Slow Start in Free Agency for Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins were quiet on the first day teams could negotiate with pending free agents while watching the New England Patriots be very active

Those hoping for the Miami Dolphins to make a big splash in free agency will have to wait a while longer — if it happens at all.

There was one team in the AFC East that was incredibly active on the first day teams could negotiate with pending free agents, but it was the New England Patriots.

As of 7:30 p.m., there were no reports of the Dolphins having agreed to terms with a single pending free agent from another team.

There were, however, multiple reports of the Dolphins re-signing linebacker Vince Biegel to a one-year contract.

Biegel was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday with the start of the new league year. Biegel showed promise as an edge defender in his first season with the Dolphins but missed the entire 2020 season after sustaining an Achilles injury in training camp.

He figures to provide depth for the Dolphins front seven.

The Dolphins did lose two players Monday when defensive tackle Davon Godchaux agreed to terms on a two-year contract with the New England Patriots and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill agreed on a one-year deal with the Houston Texans.

The latter's departure was expected, considering his playing time down the stretch last season was limited mostly to special teams.

What this first day of negotiations with pending free agents was about mostly was watching potential Dolphins free agent targets disappear, though we previously warned against expecting many big-money deals from Miami.

Among the pending free agents who agreed to terms with another team Monday were guard Joe Thuney (signed with Kansas City), tight end Jonnu Smith (New England), center Corey Linsley (Chargers), outside linebacker Matt Judon (Patriots), wide receiver Nelson Agholor (Patriots), safety John Johnson III (Browns), defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (Raiders), cornerback Ronald Darby (Broncos), defensive back Jalen Mills (Patriots) and wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (Patriots).

Then there were several other high-profile players who simply re-signed with their team, such as Shaquil Barrett and Rob Gronkowski with Tampa Bay, Leonard Floyd with the Rams, and Romeo Okwara with Detroit.

Thuney and Linsley no doubt would have helped the Dolphins offensive line, while Judson, Ngakoue, Floyd and Barrett represented two good options for the Dolphins to pick up a pass rusher.

There are still several players still available to help the Dolphins in that department, starting with Bud Dupree along with Carl Lawson, Haason Reddick and Melvin Ingram.

At center, we'd still keep an eye on David Andrews of the New England Patriots, with the possibility of the Dolphins re-signing Ted Karras if nothing else materializes.

Outside of Agholor, the wide receiver position was very quiet on this day, which might have been due to a combination of big salary demands and a large amount of blue-chip prospects at the position in the 2021 NFL draft.

It still says here the Dolphins will not be throwing big money at somebody like Kenny Golladay or JuJu Smith-Schuster ... though we probably never should say never.

The team that spent a lot of money Monday was the AFC East rival New England Patriots, who will be looking to bounce back after a rare down season in 2020.

The Pats agreed to terms with a whopping six pending free agents Monday: Smith, Godchaux, Judon, Agholor, Mills and Bourne.

The acquisitions of Smith, Judon and Agholor, in particular, should help improve the Patriots next season.

The Buffalo Bills were very quiet Monday, but they've already had a productive offseason by being able to re-sign linebacker Matt Milano and offensive linemen Daryl Williams and Jon Feliciano and keep them off the free agent market.

The Jets also were quiet, but things easily can change in the next couple of days.

The same applies to the Dolphins, who still won't be as active as they were in 2020 but should be making some moves at some point.