The negotiating window for NFL free agency began yesterday, and the Dolphins made a couple of moves to strengthen their bare cupboard of offensive playmakers. 

They signed former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cedrick Wilson to a three-year 22.8 million dollar contract, including 12.75 million dollars of guaranteed money, and former Arizona Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds to a two-year 12.6 million dollar contract with 6.1 million dollars of guaranteed money. 

While neither is a household name, there is one thing they both have in common that Dolphins fans should be excited about, upside.

Edmonds and Wilson represent a good process for signing free agents brought straight from the 49ers’ philosophy; new head coach Mike McDaniel became successful while he was there. Focus on young and ascending players, who are perfect scheme fits. 

Let’s start with Wilson, who enters a Dolphins’ receiving room containing the likes of Jaylen Waddle, Devante Parker, Albert Wilson, Lynn Bowden Jr, Mack Hollins, Preston Williams, and Allen Hurns. Outside of Waddle, Parker — when he’s healthy — and recently franchise-tagged tight end Mike Gesicki, Wilson should be getting many looks this season. 

The 26-year old receiver enjoyed a breakout 2021 campaign with Dallas’ high-powered offense. He had career highs in catches (45), yards (602), yards per catch (13.4), and touchdowns (6). 

Those numbers would’ve ranked third, third, first, and first on last year’s Dolphins’ team, respectively. So while those stats might not blow Dolphins fans away, it is essential to remember the context of Miami’s current group of pass-catchers. 

For Wilson’s part, Miami assumes he will have another career year with an increased role. Wilson’s workload was increased each season he was in Dallas, and each season, he responded with better production. 

Wilson spends most of his time playing from the slot. Ideally, Wilson should take over some of Waddle’s slot reps allowing him to get more reps outside running actual routes down the field. If Wilson can eat up some of the short game targets that mired Waddle’s rookie season, it would be a huge factor in opening up the offense. 

Wilson also gives Miami something they desperately need — YAC. Miami has ranked near the bottom of the league in YAC for the past couple of years. Wilson should help with that. He’s shifty in the open field with a good burst to run away from defenders. 

YAC is something McDaniel’s offense will likely lean on in Miami, so getting a player with Wilson’s skillset to compliment Waddle was likely imperative to the Dolphins’ offseason plan. 

Try not to focus too much on Wilson’s overall stats this season, and instead, pay attention to what he allows the offense to do just because he’s another threat from the slot teams need to worry about. 

Moving onto everyone’s favorite position, running back, and the newly acquired Chase Edmonds. Like Wilson, Edmonds enjoyed a career season in 2021, despite only playing in 12 games. 

The 25-year old recorded 592 rushing yards (averaged 5.1 yards per rush), 311 receiving yards (averaged 7.2 yards per catch), and two touchdowns. Edmonds’ workload increased every season, and he got better every season. 

Edmonds would’ve ranked second in rushing yards, first in receiving yards among running backs, and first in yards per carry on the 2021 Dolphins. So again, while the numbers might not be anything crazy, Edmonds is an upgrade with room for growth, assuming he gets another workload increase this season. 

Edmonds should bring efficiency and speed to the Dolphins’ running game right away. Edmonds was third among 2021 running backs in rushing Expected Points Added with +10.2, and 23.3 percent of his carries reached a top speed of 15 MPH, which ranked first in the NFL, according to NextGen Stats. 

For reference, Miami finished last in the NFL in runs where a running back eclipsed or reached 15 MPH. Speed isn’t everything for a running back, but Miami has been missing most definitely a facet since around the time Ricky Williams retired. 

Edmonds’ speed makes him a perfect fit for McDaniel’s outside zone scheme, which requires running backs to get outside quickly and then plant their foot and explode upfield. He should have plenty of experience working inside zone concepts coming from Kliff Kingsbury’s offense in Arizona. 

My only concern with Edmonds is his injury history. He only played in 12 games last season, but he did play in 16 games during the 2018 and 2020 seasons. To be fair, he only got 60 and 97 rushing attempts in those two seasons. 

Wilson and Edmonds might not be the flashiest signings in the world, but the process by which they were signed should be encouraging for Dolphins fans. The team seems to be a little more calculated in the types of players they are pursuing. 

It’s not the big fish hunting days seen during the Mike Tannenbaum era, and it’s not limited to players who adopt the Patriots’ way like it was with Brian Flores. It seems like they are moving closer to targeting young players, who could become value pickups with increased roles they are already comfortable with. 

That is the way to do free agency, and it is nice to see Miami follow that trend. 

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