Dolphins bring in veteran edge rusher for visit
The injury-ravaged Dolphins were so needy for edge rushers last January that they added three in the days before their playoff game in Kansas City: accomplished veterans Justin Houston, Bruce Irvin and Malik Reed.
More than a month into free agency, they find themselves in a precarious position, with just one healthy proven edge player/outside linebacker under contract: free agent pickup Shaq Barrett, who had 4.5 sacks for Tampa Bay last season.
Jaelan Phillips (torn Achilles’ on the day after Thanksgiving) could be back for the season opener, but that’s iffy. Bradley Chubb (torn ACL on Dec. 31) could be back in the first half of the season, but that remains to be seen.
Cameron Goode (serious knee injury) is very much in question for the start of the season.
The Dolphins assuredly will add a couple of edge rushers in the weeks ahead and they brought one of interest to them to team headquarters this week: veteran Carl Lawson.
The 265-pound defensive end/outside linebacker had seven sacks for the Jets in 2022, but played just 101 defensive snaps (and had five tackles) in six games for the Jets last season.
Lawson, 28, spent the first four years of his career with Cincinnati, where he had 20 sacks in 51 games and 14 starts. He spent the past two years with the Jets.
The Dolphins likely will add another couple of edge rushers in the draft process — perhaps with one or two of their six draft picks, and then in the undrafted rookie free agent market afterward.
They also could draft one at No. 21, with UCLA’s Laiatu Latu,
Missouri’s Darius Robinson, FSU’s Jared Verse
and Penn State’s Chop Robinson all possibilities.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
projects the Dolphins will take Verse at No. 21, adding: “Verse would be a no-brainer selection if he’s still on the board.” He had nine sacks each of the past two seasons.
Besides Lawson, here’s who else is still available among accomplished free-agent edge rushers:
Emmanuel Ogbah:
He was released in February so the Dolphins could avoid a big cap hit and a $16 million salary. A return isn’t entirely out of the question, but Ogbah has had more success as a hand-in-the-ground end than a standup outside linebacker, at least during his Dolphins tenure.
He was still productive as a rusher last season, with six sacks and 19 pressures in 144 pass rushing snaps.
Yannick Ngakoue: He had 9.5 sacks for the Colts in 2022 and 4.0 for the Bears last season before sustaining a broken ankle in December. He has played for five different teams this decade and has 69 career sacks.
Calais Campbell: He had 6.5 sacks as a 17-game starter for the Falcons last season, but he’s 37 and it’s unclear if the former Miami Hurricanes star wants to continue playing. He’s a defensive lineman, not a linebacker.
Tyus Bowser: He has experience with Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver in Baltimore, but injuries have limited his availability the past two years.
After missing the first two months recovering from an earlier torn Achilles’, he played nine games in the 2022 season and had two sacks, 13 tackles, two passes defended and one forced fumble. He missed last season with a knee injury.
The former secondround pick out of Houston had seven sacks as a 17game starter for the Ravens in 2021. He would make some sense at the right price.
Bud Dupree: He had 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 16 starts for the Falcons last season. He has 53 sacks in nine seasons.
Markus Golden: He had four sacks in 16 games off the bench for Pittsburgh last season after producing 11 sacks for Arizona in 2021.
Jerry Hughes: The veteran pass rusher had three sacks for Houston last season and nine in 2022. But he’s 35.
Among edge players who signed with Miami in December or January and ended last season with the Dolphins, all four — Houston, Melvin Ingram,
Irvin and Reed – remain unsigned.
Charles Harris: The former Dolphins firstround bust has 10 sacks in the past three seasons with Detroit.
THIS AND THAT
ESPN’s Ryan Clark,
on the Dolphins’ addition of safety Jordan Poyer:
“I believe Jordan Poyer is one of the more underrated players in the entire NFL. What he and Micah Hyde were able to do as a safety tandem in Buffalo was absolutely phenomenal.
“Now you pair him with Jevon Holland ,whoI believe is a young star in this league. And now a new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver can have the back end of this defense run between these two young men with an intellectual approach to the game and Jalen Ramsey on the outside locking down receivers.”
NFL Network’s Jason McCourty: “Once you pay Tua Tagovailoa a new contract and you put him among those top QBs in the NFL, that takes away from the rest of your team. They’ve already lost a ton of guys.”
But most of those subtractions have come from the defense.
Because tight end Jonnu Smith should give the offense a new dimension, the Dolphins’ offense should be just as good as the 2023 version if new center Aaron Brewer
shores up his pass protection and if a solid guard is signed to replace Robert Hunt.