Dolphins and Good Free Agent Fits on Offense

The Miami Dolphins will head into free agency with some clear needs but a more limited budget than last offseason

It's completely understandable to look at the list of available free agents every year and start imagining all the big names landing with your favorite team.

And so it is with the Miami Dolphins, who landed a lot of those types of players during the 2020 offseason when they tied a franchise record by signing 11 unrestricted free agents.

As he free agent negotiation period — and with it the start of reports of players agreeing to terms with a new team — closed in, there were countless players who had been tied to the Miami Dolphins in some form or fashion.

Some were more realistic possibilities than others, as we break it down by position in terms of what to expect the Dolphins might do in free agency.

In this story, we look at the offensive market:

QUARTERBACK

The focus here clearly will be on Ryan Fitzpatrick and who ends up signing the 38-year-old after his two mostly productive seasons with the Dolphins. From a Dolphins buying standpoint, the team will be looking for a backup at some point and likely will choose among one of the many veterans already mentioned, such as Tyrod Taylor, Jacoby Brissett, Brian Hoyer, Robert Griffin III.

RUNNING BACK

Now that Aaron Jones no longer is an option for the Dolphins after he re-signed with the Packers — and we'll say here it worked out well for Miami — one name linked to Miami has been James Conner. Chris Carson is another possibility after his four seasons with Seattle, but it says here if the Dolphins do anything in free agency at this position it will be for a complementary player and instead the Dolphins will use the draft to land a feature back — if that's the route they chose.

WIDE RECEIVER

This is where most of the focus on offense has centered when it comes to the Dolphins and free agency. Kenny Golladay and JuJu Smith-Schuster have been mentioned as strong possibilities for the Dolphins, but both come with clear negatives. For Golladay, it's the question of how much Miami would be willing to pay for a receiver whose skill set pretty much is the same as what you have in the top two receivers already on the roster (DeVante Parker and Preston Williams). It seems redundant to bring in Golladay, particularly for big money. As for Smith-Schuster, he's a possession receiver who averaged less than 9 yards per reception in 2020, and one has to wonder how much that's worth. From here, what the Dolphins really could use at wide receiver is an outside speed guy, and this is where someone like recently released John Brown or T.Y. Hilton could come in, even if on a short-term deal because they're both past 30. Will Fuller is another intriguing option because he's young, fast and very talented, but he's never played a full season, so there's a major risk factor there.

TIGHT END

There really is no need to even mention any names here because the Dolphins have a solid 1-2-3 group with Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe and Adam Shaheen. Yes, Hunter Henry is a very good tight end and would make a great 1-2 combination with Gesicki, but he's probably not special enough to devote major financial resources at that position with other pressing needs elsewhere.

OFFENSIVE LINE

It's been a year since the Dolphins invested heavily in the offensive line in free agency and the draft when they brought in five newcomers, all of them being in the starting lineup at the end of the year. Then the Dolphins took the gamble on Tennessee 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson, so there should be some competition. But center Ted Karras is a free agent, so the Dolphins will have to re-sign him or find a replacement. The two free agents who look like clear upgrades over Karras are Corey Linsley of the Packers and David Andrews of the Patriots, and either could end up being the biggest priority targets on offense for the Dolphins. The idea of bringing in Joe Thuney is enticing on the surface because of his pedigree, but he's a left guard and the Dolphins signed Ereck Flowers just last year to play that position, so the move would be a tad head-scratching. Left tackle Trent Williams has made the Pro Bowl each of his past seven seasons in the NFL and would make any offensive line better, but it's going to be awfully pricey, especially for someone who will be 33 in July.

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Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 as an editor for Dolphin Digest, write for miamidolphins.com and now publisher of SI All Dolphins. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.

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