Comprehensive offseason plan — The Dolphins roster will look drastically different

[fansinceGWilson]

I guess it depends how you are counting.

Although a lot of different players were starters at different points in the season, you can't count them all as starters for comparison purposes, IMO.

MG was not really a 16 game starter, and neither was Ford. In any case, Parker, Williams, Hurns, Ford can't all be "starters".

As far as the O-line, you may have Kilgore, and possibly Dieter starting, or maybe neither starts.

All I'm saying is if you are not upgrading several positions, we did a lot of missing in the offseason.

Don't disagree. For clarification, I used the logic the OP listed starters first at each position. That's where I got 'starters.' Almost. I disagree with a number of the predictions, but it's not my list

 

[Ferretsquig]

The money doesn’t roll over so what’s the point in savingthat much?

Everything rolls over in one manner or another. Shell out 100 mil in signing bonuses and the team will be paying over the course of the contracts if not longer.

Since this team ripped off the band-aid and stripped down to the core its easy to forget about those deals handed to McDonald, Alonso, Stills, Jones, McCain, etc... At the current state of the franchise they don't really matter. But do this again with the expectation that you have a decent young QB and a slew of youngsters in 2-3 years then those contracts would be really tough to swallow. They would be the difference between being able to make that one elite free agent signing or handing that absurd contract to your new star QB.

If this team is playing for next year or even two years from now then something has gone very wrong in their plan or ownership's acceptance of that plan.

 

[EasyRider]

I'll likely make changes to this list when we get closer to free agency and cuts/franchise tags are announced.

Cuts

Reshad Jones - 7.5 savings, 8 dead
Albert wilson - 9.5 savings, 1.3 dead

The Jones cut is pretty self explanatory. I think the Albert Wilson contract is too rich for what he offers. He'd be worth about half that on the open market.

Extensions/tenders

Isaiah Ford - 660k
Zack Sieler - 660k
Trent Harris - 585k
Vince Biegel - 2nd round tender, 3.3M
Matt Haack - original round tender, 2.1M

Biegel, Ford and Sieler showed more than enough to be brought back. Harris has potential and Haack, while not the greatest punter, has shown enough to stick around too.

Re-sign

John Jenkins - 1 year, 4M, 2.5M GTD
Walt Aikens - 2 years, 5M, 3M GTD, 2M first year cap hit

Aikens brings veteran leadership to the special teams unit and can play in a pinch. John Jenkins played much better than expected and earned himself a spot in the rotation.

Cap room: 96.8M

Targets in free agency

I picked these players on who I would potentially target in free agency and used the aid of Pro Football Focus' free agency tool. The OTC contract indicates the projected contract by the website overthecap.com. For the players who didn't receive an OTC projection, I offered my own projection. It's purely guess work on my part.

Players will be cut and others will be franchise tagged, so this list could look quite a bit different at this time next month.

QB - none

RB

Derrick Henry - current age 25.5.
Projected OTC contract: 4 years, 11 mil per year, 25 mil guaranteed

Melvin Gordon - current age 26.7
Projected OTC contract: 4 years, 7 mil per year, 15 mil guaranteed

Wide receiver

Robby Anderson - current age 26.7
Projected OTC contract - 4 years, 13.3 mil per year, 28 mil guaranteed

Fullback - none

Tackle

Jack Conklin - current age 25.4
Projected OTC contract: 5 years, 14 mil per year, 34 mil guaranteed

Anthony Castonzo - current age 31.4
Projected OTC contract: 3 years, 13 mil per year, 17 mil guaranteed

Dennis Kelly - current age 30
My projected contract: 2 years, 5 mil per year, 4 mil guaranteed

Guard

Brandon Scherff - current age 28
Projected OTC contract: 5 years, 14 mil per year, 35 mil guaranteed

Joe Thuney - current age 27.1
Projected OTC contract: 5 years, 13.5 mil per year, 30.5 mil guaranteed

Graham Glasgow - current age 27.5
My projected contract: 4 years, 10 mil per year, 18 mil guaranteed

