Dolphins get speedy wide receiver offense lacked. And there’s an interesting connection
The Miami Dolphins are on the scoreboard in free agency.
They have been adding free agents for days, but Thursday afternoon they finalized a one-year agreement with former Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller. The deal pays Fuller $10.625 million fully guaranteed, per source. And the receiver cn earn another $3 million in incentives.
Fuller must take and pass a physical before signing his contract.
So Fuller, 26, becomes the biggest free agency addition the team has collected this offseason and certainly the only sure starter Miami has added.
(The Dolphins hope center Matt Skura will be starting but that won’t be settled until training camp.)
Fuller ran a 4.32 time in the 40-yard dash at the 2016 NFL Combine. So he fits the Dolphins offense in that he adds speed on the outside, which the team lacked throughout 2020.
Fuller caught 53 passes for 879 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 games for the Texans last season. That’s a whopping 16.6 yards per reception.
Fuller was suspended six games by the NFL last November after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
“As it turns out,” Fuller wrote on his Instagram account at the time, “my trust in this professional was misplaced because this medication was NOT a permitted substance under the NFL Policy on Performance Enhancing Substances.”
Fuller’s suspension means he will miss the regular-season opener in 2021 for Miami.
Fuller’s addition is also something of a coincidence in that he had a great chemistry with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Fuller became the Texans’ No. 1 wide receiver after DeAndre Hopkins was traded and his statistics for the season represented his best NFL season.
Watson has told the Texans he will never play for them again and wants to be traded, per a source. And another league source has made it clear if the Texans ever actually put Watson on the trade block, the Dolphins will be among the teams interested.
It’s not known if having a familiar receiver with whom he has chemistry would help convince Watson to agree to come to Miami.
That is obviously speculation.
What is certain is that once Fuller comes off suspension, he will at the very least provide current Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with a speedy 6-foot target known for getting separation in the secondary.
Despite this addition — still subject to Fuller passing a physical — the Dolphins expect to draft at least one receiver in the NFL draft.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 4:17 PM.
