Dolphins make no moves or mistakes in first few hours of free agency. But moves coming
NFL free agency’s first few stirring hours, in which two dozen men got very rich and the New England Patriots spent a lot of money, is over.
But for the Miami Dolphins, free agency has yet to truly begin.
The Dolphins still expect to add maybe two, three, four unrestricted free agents before it’s all said and done. And here’s the good news:
As one of the teams playing it cautiously amid a lower salary cap this offseason, the Dolphins are still right on course to accomplish whatever it is they might want to. They still have a chance to address needs that everyone understands are needs.
The Dolphins have a need at receiver and there are still very talented receivers available such as Kenny Golladay or JuJu Smith-Schuster for big money or Marvin Jones Jr. and others who might bite at a middle-class free agent contract.
They need an edge rusher and while getting Vince Biegel back is nice, that’s not it. And there are still impressive edge rushers available.
This group has the high-end guys the Dolphins probably won’t get such as Trey Hendrickson or Bud Dupree, who are very much in demand and are trying to milk teams for every last dime they can.
But maybe Haason Reddick or Aldon Smith or Carl Lawson will take a little less to come to Miami.
The Dolphins still needs a center, which isn’t going to be Green Bay’s Corey Linsley, who got a huge five-year deal from the Los Angeles Chargers. But New England’s Dave Andrews remains available, as does Baltimore’s Max Skura as well as a run-back possibility with 2020 starter Ted Karras.
And what’s the whole point here? Well, things are obviously different than a year ago when Miami agreed to sign seven players, many in the first hours of the negotiating period, at the price tag of $226 million, including $117 million in guaranteed money.
The Dolphins are taking a much more measured approach this year.
And that measured approach might be fine because in this free agency’s first hours, during which Miami signed no new players, they added as many Pro Bowl players as they added in all of free agency during the 2020 shopping spree.
So maybe fans are upset the Dolphins are being cautious and counting their pennies. But those same fans must agree at least no major mistakes are being made.
We have, of course, seen all this before.
We saw Jimmy Johnson and then Rick Spielman spend cautiously in some free agency periods. We saw Randy Mueller, Nick Saban, Jeff Ireland and Mike Tannenbaum go out and spend big for their targeted free agents.
We have seen it both ways.
And now we’ve seen it both ways under Chris Grier and Brian Flores because they barely acknowledged free agency in 2019 and spent more than any other team last year.
And, now, we’re expecting something somewhere in the middle.
I don’t know which way is best anymore. Actually, I take that back.
The best way is to make good decisions.
It’s wrong to say “don’t spend in free agency” because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did great work in free agency the last couple of years and won a Super Bowl.
Because the Kansas City Chiefs have been no stranger to free agency and continue to spend, with the signing of guard Joe Thuney on Monday, and they have been to two consecutive Super Bowls.
Because Green Bay didn’t play at all in free agency for years under general manager Ted Thompson, but went 180 degrees away from that a couple of years ago with new GM Brian Gutenkunst and have been to two consecutive NFC title games.
More conservative teams in free agency have also been successful. The Seahawks, Ravens and Steelers are part of that group.
So there is no set formula to get it right (or wrong) other than to make the right calls.
Saying that, the right call for the Dolphins this year should involve lessons learned from 2020.
Lesson No. 1: Players are often the person they have shown themselves to be previously.
The Dolphins paid big time for linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Shaq Lawson and cornerback Byron Jones last year and all three basically played to the level they had previously with other teams.
But because the Dolphins paid so much the performances the Dolphins had seen previously felt somehow unsatisfying to them. The team isn’t publicly saying that, although cutting Van Noy and trading Lawson is a statement in itself.
That’s just how it felt.
And so as this free agency carries on and bargains begin to present themselves, the Dolphins should feel free to dive in and get players who average six sacks a year, or average five touchdown catches a year, or are mid-level linemen.
It’s fine to add those as long as Miami isn’t overpaying for what is predictable it will get once games begin.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 7:33 PM.
