Where the WR Corps Stands After the Anderson Addition

Chosen Anderson will be involved in what should be quite a battle for playing time behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle

The Miami Dolphins have as good a starting wide receiver tandem as there is in the NFL with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but there are a lot of questions behind them and the hope is that newcomer Chosen Anderson can help provide some answers.

But the addition of Anderson, who agreed to terms with the Dolphins this weekend, also has brought some questions regarding the wide receiver group, namely who will fill what role and who is going to end up on the 53-man roster.

Anderson will join the Dolphins after spending eight seasons with the Jets, Panthers and Cardinals and starting 86 of his 111 NFL games.

Anderson has 375 career catches for 4,956 yards and 29 touchdowns, with four seasons of 750 or more receiving yards.

Put simply, he's got the most complete credentials of any wide receiver on the roster outside of Hill.

WHERE ANDERSON COULD HELP

Anderson will turn 30 in May, but he's still a deep threat, evidenced by the fact he's got a streak of four seasons with at least one touchdown catch of 75 yards or more.

Without question, Anderson can help the Dolphins as an outside deep threat that can help create even more space in the middle of the field for Hill and Waddle, who already are pretty good at creating space for themselves.

But how big a role can we expect for Anderson?

More to the point, will he take over the third receiver role played by Trent Sherfield last season before he signed with the Buffalo Bills as an unrestricted free agent?

And does Anderson's signing suggest a big move is coming at the position? 

The other wide receiver on the roster besides Hill, Waddle and Anderson are newcomer Braxton Berrios, 2022 free agent acquisitions Cedrick Wilson Jr. and River Cracraft, 2022 fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma, along with Braylon Sanders and Freddie Swain.

The wild card in the equation is Wilson, who's one year removed from signing a three-year, $21 million contract but also is coming off a highly disappointing 2022 season. Wilson was supplanted by Sherfield on the depth chart and ended up catching only 12 passes, an awfully low number for a player with $5 million guaranteed in salary and a $8 million cap number for 2023.

The Dolphins logically have been open to trading Wilson all offseason if they can find a trade partner, and the addition of Anderson certainly hasn't done anything to change that idea — if anything, maybe it's an indication that something is in the works.

While he didn't have a good 2022 season, Anderson had 95 catches for 1,096 yards in 2020, so logic says he'll be on the 53 barring unforeseen circumstances.

Berrios also should be on the roster after signing this offseason and it's difficult to envision the Dolphins giving up on Ezukanma after only one season.

The Dolphins also re-signed Cracraft this offseason after he worked his way up from the practice squad last year and he also figures into the mix.

Looking at the group, it's not a stretch to suggest at this point that Anderson would be the front-runner to get the most snaps and targets after Hill and Waddle in 2023 and that Wilson appears even more on his way out than he did before.

If nothing else, Anderson's arrival provides more competition at wide receiver and, who knows, maybe Wilson takes a big jump in his second year with the Dolphins and maybe Ezukanma takes a big jump in his second year in the NFL.

Having more options never is a bad thing, especially if the price is right, which we have to imagine (even though contract details aren't out yet) was the case with Anderson.