Kelly: ’Fins approach to free agency needed
Brandon Marshall couldn’t make Chad Henne resemble a franchise quarterback with the Miami Dolphins.
Mike Wallace wasn’t able to fix Joe Philbin’s stagnant offense.
Ndamkong Suh never anchored a forceful Dolphins defense.
Linebackers such as Karlos Dansby, Dannell Ellerbe and Phillip Wheeler didn’t address Miami’s issues containing the run or covering tight ends.
All the expensive fixes Miami has added via free agency the past decade-plus never fixed anything.
Even though the Dolphins routinely set the market at multiple positions — receiver (twice), offensive lineman (twice), defensive tackle, linebacker and cornerback — in free agency during Steve Ross’ reign as owner, it rarely paid dividends.
Just look at last offseason’s free-agent spending spree as proof that bidding big isn’t always the answer.
Four of those high-priced acquisitions — Kyle Van Noy (waived), Shaq Lawson (trade), Jordan Howard (waived) and Ted Karras (signed with New England) — are already gone from Miami.
Offensive guard Ereck Flowers, who was signed to a three-year, $30 million deal last offseason, already has one
foot out the door considering he’ll likely be released once his guaranteed money expires at the end of this season.
And the jury is still out on Byron Jones, whom the Dolphins made the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback last offseason.
The record-setting $147 million in guaranteed money spent last offseason, however, did allow coach Brian Flores to lay a solid foundation during the Dolphins’ rebuild. Many of the newcomers were key contributors to Miami’s transformation from 5-11 in 2019 to 10-6 in 2020.
But nevertheless it was not money well spent.
Free-agent signings rarely are because bidding teams, for the most part, overpay handsomely for a player that other teams didn’t value in the same manner.
Spending sprees aren’t how successful franchises get to the mountaintop. They build through the draft, investing in their youth, and supplement rosters through free agency with smart and fiscally responsible spending.
The Dolphins seemingly did that this offseason, building up the bottom half of the roster by adding 11 newcomers last week.
Miami moved on from players it didn’t view as critical pieces — Ryan Fitzpatrick, Karras, Davon Godchaux, Matt Haack and Kamu Grugier-Hill — and signed cheaper options.
Even the big-name players added — receiver Will Fuller, center Matt Skura and quarterback Jacoby Brissett — signed one-year deals.
That approach accounted for a large portion of the team’s cap space this season, but it allows much-needed flexibility for the future.
While a one-year, $10 million salary like the one Fuller received taxes Miami from a salary-cap standpoint, the short-term deal allows both parties to test out how the relationship is working, ensuring that it is the right fit.
If Ross and Co. had taken that approach with most of the free agents signed this decade, the Dolphins wouldn’t have so much buyers’ remorse.
The Dolphins were aggressive with the secondtier free agents this year, primarily the ones accustomed to playing in the schemes Miami utilizes on offense and defense. The Dolphins made early offers and added many of their top choices as a result.
Miami traded Lawson, who seemingly didn’t fit, to Houston for inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney, addressing the void at that position with McKinney’s voidable contact.
H-back Cethan Carter fills a run-game need. Punter Michael Palardy was a cheaper option than Haack, who signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Defensive lineman Adam Butler and cornerback Justin Coleman played for Flores in New England. Tailback Malcolm Brown and linebackers Brennan Scarlett and Duke Riley should serve as good role players.
Taking this approach allows the Dolphins to select the highest-rated players during the draft instead of locking in on team needs.
Ross should always be commended for encouraging his decision-makers to spend his money to improve the team.
The real estate mogul is the type of owner every fan base should admire, if not desire, because of his free-spending ways. But, simply put, that isn’t the right approach to building a successful franchise.
The Dolphins seem to be headed in that direction. However, they need a couple more solid drafts — and a lot more player development — to achieve that elusive goal and become a franchise that doesn’t need to compensate for draft misses with annual freeagent spending sprees.