Flores OK with Jones’ decision to skip workouts

‘It’s voluntary,’ so coach can’t do anything about it

DAVIE Longtime Miami Dolphins safety Reshad Jones, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, is not participating with the team during their voluntary workouts this week.

And new coach Brian Flores seems OK with that, for the most part.

“He’s [been around] here and he’s part of the organization. He and I have been in constant communication,” Flores said Tuesday of Jones, who is guaranteed to make $13 million in base salary in his 10th NFL season this year.

“Again, it’s voluntary. He made a decision to train somewhere else and it’s voluntary. There’s not much we can do about it and that’s where that is.”

The Dolphins, under an extensive rebuild led by Flores and general manager Chris Grier, have a significantly different roster this offseason compared to a year ago.

They traded former starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans this offseason. They lost right tackle Ja’Wuan James to the Denver Broncos, longtime defensive end Cameron Wake to the Titans, and Miami native Frank Gore to the Buffalo Bills in free agency.

They also released several players, including receiver Danny Amendola (now with the Detroit Lions), Miami Miracle hero and left guard Ted Larsen (now with the Chicago Bears), the newly retired left guard Josh Sitton and former defensive end Andre Branch.

But Jones, whose contract is the least friendly for other NFL teams to consider acquiring, remains with the team.

The Dolphins would endure a $17.1 million cap hit and lose $25.15 million in dead money if they cut Jones before June 1.

A more likely option for the Dolphins would be to trade Jones after June 1, which would result in $4.045 million in dead money with $13.1 million in cap savings.

But, Miami would have to find a willing trade partner to take on Jones’ contract, which currently guarantees to pay him $11.4 million and $10.4 million in base salary in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

And that’s on top of the fact Jones had offseason shoulder surgery in February.

Still, the Dolphins tried to pass off Jones’ absence as a nonissue despite saying he was a part of their offseason activities earlier this month.

“There’s a few factors. I would say that Reshad, he’s obviously rehabbing his shoulder and he’s training. He’s been here, he looks good, he’s been in all the meetings. That’s been good,” Flores said. “I think he’s learning all the terminology and learning the defense and that’s been good. It’s part of the process.”

Jones, who missed only two weeks to nurse the injury, played in 14 games in 2018 with 13 starts, totaling 72 tackles, three interceptions and nine passes defensed.

Jones also returned an interception for a touchdown during the final game of the season against the Bills. It was the sixth defensive touchdown of his career, placing him behind only Jason Taylor (nine) on the Dolphins’ all-time list.

Last season, however, Jones was combative about sharing playing time with rookie safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. That issue seems to be in the past for Jones, who Flores said has been attending Dolphins meetings this offseason.

Flores did not want to say whether he had a conversation with Jones about him wanting to remain with the Dolphins during their current rebuild.

“I’m going to keep my conversations with players private, and I’ll keep it at that,” Flores said.

“I’m focused on the guys that are here,” Flores added.