Williams Deal Could Take a While

Miami Dolphins center Connor Williams' free agency venture was complicated by his torn ACL injury in December

Connor Williams is among the most prominent Miami Dolphins players headed for free agency next month, but his situation also is one of the most complicated.

While Williams unquestionably has become one of the top centers in the NFL, he's also barely more than two months removed from an ACL injury that has made his availability for the start of the 2024 season a question mark.

What's also unquestionable is that Williams' recovery or the prospects of his recovery will play a part in his market value in free agency, which is why it might take him longer to sign his new contract — with the Dolphins or another team — than most free agents around the league.

Williams' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, acknowledged just that in a radio interview on The Joe Rose Show on Friday morning.

"I do think that we're going to be very methodical and take our time relative to the contract," Rosenhaus said. "A lot of it may be predicated on how Connor is feeling physically. He may not be a player that signs at the very start of free agency. He may take more time based on how he's feeling physically. Connor's situation has a you know a degree of uncertainty that's going to be tied to how he's feeling. And really, we'll just take it one day at a time once we get into the offseason, but I'm not sure that that is one that'll be resolved as quickly as some of the other players that we represent."

WILLIAMS AND THE OFFENSIVE LINE

Williams is among the four pending unrestricted free agents on the Dolphins offensive line, along with guards Robert Hunt and Isaiah Wynn, and tackle Kendall Lamm.

The Dolphins ideally would love to bring back all of them given that the first three were starters in 2023 and Lamm was a starting-caliber backup, but that might be difficult to pull off given the team's cap situation.

Even with the expectation, as Rosenhaus indicated Friday, that the salary cap for 2024 might jump to $250 million per team, the Dolphins still remain way over that figure with about three weeks left before the start of the new year when their top 51 players have to be under whatever limit is set for the next season.

With contracts expiring with the start of the new league year, players such as Williams won't count against the salary cap once they become free agents, so there's no hurry to get a deal done from a cap standpoint.

The Dolphins, of course, probably would prefer knowing sooner rather than later whether they'll be able to re-sign Williams and have him back as their starting center whenever he's fully back from the knee injury, but Rosenhaus also will be looking for the best deal possible for his client.

And that best deal might not come once it's perfectly clear there are no setbacks with his recovery and he can go back to playing his Pro Bowl-caliber football.

Ultimately, the Dolphins will be better off with Williams in their lineup, but it might take a while for them to officially accomplish that.

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