With NFL free agency just a couple of days away, I figured it was best to shake the cobwebs off and write again how I have missed you all.

Starting Monday, March 15th, the “legal tampering” window opens, which means NFL teams and players can begin negotiating contracts. They cannot officially sign them until March 17th, when the NFL new league year begins. The news will begin pouring in Monday, and Miami is most certainly going to be involved.

Miami has set itself up in a nice position this offseason despite the NFL salary cap coming in roughly 30 million under what was expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that, Miami still has around $33 million in available cap space to do what they wish. They can open up more space by cutting other players or contract restructures as well. The free agency talent pool is certainly going to be loaded, and at positions, Miami could desperately use some help in.

One thing I have seen and heard is the belief that Miami is not in a win-now window. I’m afraid I have to disagree with that statement. The way the modern NFL is set up is for teams who have their quarterbacks on rookie deals to go out and spend a bunch of money on adding stars to fill out the rest of their roster. We saw evidence of that two years ago with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs when they won their Super Bowl. Mahomes was still on his rookie deal that year before signing his record-breaking 10 years $500 million dollar extension the following offseason.

The quarterback position is the most expensive position to pay for in the current NFL, so when teams have a rookie starting at that spot and paying that player peanuts compared to what they get after their rookie contract, that is the teams “win-now” window. That is exactly the position Miami finds itself in.

“But Brandon, Tom Brady just won the Super Bowl, and he’s not a rookie.” Yes, that is true. However, Tom Brady is the outlier, not the norm. It allows teams like the rival Buffalo Bills to sign players like Matt Milano to 4 years $44 million contracts, to trade for all-pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs. They have their quarterback on a team-friendly rookie contract and can keep or bring in vital pieces of the team to keep the win-now window open.

This brings us to the Miami Dolphins. Miami is in year two of the Tua Tagovailoa experiment, which costs Miami $6.8 million in 2021, $8.2 million in 2022, and $9.6 million in 2023. Again, that is peanuts compared to the total amount of cap space the teams have at their disposal. So when I see people saying Miami shouldn’t pay for players because we’re not ready to win, I can’t entirely agree with that logic. Miami will never be in a better position than they are with their rookie quarterback to spend money for players.

For the Miami Dolphins to maximize that “win-now” window, they need to spend money. We saw last year exactly why this is the case. Miami went out and signed guys like Byron Jones, Kyle Van Noy, Emmanuel Ogbah, Shaq Lawson, Elandon Roberts, and Kamu Grugier-Hill. Miami spent more than $220 Million in contracts and over $130 million in guaranteed money that helped transform a defense that was last in the NFL in 2019 to a top 5 unit most of the season last year. They bought a defense. Did they overpay for some of it? Of course, they did, as evidenced by the surprising release of fan-favorite Kyle Van Noy. Nobody last year complained of spending too much money when our defense was smothering Jared Goff causing turnover after turnover. Or when Miami forced 3 turnovers vs. San Fransisco leading to starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting benched at halftime.

Now it’s time to spend money on the offense—a unit that was desperately lacking playmakers this past season. We, as fans, all have our favorite guys we want the team to sign. Whether it’s Curtis Samuel, Kenny Golladay, Juju Smith-Schuster, Aaron Jones, Corey Linsley, etc. The point being we want more playmakers for Tua. Every single one of those players listed becomes exactly that, a playmaker for Tua. Will it be viewed as Miami “overpaying” for those players when they sign a Dolphins contract? Yeah probably. But that’s the price of free agency.

It is why when you have a quarterback on a rookie deal, you go out and pay for playmakers. Will anybody complain when Aaron Jones runs for over 1,000 yards ( a feat which has only happened 3 times in the last 10 years, with Jay Ajayi being the last to accomplish it in 2016). Or when Kenny Golladay catches 75 passes for 1,200 yards and 8 touchdowns? Both of those players will require a large contract relative to their positional value. Of course, nobody will complain. Because ultimately, both of those players will make the football team better and Tua Tagovailoa better. And that is what we all want.

I also understand the argument of not wanting certain players because Miami already has a similar skill set player (i.e., Kenny Golladay vs. Preston Williams and DeVante Parker). Kenny Golladay is a better football player than both of those guys, and at the end of the day, as Mike mentioned on his podcast, he would make the Miami Dolphins a better football team. To say you would prefer Miami sign Curtis Samuel is fair; I would like to. But to say Miami shouldn’t spend money is, in my opinion, the wrong idea. Miami needs to identify players that would make this team better and be aggressive in signing them. Remember, Chris Grier and Brian Flores know more about football than we as fans do. They know what and who is in the best interest of the team. So let’s trust their decisions.

As this ever-important upcoming week begins, let’s get excited!! Help is on the way, Tua! It is time to revitalize the anemic offense. It is time to build around your young potential franchise quarterback. It is time to reclaim the throne in the AFC East and the NFL. It is time to be active again in free agency, which is ok because  Miami is currently in their “win-now” window.