Dolphins eyeing new contract for another veteran
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Wednesday:
▪ The Dolphins have extended the contracts of three veteran players since August — Jesse Davis, Jakeem Grant and Allen Hurns — and would like defensive back Eric Rowe to be the fourth.
Rowe is slated to become a free agent in March, but the team has spoken to his agents about a new deal, Rowe confirmed. The sides have been negotiating potential contract terms.
Rowe started the first five games at cornerback but has played safety the past six weeks and done a good job in that role, which often includes covering tight ends.
“They like me at safety, covering tight ends,” Rowe said.
He has a big challenge this week, with Eagles tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Ertz missed practice with a hamstring injury on Wednesday.
Rowe said he still sees himself as a cornerback who’s able to play safety but will do whatever the team asks.
If Miami keeps him at safety, Rowe and Bobby McCain could be the team’s starting safeties next season. McCain is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
Coach Brian Flores has consistently praised Rowe’s skill set and willingness to do anything that’s asked of him. Rowe was with Flores in New England last season.
Rowe signed a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Dolphins in March.
“I like it here,” he said.
▪ Besides promoting Isaiah Ford to the 53-man roster and placing Jakeem Grant on injured reserve, Miami auditioned several receivers Wednesday, and signed one of them to the practice squad: undrafted Purdue rookie Terry Wright, who spent time this season on the practice squads of Seattle and Pittsburgh. Former LSU track star Cyril Grayson also auditioned for the Dolphins.
Besides Wright, two other receivers remain on the practice squad: Andy Jones, who started three games for Detroit last season and had 11 catches for 80 yards, and former Duke receiver TJ Rahming.
As for Ford, he hopes his stay on the 53 has traction after several stints on the practice squad. “I’m excited for the chance to showcase myself,” he said. “You kind of sign up for this when you get in this profession.”
▪ As much as the Dolphins want to make it work with Julien Davenport — hoping he can develop a possible starter or No. 3 tackle — the results so far are sobering: He allowed seven quarterback pressures and a sack Sunday against Cleveland and has permitted 16 pressures and three sacks in just three games, after relinquishing an NFL-high 69 pressures and 12 sacks last season for Houston, which made the Texans desperate to acquire Laremy Tunsil.
▪ On the flip side, rookie guard Michael Deiter — who has had his share of struggles — graded out as Pro Football Focus’ second-best player on offense for Miami on Sunday, behind only DeVante Parker. On defense, Taco Charlton (only 15 snaps) and Christian Wilkins earned PFF’s highest grades for the Dolphins against Cleveland.
▪ The cornerback metrics for Miami weren’t pretty Sunday. Nik Needham played 68 defensive snaps and allowed six of the seven passes thrown in his coverage area to be caught, for 86 yards and two touchdowns, per Pro Football Focus. The other Dolphins starter at cornerback, Ken Crawley, allowed three of three passes to be caught for 28 yards but played just 36 snaps because of a shoulder injury.
Jomal Wiltz and Ryan Lewis each played 48 snaps, with Wiltz allowing all three of his targets to be caught for 24 yards and Lewis permitting four of nine for 81 yards.
Wiltz, incidentally, is splitting his time between safety and cornerback.
▪ The 8.3 local TV rating for Sunday’s Dolphins-Browns games (equal to 8.3 percent of Miami-Fort Lauderdale homes with TV sets) is believed to be the lowest in Dolphins history.
We’ll have more Dolphins news in a couple of hours.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 3:05 PM.
