the Dolphins can upgrade, but Colledge could at least be a serviceable backup who knows the system and is familiar with Joe Philbin from their time together both in Green Bay and in Miami.
Charles Clay
The receiving corps has been a strength for the Dolphins in recent years, but it looks like that could change. Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry and Charles Clay are all solid weapons in the passing game, but after releasing both Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson on Friday, according to respective reports from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com and Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald, the Dolphins need to maintain some stability in the receiving game, or a strength could quickly become a weakness.
Players to Let Walk
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Knowshon Moreno
When Knowshon Moreno hit the open market in 2014 as one of five players to score at least 10 touchdowns for the Denver Broncos the year before, it was a surprise to see him take a one-year prove-it deal. The reason: a knee injury that needed surgery to repair. Now, coming off a season-ending ACL tear, the Dolphins may be better off going in another direction.
Louis Delmas
When the Dolphins signed Louis Delmas to a one-year deal last offseason, the question was how he would fit into their scheme. The strong safety spot has been occupied by Reshad Jones, and that's been Delmas' natural position for most of his career. The Dolphins ended up moving both players around a bit, and while Jones enjoyed a strong season, he may benefit even more from moving back to his more natural position.
Daniel Thomas
The Dolphins waived Daniel Thomas at the end of training camp after the veteran back lost a training-camp battle to undrafted rookies Orleans Darkwa and Damian Williams. They then brought him back after injuries to Moreno and Lamar Miller, and he finished the season with 44 carries for 168 yards (3.8 YPA) and two touchdowns. The Dolphins know it's time to move in another direction, they just need to actually do it.
Sign a Starting-Caliber Cornerback
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One cornerback does not an elite secondary make. The Dolphins have Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes, and a lot of question marks besides that. Cortland Finnegan is 32 years old and could be a salary-cap casualty; Jamar Taylor, Will Davis and Walt Aikens are young developmental cornerbacks who have yet to prove themselves as starting-caliber players.
The 2015 free agency class is ripe with players who have solid starting experience in the NFL. With players like Tramon Williams (Green Bay Packers), Ike Taylor (Pittsburgh Steelers), Kareem Jackson (Houston Texans), Antonio Cromartie (Arizona Cardinals), Brandon Flowers (San Diego Chargers) and Darrelle Revis (New England Patriots) all potentially hitting the open market, the Dolphins will have plenty of opportunities to add an experienced defensive back to their group.
Which will it be? It depends on which ones end up re-signing with their teams, and which ones are remaining at that point. The Dolphins have to be smart about it, too, as Taylor, Williams and Cromartie are all 30 years or older.
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Put Finishing Touches on Offensive Line
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The Dolphins started rebuilding their offensive line last offseason, with multiple free-agent signings and draft selections after losing starters at four of the five offensive line positions. They lost Bryant McKinnie, Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Tyson Clabo, and added Ja'Wuan James, Branden Albert, Daryn Colledge, Shelley Smith, Billy Turner and Samson Satele. The only holdover was Mike Pouncey—and he didn't even start the season after missing the first four games due to injury.
The Dolphins got it right at the tackle spots, with James and Albert both playing well in 2014. Pouncey is another cornerstone to the offensive line, and he could play at any of the three inside positions. That leaves two positions that will need to be filled: either left and right guard, or one of the guard spots and center, depending on where Pouncey lines up.
Guards like Mike Iupati (San Francisco 49ers), James Carpenter (Seattle Seahawks), Orlando Franklin (Denver Broncos) and Clint Boling (Cincinnati Bengals) are all soon to become free agents, but there aren't many game-changers hitting the open market. Franklin looks like the best fit of those players, not only because he can play both tackle and guard if need be, but also because he has experience in a zone-blocking scheme like the one the Dolphins run.
The Dolphins could look to create competition on the interior of the offensive line between Colledge, Turner and another free-agent acquisition, but it appears the Dolphins may be entering the 2015 season with question marks on the offensive line no matter what they do.
Release Mike Wallace
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The Dolphins already began shaking up their pass-catching group with the release of veteran wide receiver Brian Hartline, but they are far from done. As mentioned earlier, they must also address the impending free agency of tight end Charles Clay, and beyond that, they must also determine what to do with Mike Wallace.
The disgruntled wide receiver is set to count for $12.1 million against the salary cap, according to sports contracts website Spotrac, and the Dolphins could save $5.5 million in cap space by releasing him. Of course, they could try to restructure his contract, but Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Wallace is unwilling to restructure the final three years of his deal.
With Wallace unwilling to budge, it only makes sense for the Dolphins to release him outright. It would also fall in line with Joe Philbin's history as a head coach of quickly parting ways with players who go against the grain.
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