Dolphins need cheap veteran wide receiver help. A look at who could fit
How do you preview free agency for a team with practically no cap space and just beginning a major rebuild? It isn’t easy. New general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said the Dolphins won’t be big “shoppers” in free agency and will simply add “a role player or two who will help us out.” Here’s a look at free agent wide receiver options:
The Dolphins need to rebuild their receiving room, and it likely needs to start with adding a top receiver in the draft (2026 or 2027) in the early rounds and perhaps another one in the middle rounds.
But even a first-round pick won’t be enough to fill out a position where only two players (Jaylen Waddle, Malik Washington) can safely count on a job next season, and only one player (Waddle) has proven to be starting-caliber.
A third incumbent receiver, second-year undrafted player Theo Wease Jr., has a decent chance to earn snaps next season, but he said his goal remains simply to make the 53-man roster.
With Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine having been released, and journeyman Cedrick Wilson Jr. now a free agent, that leaves the Dolphins needing to find a couple of cheap receivers in free agency. There’s a good possibility that one of them might need to start if the Dolphins use all five of their top-90-overall picks on other positions.
The Dolphins haven’t been very good finding effective free agent veteran receivers in the Mike McDaniel/Chris Grier era. Free agent pickups Wilson Jr., Braxton Berrios and Westbrook-Ikhine all produced less than anticipated. Trade pickup Chase Claypool mustered just four catches for 26 yards in nine games, missed the 2024 season with Buffalo with a toe injury and was out of the league last season.
Whether it’s this year or next, this new regime must do a better job than the former regime of finding decent veterans who can be helpful rotation players. The Dolphins need one more respected veteran receiver who knows what he’s doing, in part because that also will help them evaluate a young quarterback.
Per spotrac.com, there are at least 45 wide receivers who can become unrestricted free agents next week, excluding Adam Thielen, who’s retiring.
With the Dolphins up against the cap, it’s totally unrealistic for Miami to sign any of the pricey free agent receivers: Romeo Doubs (who has a history with Sullivan in Green Bay and reportedly is expected to leave the Packers), San Francisco’s Jauan Jennings, the Colts’ Alec Pierce, Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, Washington’s Deebo Samuel, Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed and the Giants’ Wan’dale Robinson.
Spotrac.com says those receivers have market values between $12 million (Doubs) and $30 million (George Pickens, who is getting the franchise tag in Dallas) and puts the Chargers’ Keenan Allen at $7 million. Kansas City free agent Marquise Brown (49-587-5 TDs) also is too pricey in the Dolphins’ cap situation.
So that narrows the field of options to around 35 players. If you remove fringe journeymen (and the Dolphins could end up signing a fringe journeyman), that leaves three buckets for Miami and other teams to choose from:
▪ The potentially reasonably priced receivers in their mid-20s who haven’t done enough to earn big contracts but still potentially have upside.
Among players four years into their careers, three names stick out from that group: Jahan Dotson (caught seven TDs as a rookie for Washington before fizzling; 18 for 262 for Philadelphia last season); Jalen Nailor (27 catches for 444 yards and four TDs in 17 games and 7 starts for Minnesota) and Kansas City’s Tyquan Thornton (who was a second-round bust for New England but had 19-438-3 TDs for Kansas City last season).
There’s also fifth-year Jaguars veteran Dyami Brown (20-277) and Arizona’s sixth-year vet Greg Dortch (29-206).
▪ The middle age (by NFL standard) receivers who are still affordable and decent:
That group is led by 30-year-old Kendrick Bourne (37 for 551 for the 49ers), 29-year-old Van Jefferson (29 for 350 for Tennessee), 28-year-old Olamide Zaccheaus (39, 313 for the Bears), 29-year-old JuJu Smith-Shuster (33 for 345 for K.C.), 29-year-old Christian Kirk (28 for 239 for Houston), 30-year-old Zay Jones (21 for 183 for Arizona) and 31-year-old Kalif Raymond (24 for 289 for Detroit).
Any of those likely would be an option only if they accept deals at the minimum or close to it.
▪ The old veterans who are past their prime but have had good careers and are still functional:
That group includes Tyler Lockett (22 for 221 for the Raiders), DeAndre Hopkins (22 for 330 for the Ravens) and Sterling Shepard (39 for 371 for the Buccaneers), among others.
An important note: Perhaps Miami waits until June to see if a veteran falls through the cracks and takes a low-money deal. Miami could have more cap space after June 1.
Another important note: Additional players will become available when teams begin releasing veterans.
So Miami will have 30-plus realistic veteran receivers to choose from, with a significant role likely awaiting at least one of them who’s cheap enough to attract the Dolphins’ interest.
Free agents can begin negotiating with other teams next Monday and can sign with new teams on March 11.
Here’s Part 1 of the series on affordable edge players.
This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 12:59 PM.
