Dolphins bring Gore back home
Former Hurricanes standout signs in free agency as Williams departs.
The Dolphins’ running back corps underwent swift change inside of a couple of hours Thursday as Damien Williams agreed to join the Kansas City Chiefs and Frank Gore decided to return home
and join the Dolphins, a league source confirmed. Gore soon will turn 35, long after most running backs have no legs left, but as South Floridians know, Gore isn’t any running back.
Originally from Coral Gables High and the University of Miami, he went on to have a Pro Bowl career with the San Francisco 49ers, who made him their third-round pick in 2005.
Gore has spent the past three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, never failing to rush for at least 950 yards despite playing behind a suspect offensive line and often without the benefit of quarterback Andrew Luck to keep defenses honest.
Last season, Gore ran 261 times for 961 yards (a 3.7 average), with three touchdowns. He also caught 29 passes for 245 yards and a TD.
At one point last week, Gore was thought to be nearing an agreement to join the Detroit Lions.
Gore is expected to be a change-of-pace power back to support Kenyan Drake on the Dolphins.
Gore is one of the most accomplished running backs in NFL history and fifth on the all-time rushing list at 14,026 yards. He could surpass No. 4 Curtis Martin (14,101) this season and is about 1,200 yards behind Barry Sanders for third.
He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection with San Francisco, last making the game in 2013, and has topped 1,000 yards in nine of his 13 seasons.
Williams, according to his agent, Ian Greengross, will receive a one-year deal reportedly worth $1.5 million from the Chiefs.
Before signing Gore, the Dolphins plan was to start Kenyan Drake next season but had only untested Senorise Perry and Brandon Radcliff at running back behind him.
Williams, soon to turn 26, was an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma who made the Dolphins in 2014 and went on to appear in 58 games with four starts. He finished his Dolphins career with 477 rushing yards and 85 receptions for 733 yards. He also had a total of nine touchdowns from scrimmage.
Williams was limited to 11 games last season because of a separated shoulder.
Bowman could help at linebacker: The Dolphins aren’t exactly stacked at linebacker, and there are still some decent options available in free agency.
Miami goes into the upcoming season with Kiko Alonso and Raekwon McMillan marked down as starters, and those two are clearly the best options on the roster but neither is a certainty to be what the team needs. Alonso was up and down last year, and McMillan missed the season with a torn ACL after being picked in the second round.
Free agent NaVorro Bowman, who played with the 49ers and Raiders last year, could be a good fit alongside those two. He turns 30 next week, so he’s not in his prime anymore, but he still put up 127 tackles in 15 games last season.
Bowman is a four-time all-pro, though he hasn’t earned that distinction since 2015. The Dolphins would obviously not want to put themselves in another Lawrence Timmons situation, so a one-year deal would be preferable.
Bowman played for $2.6 million in Oakland last season, and Spotrac projects his market value as a two-year, $9.9 million deal. He’s been a free agent for more than a week, however, so that might bring down his asking price. Bowman has been linked to the Cowboys, but there is no deal in place.
If the Dolphins stay as is, they’ll be hoping to find an immediate starter in the upcoming NFL Draft. Vice president Mike Tannenbaum has repeatedly said he does not want to be in the position of needing to fill holes that way rather than being able to simply take the best available players with each pick.
Beyond Alonso and McMillan, the Dolphins currently have Stephone Anthony (zero starts in 2017), Chase Allen (four) and Mike Hull (three) under contract at linebacker for this season.