Center

Ted Karras - current age 26.8
My projected contract: 3 years, 6 mil per year, 10 mil guaranteed

EDGE

Arik Armstead - current age 26.1
Projected OTC contract: 5 years, 17 mil per year, 45 mil guaranteed

Kyle Van Noy - current age 29.5
Projected OTC contract: 3 years, 10.5 mil per year, 15 mil guaranteed

Dante Fowler Jr. - current age 25.4
My projected contract: 4 years, 12 mil per year, 20 mil guaranteed

Shaq Lawson - current age 25.6
My projected contract: 3 years, 6 mil per year, 10 mil guaranteed

Emmanuel Ogbah - current age 26.2
My projected contract: 3 years, 6 mil per year, 10 mil guaranteed

Interior DL

Michael Pierce - current age 27.2
Projected OTC contract: 3 years, 5 mil per year, 6.5 mil guaranteed

Shelby Harris - current age 28.4
My projected contract: 3 years, 8 mil per year, 15 mil guaranteed

Danny Shelton - current age 26.4
My projected contract: 4 years, 6.5 mil per year, 12 mil guaranteed

LB

Joe Schoebert - age 26
My projected contract: 4 years, 12 mil per year, 28 mil guaranteed

CB

Logan Ryan - age 29
Projected OTC contract: 3 years, 10.5 mil per year, 12.5 mil guaranteed

Trae Waynes - age 27.4
Projected OTC contract: 1 year, 7.5 mil, 6.5 mil guaranteed

Brian Poole - age 27.2
Projected OTC contract: 3 years, 7.5 mil per year, 12.5 mil guaranteed

James Bradbury - age 26.4
My projected contract: 3 years, 8 mil per year, 15 mil guaranteed

Safety

Anthony Harris - age 28.2
Projected OTC contract: 4 years, 14.1 mil per year, 31 mil guaranteed

Justin Simmons - age 26.1
Projected OTC contract: 4 years, 14.25 mil per year, 31.5 guaranteed

Jimmie Ward - age 28.5
Projected OTC contract: 2 years, 8 mil per year, 6 mil guaranteed

Karl Joseph - age 26.3
Projected OTC contract: 1 year, 4 mil per year, 1.5 mil guaranteed

Vonn Bell - age 25
My projected contract: 4 years, 6 mil per year, 14 mil guaranteed


Signings:

LG Joe Thuney - 5 years, 67.5M, 30.5 GTD, 10M first year cap hit
C Ted Karras - 3 years, 18M, 10M GTD, 5M first year cap hit
RG Graham Glasgow - 4 years, 40M, 18M GTD, 8M first year cap hit
LB/EDGE Kyle Van Noy - 3 years, 33M, 15M GTD, 10M first year cap hit
DL Shaq Lawson - 3 years, 18M, 8M GTD, 6M first year cap hit
DL Danny Shelton - 4 years, 26M, 12M GTD, 6M first year cap hit
CB Trae Waynes - 2 years, 12M, 6M GTD, 6M first year cap hit
CB Brian Poole - 3 years, 22.5M, 12.5M GTD, 7M first year cap hit
S Vonn Bell - 4 years, 24M, 14M GTD, 5M first year cap hit

33.8M remaining cap (estimated)

Draft needs remaining (in no order): QB, LT, RT, RB, EDGE, S, CB

I used the mock draft machine on The Draft Network for these selections. There's no guarantee that players will or won't be available at these slots, but I tried my best to be realistic.

Pick 5: Tua Tagovailoa, QB - Offers the most upside of any QB not named Joe Burrow, but health is by far his biggest concern.

Pick 18: Josh Jones, LT - Offers everything you want in a left tackle. Will need some refinement in terms of technique but he offers a high-upside player that can anchor the LT position for many years.

Pick 26: Xavier McKinney, S - My favorite safety in the class. He's an explosive athlete. He's lined up almost everywhere on the field. He's a multi-faceted player who can cover, blitz and tackle.

