Miami Dolphins Veterans Who Have Been Put on Notice This Offseason
It was difficult to assemble a list of Miami Dolphins veterans who have been put on notice. That's because so many veterans who would have been "put on notice" were already expunged from the roster.
Wide receivers Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson may have been considered "on notice" after the Dolphins' selection of wide receiver DeVante Parker in the first round, but all three of the veterans had already been dealt with via trade or release.
Linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler may have been considered "on notice" due to the high salary-cap figures for each, and the fact that their pay grade did not match up with their play, but both men were shipped off in one form or another.
But of the remaining veterans, a few names stick out as players who should be looking over their shoulder in a possible training-camp competition.
Dallas Thomas
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After four years of Tony Sparano building the Dolphins' offensive line in the mold of bigger, stronger linemen, Joe Philbin flipped the script and began a search for more athletic and nimble blockers to execute a zone scheme. Philbin's search has been unsuccessful thus far, and part of that blame can be attributed to the lack of development from former college offensive tackle Dallas Thomas at the guard position.
Thomas had the first crack at the starting job at right guard in practice this past offseason. It did not go well. The Dolphins were so underwhelmed by Thomas' performance that they moved center Mike Pouncey to guard following his return from injury, and they also signed two street free agents: guard Daryn Colledge and center Samson Satele.
Thomas finished the 2014 season as one of the worst guards in football, finishing with a Pro Football Focus grade that put him at No. 58 out of 78 qualifying guards.
Now, with the addition of Arizona State guard Jamil Douglas in the fourth round of the draft, Thomas can no longer rest on his laurels as a favorite of Philbin. He must prove that he's made progress at his new position in order to keep his spot as a starter.
Will Davis
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It's difficult to make heads or tails of the Dolphins' cornerback situation. On one hand, they've made several additions to the depth chart this offseason. Veterans Brice McCain and Zack Bowman along with rookie Bobby McCain join the ranks of Jamar Taylor, Will Davis and Walt Aikens among the cornerbacks who will be competing for a starting spot opposite Brent Grimes.
With six players competing for four spots, at least two of the six mentioned above will probably become victims of the training camp cutdown from 90 to 53 players on the roster.
Taylor should currently be penciled in as a starter. He earned three starts last year and had the fourth-most snaps of any cornerback on the Dolphins roster last year. Two of the cornerbacks who had more snaps, Cortland Finnegan and Jimmy Wilson, are no longer with the team. Aikens played only 64 snaps in 2014, and entering his second year, there's still time left for him to prove his worth to the roster.
Davis, on the other hand, enters his third year having played mainly on special teams since entering the NFL. His season came to an abrupt end when he tore his ACL in November. Even before that, he was not a big factor in the lineup and had only played 135 snaps on the season.
Unless Davis has a strong training camp, his time could be running out. Either way, he's certainly been put on notice to step up or step off the field.
Rishard Matthews
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OK, the Rishard Matthews saga has to end at some point, right? It is no longer a matter of if, but when.
Matthews has been on the outs with the Dolphins for the past year. Last August, a report surfaced that the Dolphins were "open to trading" Matthews near the end of training camp. Six months later, Matthews was the one who was asking to be traded, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
This back-and-forth could be coming to an end this offseason, with Matthews sitting in the shadows of a depth chart that now includes first-round wide receiver DeVante Parker, trade acquisition Kenny Stills and red-hot rookie Jarvis Landry entering his second year.
That leaves Matthews almost exactly where he has spent the past two seasons—as the No. 4 wide receiver on the depth chart—but that's a bit of a step back, considering Matthews emerged in 2013 after Gibson was lost for the season.
That year, Matthews hauled in 41 passes for 448 yards and a pair of touchdowns. This past season, Matthews was an afterthought, only notching 12 receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
Matthews' role may not be as valuable to the Dolphins as it appeared it might be following the 2013 season, and with an influx of new talent, his value could be dwindling to nothing.
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Earl Mitchell
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The Dolphins probably envisioned bigger things for defensive tackle Earl Mitchell when they signed him to a four-year, $16 million deal last offseason, with $5 million fully guaranteed.
That being said, with the guaranteed money mostly front-loaded into the first year of his contract, Mitchell could be cut this offseason with the Dolphins saving roughly $3 million in cap space by doing so. They would lose $1.5 million of his cap hit to dead money, but why spend the money if Mitchell isn't going to be more than a warm body on the depth chart?
Mitchell has spent his career as a secondary or tertiary part of rotations. He has never played more than 553 snaps in a season as a pro, and he earned only 543 snaps for the Dolphins in 2014.
After adding Ndamukong Suh in free agency and Jordan Phillips in the draft, the Dolphins appear to have covered their bases on the starting lineup.
Mitchell could be a nice rotational piece and an insurance policy on Phillips if the rookie doesn't pick up the playbook right away, but unless he becomes an even bigger part of the defensive line than he was last year, the financial commitment may not match up with the actual value.
Mike Gillislee
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With Lamar Miller, LaMichael James, Damien Williams and Mike Gillislee all on the roster, the Dolphins already had an excess of scatbacks, all of whom do their best work while in the open field.
The group became a little more well-rounded with the fifth-round selection of Boise State running back Jay Ajayi, but even without that last addition, the Dolphins would still be trimming some fat in their backfield this offseason.
Gillislee seems like the most likely candidate. His sophomore campaign never got off the ground, as he suffered a season-ending hamstring injury before the regular season even began.
There were already talks that the Dolphins were not sold on Gillislee as more than a third-string running back, and if he's competing in that area, he could be in trouble, as every other back offers value in another area.
James can contribute on special teams, and averaged 10.9 yards per punt return and 28.4 yards per kickoff return in two-and-a-half years with the San Francisco 49ers. Williams got some opportunities as a receiver out of the backfield in 2014, notching 21 receptions on 27 passes thrown his way for 187 yards and a touchdown to go with his 36 rushes for 122 yards.
With so much other talent on the roster, and so many different backs capable of different things, it could be tough for Gillislee to carve out a niche and earn playing time in Miami's backfield.
Unless otherwise noted, all advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus. All salary cap and contract information provided by Over The Cap.
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