Dolphins Likely to Finish Season Without Connor Williams

The Dolphins likely will be forced to finish the 2023 season with Liam Eichenberg as the team's starting center because of a knee injury Connor Williams suffered

Miami Dolphins starting center Connor Williams suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury that will likely end his 2023 season and could impact his free agency.

Williams, who has started 26 games at center for the Dolphins since joining the team as a free agent in 2022, got his left knee rolled up under by a Tennessee Titans defender in Monday night's game, and it's believed that he suffered a ligament tear.

Williams, who had been one of the top performers on Miami's offensive line the past two seasons, was ruled out before halftime and returned to the field with his left knee in a brace.

While the extent of the damage won't be known until an MRI is done Tuesday, the expectation is that Miami will have to finish the season's final four regular season games with Liam Eichenberg as the team's starting center.

Eichenberg has experience at center

Eichenberg has started three games at center for the Dolphins, and has filled in for even more snaps. The third-year veteran started the game at right guard as Robert Hunt's replacement, but Robert Jones entered the game at that spot when Eichenberg was forced to move inside.

If Eichenberg does make a permanent move to center Jones would likely fill in as the starting right guard until Hunt, who is rehabbing a hamstring injury he aggravated last week, is ready to return to the lineup.

The Dolphins have two other center options — rookie Alama Uluave and Chasen Hines  — on the 53-man roster. Lester Cotton, who is filling in as the starting left guard, has also worked as a center in practices.

Williams' free agency could be impacted

Williams sat out Miami's entire offseason program trying to force the Dolphins into giving him a multi-year extension. He played this season on his initial two-year, $14 million deal. 

That deal paid Williams $7 million for this season, but it shifted all the risk to the impending free agent, who couldn't afford to suffer a serious injury that could impact his free agent market.

If he's facing a 9-to-12 month rehabilitation process the odds of Williams, 26, having a market that puts him in the $10 million a season range, which is what he and his camp were targeting on a new deal, are slim. However, it's not impossible to think that he could land a respectable deal considering he'd potentially be healthy enough to play in 2024.