Top five free agents (and potential Dolphins targets) playing in the Divisional Round
The best of the NFL’s best play this weekend.
That includes teams and pending free agents.
The Divisional Round is when things really get serious. And when Dolphins fans should really get serious about players their team might sign with an estimated $120 million in 2020 cap space.
This weekend’s four games will include six of Walter Football’s top 11 2020 free agents. There will be high-level players on the field at Dolphins positions of need.
A note of caution, however: The Dolphins insist that their free-spending days are over.
“The big thing for us is we’re going to be smart about it,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said last week. “We’re going to build it the way we feel right and yeah, we have money and cap space, but it doesn’t mean you have to spend it all. We’re going to try to bring in a lot of players here — good players here — and keep building the roster. We’ll be very smart in how we do it.”
Dolphins coach Brian Flores was on the same page: “I think anyone who can help this team get better and win, we’ll take a look at. But like Chris said, we’ve had many conversations regarding — look, everyone thinks we’ve got all of this money to spend and blow. We’re going to be judicious and responsible with our salary cap.”
But how do you square that with the team’s preseason pursuit of former No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney, whose Seahawks visit the Packers on Sunday? Clowney is in line for a huge payday, and yet the Dolphins tried to trade for him (and presumably sign him to a long-term deal) in August.
Clowney balked at going to the rebuilding Dolphins, and the Texans instead dealt him to Seattle.
But that courtship, and the record-breaking deal they gave to cornerback Xavien Howard, suggest the Dolphins are not afraid of big contracts, as long as they’re the right ones.
So with that in mind, let’s explore the five top names still playing, and what they can expect to fetch if their teams allow them to reach the open market.
Jadeveon Clowney
▪ Current team: Seattle Seahawks.
▪ Position: Defensive end.
▪ Size: 6-5, 267.
▪ 2019 stats: 31 tackles, four forced fumbles, three sacks, two defensive touchdowns.
▪ Spotrac calculated market value: Six years, $124.6 million ($20.7 million annually, which would rank third among NFL defensive ends).
▪ Outlook: The Dolphins coveted Clowney last offseason, and there’s no reason to think that has changed in the past six months. Beyond his ability to pressure the quarterback, he is excellent in the run game. Two big questions, however: Has he reconsidered his objections to joining the Miami? And has he gotten too expensive for the Dolphins to consider?
Chris Jones
▪ Current team: Kansas City Chiefs.
▪ Position: Defensive tackle/end.
▪ Size: 6-6, 311.
▪ 2019 stats: 36 tackles, nine sacks, four passes defensed.
▪ Spotrac calculated market value: Five years, $92.9 million ($18.6 million annually, which would rank third among NFL defensive ends).
▪ Outlook: Jones has the position flexibility that Flores loves, and could come at a 10 percent discount, compared to Clowney. Importantly, Jones has the respect of his peers. Ex-Dolphins tackle Laremy Tunsil, who will tangle with Jones on Sunday, told the Houston Chronicle that Jones is “a difference-maker. ... He’s a big guy who can move. He’s athletic.”
Jack Conklin
▪ Current team: Tennessee Titans.
▪ Position: Right tackle.
▪ Size: 6-6, 326.
▪ 2019 stats: 16 starts, six penalties (three holding), three sacks allowed.
▪ Spotrac calculated market value: Six years, $90.2 million ($15 million annually, which would rank third among NFL right tackles).
▪ Outlook: If the Dolphins do indeed draft quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, they need a tackle to protect his blindside better than Jesse Davis. Enter Conklin? He’s likely the best of this year’s class. Although it would be peculiar if Grier would give Conklin $15 million per year just 12 months after he balked at giving Ja’Wuan James nearly $13 million annually.
D.J. Reader
▪ Current team: Houston Texans.
▪ Position: Defensive tackle.
▪ Size: 6-3, 347.
▪ 2019 stats: 52 tackles, six tackles for loss, 2 1/2 sacks.
▪ Spotrac calculated the Chronicle: Five years, $59.7 million ($11.9 million annually, which would rank 10th among NFL defensive tackles).
▪ Outlook: The Dolphins desperately need help against the run. Reader would go a long way in fixing that, and would allow Christian Wilkins to play closer to the edge, where he is better suited. Reader and the Texans aren’t close to an extension, the Chronicle reports, but Bill O’Brien — Flores’ former colleague in New England — is a big fan.
Derrick Henry
▪ Current team: Tennessee Titans.
▪ Position: Running back.
▪ Size: 6-3, 238.
▪ 2019 stats: 303 carries, 1,540 yards, 16 touchdowns.
▪ Spotrac calculated market value: Four years, $45.6 million ($11.4 million annually, which would rank fifth among NFL running backs).
▪ Outlook: Henry, a second-team All-Pro, makes all kinds of sense for the Dolphins, who were down to Patrick Laird and Samaje by the end of the season. Heck, he made Ryan Tannehill a winner in the playoffs. Think of what he could do for Tua. The only thing potentially working against him: a deep running back draft.
