Whether we like it or not, at 12:00AM on 5/8, the Dolphins will give us a strong glimpse of where the 2019 may go. Prior to the draft, the Dolphins were non factors in Free Agency. The signing of Dwayne Allen and Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t exactly set the fan base into hysterics. The Dolphins stayed quiet, trading away both Ryan Tannehill and Robert Quinn for 2020 draft picks. They let the 2nd best pass rusher in team’s history walk away to Tennessee. They let former first round pick and starting right tackle Ja’Wuan James leave in free agency. The writing was on the wall: the Dolphins are going to STINK in 2019.
Which led to the brigade by the fan base, as well as local Dolphins reporters, to be all in on #Tank4Tua, #Fail4Fromm, etc. But something changed on the opening night of the draft. The Arizona Cardinals, unceremoniously said goodbye to Josh Rosen after the selection of Kyler Murray number one overall. The Giants landed Daniel Jones (albeit a reach), Dwayne Haskins landed in the Redskins lap and Elway landed his guy in Drew Lock. So with a depleted market, the Dolphins made a call to Arizona. After 24 hours of posturing and negotiating, the Dolphins landed Josh Rosen, a 22 year old QB, with tons of potential. So, after acquiring Rosen, where does the team go from here?
Will we continue to see them stand pat? Or will the Dolphins make moves. My opinion, it’s the latter.
Why do I say this? After an off-season of nothing, the Dolphins now will be players in the market? Yes. The comp pick formula goes out the window. The Dolphins, who have stayed patient through this long process, can now get to work. With 37.9M in cap space, the Dolphins will now look to add players. Starting caliber players.
Need a right tackle, pass rusher, guard, and corner? Yes. Ready to spend for players? You bet.
And when I say spend, I am not saying break the bank. There is a reason these players haven’t come off the board in the first and second wave of free agency. But there are capable starters out there.
Nick Perry and the Dolphins have mutual interest
Jordan Mills, Ryan Schraeder, Jeremy Parnell are all capable of filling the RT spot. What about Jamie Collins, Nick Perry (rumored to be in negotiations with Miami) and Shane Ray? All young pass rushers and should come cheap. Morris Claiborne, Rashaan Melvin, Jamar Taylor, Bene Benwikere? All could potentially start opposite Howard, and should come, you guessed it, cheap.
The Dolphins need to find out who they have in Josh Rosen, and more importantly, with this coaching staff. Rosen was dealt a bad hand in Arizona, the Dolphins need to do better for him. You don’t spend a 2nd and a 5th in 2020 draft to have Josh Rosen fail miserably due to depth and lack of starting caliber players on both sides of the ball, particularly the trenches on both sides of the ball. I am not saying the Dolphins are out of any QB sweepstakes in 2020. And with 12 picks possible for next year’s draft and $120 million in projected cap space, they can make more than enough moves to get up and get their guy. But they need to find out if Josh Rosen is their guy. And starting on 5/8, we’ll see if they start to invest in their newly acquired QB. Building a foundation starting on 5/8 will only help the rebuild.
@DolphinsTalkTom
Josh Rosen is the GUY! He is a very good QB. I can already tell.
Yes, Miami has buying power! With $38 million that puts the Dolphins sitting at 3rd. With the average NFL Oline men making 1.2 million a year, Miami could very well pick up 7 (plus or minus) young experienced players that their contacts are up and their looking for more money and a new life in Miami.
Is Howard’s contract still up in the air? If so, some of that money might go to him.
I’m predicting 8 wins. That prediction could get higher (if im not missing something) over the next few weeks with that much buying power.