Free agency blog: Dolphins get clarity on draft picks, sign Redwine, Ingold and Mostert
After reaching non-binding agreements with five free agents from other teams, the Miami Dolphins can make those deals official beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
At that point, the Dolphins can sign quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Chase Edmonds, receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., guard Connor Williams and special teams player/cornerback Keion Crossen.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins remain on the lookout for more offensive line help and additional depth.
We’re be presenting a Dolphins-flavored free agent blog all week, with notes on anything that impacts Miami. We’ll add updates to the bottom several times, so keep checking back for more.
Here’s the Wednesday installment:
10 a.m. update: The Dolphins learned Wednesday where their third draft pick in April will fall: 102nd overall.
As part of the trade in which the Dolphins sent last year’s third overall pick to the 49ers, Miami received San Francisco’s first-round pick in 2021 (that 12th pick eventually was traded to Philadelphia), the 49ers’ first-round pick in 2022 (which falls 29th in April’s draft) and the 49ers’ first-round pick in 2023.
The Dolphins also were due to receive the first of San Francisco’s two compensatory third-round picks in next month’s draft; that particular pick was awarded to the 49ers for developing assistant coach Robert Saleh and his eventual hiring by the Jets as head coach. The NFL announced on Tuesday that the pick being forwarded to Miami will be 102nd.
There will be nine compensatory picks after the third round, and the pick being forwarded to the Dolphins will be the fifth of those nine.
Besides the two picks from the 49ers (29th and 102nd) in next month’s draft, the Dolphins also have their own second-round pick, which is 50th.
The Dolphins also will have picks at 121, 125, 158, 224 and 227.
Miami traded its own 2022 first-round pick (which will be 15th) to Philadelphia as part of the trade in which Miami moved up from 12 to 6 in last year’s draft. The Dolphins traded their own 2022 third-round pick to the Giants in moving up from 50 to 42 to draft Liam Eichenberg last April.
Though the Dolphins will receive the 49ers’ compensatory pick, the Dolphins did not receive any compensatory picks of their own in the 2022 draft.
10:10 a.m. update: The Dolphins continue to monitor the tackle market, which has three top names available: New Orleans’ left tackle Terron Armstead, Patriots right/left tackle Trent Brown and Dallas right tackle La’el Collins.
Armstead and Brown are free agents; Collins has been given permission to seek a trade but there’s a good chance he will be released, and teams know that.
Armstead reportedly is awaiting resolution on the Deshaun Watson situation before picking a team; Watson is considering a trade to the Saints.
NFL starters Duane Brown and Eric Fisher also remain available in free agency.
For now, the Dolphins have three veteran tackles under contract: Liam Eichenberg, Jesse Davis and Greg Little and two others who can play tackle (Austin Jackson and Rob Hunt). Hunt played guard all of last season; Jackson played guard for the final three months.
The Dolphins’ cap space has dropped below $20 million, but Miami could create $21 million by releasing seven backups.
Noon update: The Dolphins re-signed safety Sheldrick Redwine, who appeared in four games for the Dolphins last season, with two tackles. He got a one-year, $1.1 million deal.
The former 2019 fourth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns has played in 33 games, including eight starts - all for Cleveland.
He played in two games for the Jets last season, signed with Miami’s practice squad in October and was promoted to the 53-man roster on Dec. 20.
The Dolphins have now resigned Emmanuel Ogbah, Elandon Roberts, Duke Riley and Sam Eguavoen from this defense. Linebacker Brennan Scarlett (Dolphins have spoken with him), safety Jason McCourty (coming off a season-ending foot injury) and cornerback Justin Coleman are the only prominent free agents remaining from Miami’s 2021 defense.
12:35 p.m. update: Washington released guard Ereck Flowers, a year after acquiring him from the Dolphins. The move saves $10 million in cap space. Earlier this offseason, New England released Kyle Van Noy, who the Patriots signed after Miami released him last spring.
4 p.m. update: Trent Brown, one of the top remaining tackles on the free agent market, will visit Seattle on Thursday, ESPN reported.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus, when asked on his weekly WSVN-Fox segment on Sunday about what players the Dolphins should pursue, mentioned Brown and receiver Braxton Berrios (who signed with the Jets).
