5 Available Free Agents Still Within Miami Dolphins' Reach
Oh, you thought that the end of March meant the end of the madness of free agency?
A few hundred free agents and 32 head coaches and general managers would like a word. So would I.
The Miami Dolphins made some splashes in the free-agent pool this offseason, but that doesn't mean their roster looks exactly the way it will look in the 2015 season opener. There's still the NFL draft, but there's also a handful of available free agents who could help the team in some way.
Make no mistake, the players that are still available on the open market will most likely not be the kind of instant starters and contributors the Dolphins found in the opening frenzy of free agency, but these are the value signings that can round out the roster.
Dan Connolly
1 of 5
The Dolphins are sniffing away on the trail of Dan Connolly, and have reportedly shown interest in him already. But why haven't they made the move?
Your guess is as good as mine. Connolly is experienced at all three interior line positions—left guard, center and right guard—having started nearly a full season at all three positions. He brings with him a lot of knowledge of the New England Patriots's system, which he can share with his new team to their advantage.
He's a fit for the Dolphins offense, with enough quickness to get out in front of plays as a pulling guard and the right technique to hold up in a zone-blocking scheme.
He also fills what is still a big need for the Dolphins at guard. Even if J.D. Walton factors into the starting lineup, the Dolphins still have Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner battling it out for the starting job at one of the two guard spots. Connolly would immediately bring an end to that competition by providing a top-notch starter for the group.
Jermaine Gresham
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The Dolphins both created and filled a need at tight end within the span of a few days, but they could seal the deal on their depth chart at the position by adding former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham.
Yes, the Dolphins lost the ultra-talented Charles Clay, but they added a high-reward talent in Jordan Cameron on a low-risk deal due to his history of concussions. The Dolphins can get out almost scot-free from his two-year, $15 million contract after the 2015 season, but that won't help them at the tight end position this year should he get injured.
That's where Gresham comes into play. He has a similar skill set to Cameron, with a big 6'5", 260-pound frame that he can use to his advantage to win matchups in the red zone. All five of his touchdowns in 2014 were on balls that were caught inside the red zone, and eight of his nine touchdowns over the past two years have come from inside the 20-yard line.
The Dolphins could immediately add another red-zone threat, and another insurance policy against Cameron, in the process of signing Gresham.
Greg Jennings
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There are plenty of wide receivers the Dolphins should be targeting in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft, but if they want to create a pressure-free environment for whichever receiver they choose, they had better add another veteran to the mix. Who better than Joe Philbin's old friend Greg Jennings?
The Dolphins have already met with Jennings, and according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, the former Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings wideout left Miami without a contract. And it's not hard to see why. Jennings was more banged up than Mitch Kramer in Dazed and Confused, and his skills have tailed off a bit in the past few years.
In the past three years, he has 163 catches for 1,912 yards and 14 touchdowns. Not bad numbers. But in the three years before that, he had 211 receptions for 3,327 yards and 25 touchdowns.
That being said, the Dolphins wouldn't be asking him to be their long-term solution, or even to carry a heavy workload in 2015. Instead, he could be a complementary piece, and it wouldn't take him long to get acclimated since the Dolphins' offensive verbiage is grounded in the same philosophies as the Packers'.
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Steven Jackson
4 of 5
No one's going to confuse Steven Jackson with any of the young, spry backs the Dolphins have in their backfield. And that's exactly the point.
Lamar Miller, Damien Williams, Mike Gillislee and LaMichael James are all capable backs, but all of them share the same skill set. The Dolphins still don't have that short-yardage back, the between-the-tackles hammer who can fall forward on 3rd-and-short or near the goal line and get just enough yardage—inches, even—to either move the chains or put six points on the board.
Jackson's production has dipped like an Oreo cookie in milk, and his on-field play looks equally soggy, but even with fewer carries for fewer yards in the past two years than in any other two-year span in Jackson's career, he has still managed to put up six rushing scores in each of the past two seasons.
In recent years, Jackson's M.O. has been "three yards and a cloud of dust." Right now, that's exactly what the Dolphins need.
Tommy Kelly
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The headlines in Miami have been so thoroughly dominated by the signing of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, everyone has conveniently overlooked the giant question mark at the defensive tackle spot next to him.
The Dolphins signed Earl Mitchell last offseason, but he has never played more than the 553 snaps he played in 2013, according to stats website Pro Football Focus. Unless the Dolphins think he'll magically go on to become a full-time player, their best bet may be to sign a veteran to help supplement the roster.
Enter Tommy Kelly, a versatile 11-year veteran who has played in a variety of 3-4 and 4-3 schemes in his career. Kelly had a strong year in 2014 in the Arizona Cardinals' aggressive 3-4, with 32 hurries, nine hits and a sack as a pass-rusher. He's more than that, though, and has a knack for stuffing gaps on the inside as well.
That being said, he would be right at home in the Dolphins defense—which often calls on its defensive tackles to be aggressive and attack the gaps. Two talented defensive tackles like Kelly and Suh next to each other is a defensive coordinator's dream, and could be an offensive line's nightmare.
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