Dolphins Place 2nd-Round Tender on Needham

The move pretty much ensures that Nik Needham will be back for a fourth season with the Miami Dolphins in 2022

In a move that really should have been expected, the Miami Dolphins have extended a qualifying offer (tender) to restricted free agent cornerback Nik Needham.

The Dolphins made the move official Friday afternoon that they extended a second-round tender to Needham, meaning the team will have the right to match any offer sheet he receives this offseason or receive a second-round pick as compensation if they decline to match.

The tender guarantees Needham a $3.958 million salary for 2022, though it doesn't prevent the Dolphins from signing him to a long-term contract.

Based on recent history, it's not likely a team would sign Needham to an offer sheet given the compensation required, so the move to extend the tender pretty much ensures that Needham will be back for a fourth season with the Dolphins.

Needham's steady climb as an NFL player

The move was expected because Needham has become a very solid cornerback since first joining the Dolphins as an undrafted rookie out of UTEP in 2019.

Needham has recorded two interceptions in each of his three NFL seasons, though he had his first pick-six in 2021 when he scored against the New Orleans Saints in the December Monday night game at the Superdome.

More importantly, Needham's opponent passer rating when targeted has gotten better every year — from 111.7 in 2019, to 95.1 in 2020 to 73.4 last season.

Interestingly, though, Needham's snap count was the lowest of his career in 2021 at 54 percent, down from 89 percent in 2019 and 60 percent in 2020.

Needham was one of six Dolphins players scheduled to become restricted free agents Wednesday, but the only one who figured to have a chance at getting a first- or second-round tender.

The other tender possibility involved strictly a right of first refusal and guarantees the player a 2022 salary of $2.433 million.

The five other RFAs-to-be are RB Patrick Laird, WR Preston Williams, LB Sam Eguavoen, S Sheldrick Redwine and CB Jamal Perry.

The only one of those five who didn't spend any time on the practice squad last season was Williams, but considering he was inactive for nine games and caught only six passes all season, the best guess is that Needham will end up being the only pending Dolphins RFA to get extender a qualifying offer.

That doesn't mean, however, that the Dolphins won't re-sign any of them. Actually, don't be surprised if Laird, Eguavoen and Perry end up back with the Dolphins in 2022.