How Many of their Free Agents Will the Dolphins Re-Sign?

The Miami Dolphins have 26 players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents March 12, but the likelihood is that a decent number of them will be back with the team next season

Miami Dolphins running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (23) runs with the football past Atlanta Falcons safety Lukas Denis (41) during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

When all is said and done with the 2025 NFL free agent market, the Miami Dolphins likely will have re-signed somewhere around a third of their 26 pending unrestricted free agents.

That's what recent history has told us.

If we want to get to an average, based on the past three offseasons the Dolphins will be re-signing eight of their pending unrestricted free agents.

The list of those 25, as a reminder, consists of QB Tyler Huntley, RB Jeff Wilson Jr., WR Braxton Berrios, WR River Cracraft, WR Dee Eskridge, TE Jack Stoll, OL Jackson Carman, T Kendall Lamm, G Robert Jones, G Liam Eichenberg, G Isaiah Wynn, DT Calais Campbell, DT Da'Shawn Hand, DT Benito Jones, EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah, EDGE Tyus Bowser, LB Duke Riley, LB Anthony Walker Jr., LB Tyrel Dodson, LB Cam Brown, CB Siran Neal, S Elijah Campbell, S Jevon Holland, S Jordan Poyer, and LS Jake McQuaide.

The Dolphins had 26 pending UFAs heading into the offseason last year and wound up re-signing seven of them: Kendall Lamm, Isaiah Wynn, Braxton Berrios, Da'Shawn Hand, River Cracraft, Nik Needham and Jake Bailey.

All of them except for Bailey signed one-year contracts to return, which is why they're pending UFAs for a second consecutive year. Bailey signed a two-year deal, while Needham was released and then not re-signed after spending the season on the practice squad.

Cracraft and Lamm actually are UFAs for a third consecutive year after both were re-signed to one-year contracts in 2023 as well as last year.

If the idea of the Dolphins re-signing one of their UFAs three years in a row sounds strange, well, it happened not that long ago with linebacker Elandon Roberts, who signed one-year contracts in 2020, 2021 and 2022 before finally leaving as a UFA in 2023 when he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before Lamm even hits free agency, he has to decide whether he wants to continue playing. After re-signing with the Dolphins last year, he posted on social media that it was going to be his hurrah, though he said after he underwent back surgery toward the end of the 2024 season that he had to take some time to make a decision on his future.

With Cracraft, he's a player that Mike McDaniel clearly trusts, but he didn't have much of a role once he return from injured reserve last season. But it still is logical to think he could be back if he doesn't find much of a market for his services.

Riley also finds himself in a familiar situation as a pending UFA for a third time in four offseasons after joining the Dolphins in 2021. The Dolphins re-signed him to a one-year deal in 2022 and to a two-year contract in 2023, and it could be that the time has come for the sides to move on, though the team is short of players under contract at linebacker at the moment.

Wilson is a free agent for a second time in three years, but he also could be back if he doesn't have a good offer on the market because the Dolphins have only De'Von Achane and Jaylen Wright on the roster after releasing Raheem Mostert.

DOLPHINS FREE AGENTS RE-SIGNED THE PAST THREE YEARS

2024

T Kendall Lamm
G Isaiah Wynn
WR Braxton Berrios
WR River Cracraft
T Da'Shawn Hand
CB Nik Needham
P Jake Bailey

2023

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
RB Raheem Mostert
RB Myles Gaskin
WR River Cracraft
T Kendall Lamm
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
LB Duke Riley
CB Justin Bethel
CB Nik Needham

2022

WR Preston Williams
TE Mike Gesicki (franchise tag)
EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah
DT John Jenkins
LB Duke Riley
LB Elandon Roberts
LB Brennan Scarlett
LB Sam Eguavoen

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