The Dolphins remain in the market for a tackle. New Orleans’ Terron Armstead remains unsigned and many around the league expect Dallas to release La’el Collins, who has received permission to seek a trade. The Dolphins and Cowboys were expected to talk about Collins, but Dallas reportedly has asked teams for more than they choose to relinquish for a player who might ultimately be released.
5:20 p.m. update: The Dolphins signed fullback Alec Ingold to a two-year deal that could be worth as much as $7.5 million, according to a source.
Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith coached Ingold with the Raiders, and the Dolphins hold him in high regard.
A skilled blocker, Ingold has rushed 15 times for 22 yards and caught 28 passes for 239 yards (8.5 average) in 41 games and 11 starts for the Raiders over three seasons.
The Dolphins had some interest in Ingold in 2019 when he went undrafted out of Wisconsin and now are running an offense that uses a fullback at times. Ingold, 25, is coming off a torn ACL sustained in Week 10 but should be ready for the start of the season.
McDaniel was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator last season and the 49ers utilized a lead blocker on 40.3 percent of their running plays in 2021, by far the most in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus’ Ryan Smith.
The Dolphins did that 6.5 percent of the time, which was 18th. The league average was 11.7 percent.
The 49ers had two running backs in the backfield 25.1 percent of the time, the Dolphins 6.2 percent.
6 p.m. update: Dolphins free agent receiver Mack Hollins agreed to terms with the Las Vegas Raiders. We’ll miss the winner of last year’s Dolphins media Good Guy Award. He scored four touchdowns on just 14 receptions last season.
Hollins also was an asset on special teams. Some of his special teams duties will be filled by newcomer Keoin Crossen, the former Texans and Giants cornerback.
The Dolphins’ wide receivers, at this time, are Jaylen Waddle, DeVante Parker, Cedrick Wilson Jr., Lynn Bowden Jr., Preston Williams, Allen Hurns, former 49ers receiver River Cracraft, former CFL receiver DeVonte Dedmon and former Bengals/Giants receiver Cody Core.
8:40 p.m. update: The Dolphins running game, among the league’s worst last season, received a second boost in three days on Wednesday when Miami agreed to terms with running back Raheem Mostert.
Mostert, who turns 30 in April, played briefly for six teams (including Miami) before blossoming with the 49ers, working alongside new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who was the 49ers’ run game coordinator from 2017 to 2020 and offensive coordinator last season.
Mostert - who agreed to a one-year deal for $3.125 million - sustained a season-ending knee injury in the 2021 regular-season opener but is expected to be fully healed for the start of the 2022 regular season.
His doctor, Dan Cooper, examined him last week in Dallas and said Mostert is making a full recovery and will be ready to play this season.
“Dr. Cooper said that in six years of doing this procedure on NFL players, this is the best recovery he’s seen and there’s no reason to believe Raheem won’t be fully healthy and ready to go,” Mostert’s agent, Brett Tessler, said.
Mostert’s 5.7 yards-per-carry career average (on 284 carries) would be the highest among active players if he had enough carries to qualify.
He had 29 carries for a franchise postseason record 220 yards in the 49ers’ 2020 NFC Championship Game win against Green Bay. That was the second-most rushing yards in NFL postseason history, behind only Eric Dickerson’s 248 in 1986.
The Dolphins averaged just 3.5 per carry last season. They’ve now added players who have career averages of 5.7 (Mostert) and Chase Edmonds (4.7).
They’ve also added a guard - Connor Williams - who ranked among the NFL’s top dozen guards in run blocking last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Besides Mostert and Edmonds, the Dolphins’ other running backs under contract: Myles Gaskin (who began last season as the starter), Salvon Ahmed and 2021 seventh-round Gerrid Doaks.
The Dolphins also have a new fullback to block for them: former Raiders player Alec Ingold, who agreed to terms earlier Wednesday.
The Dolphins showed initial interest in keeping Duke Johnson but haven’t reached a deal with him. Phillip Lindsay and Malcolm Brown also are free agents.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 10:16 AM.