Pick 39: Zack Moss, RB - The running back that few people are talking about, but after JK Dobbins, offers the most upside IMO.

Pick 56: Bradlee Anae, EDGE - Had a great showing at the senior bowl and may not even last until this selection now. Offers skills as both a rusher and as a linebacker.

Pick 70: Darnay Holmes, CB - Another player who played pretty well at the senior bowl. Not a sure-fire day 1 starter but enough upside and talent to get on the field as a rookie.

Pick 142: James Proche, WR - A do-it-all receiver that won't wow you with athleticism but can be reliable.

Pick 153: Yasir Durant, iOL

Pick 162: Lamar Jackson, CB

Pick 165: AJ Dillon, RB

Pick 185: Harrison Bryant, TE

Pick 197: Lynn Bowden, WR/RB/Electricity

Pick 245: Tipa Galea’i, EDGE

Pick 250: Tanner Muse, S

Projected roster

QB: Fitzpatrick, Tua (R), Rosen
RB: Zack Moss (R), Laird, Dillon (R), Gaskin
FB: Cox
TE: Gesicki, Bryant (R), Smythe
WR: Devante Parker, Preston Williams, Isaiah Ford, Allen Hurns, James Proche (R), Jakeem Grant
LT: Josh Jones (R), Julien Davenport
LG: Joe Thuney (F), Michael Deiter
C: Ted Karras (F), Daniel Kilgore
RG: Graham Glasgow (F), Yasir Durant (R)
RT: Jesse Davis

25 players on offense

DL: Jon Ledbetter, Christian Wilkins, Davon Godchaux, Zach Sieler, Danny Shelton (F), John Jenkins, Gerald Willis

EDGE/LB: Shaq Lawson (F) , Bradlee Anae (R), Kyle Van Noy (F), Vince Biegel, Van Ginkel, Jerome Baker, Raekwon McMillan, Eguavoen, Trent Harris

DB: Xavien Howard, Nik Needham, Trae Waynes (F), Brian Poole (F), Darnay Holmes (R), Eric Rowe, Bobby McCain, Vonn Bell (F), Xavier McKinney (R), Lamar Jackson (R), Walt Aikens

25 players on defense

Special teams: K Jason Sanders, P Matt Haack, LS Taybor Pepper

EDIT: My dumb *** forgot to include specialists on the roster projection. Players in BOLD and underlined will off the roster in place of the 3 specialists.

Did not read the whole thing yet. But I restructure Wilson‘s contract and although I love Laird, if we go into next season with him as our number 2 that is all wrong.

 

[EasyRider]

Great stuff man, I really enjoyed reading that and I appreciate your efforts! You think Melvin Gordon takes less now on the open market? I think he was wanting something like 10 million a year or more during his holdout last year. You think he softens up?

Give me a break. Haven’t you learned hey??? You don’t sign a RB coming off their first contract, they are just trying to score a big payday and nothing else. Ugh this post

 

[Phinatic8u]

Yeah Cap won't roll over with the CBA ending.

I see that being a thing we won't see anymore too.

 

[Coolguy3]

Give me a break. Haven’t you learned hey??? You don’t sign a RB coming off their first contract, they are just trying to score a big payday and nothing else. Ugh this post

I never said I wanted Melvin Gordon. I was just taking numbers. Relax.

 

[The Goat]

Am I missing something, or did you sign Robby Anderson and then not put him on the roster?

Edit: Never mind. I see targets vs. signings.

Nice work, although, again, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Albert Wilson get re-signed to a re-worked contract.

 

[EasyRider]

I never said I wanted Melvin Gordon. I was just taking numbers. Relax.

Nothing to relax about when I’m already Relaxed. Just disagreeing with your statement about being interested in a used up RB who’s trying to score a big payday as it was evident in his holding out. Why on earth would you even wanna consider a guy like that, especially at the RB position?

 

[Coolguy3]

Nothing to relax about when I’m already Relaxed. Just disagreeing with your statement about being interested in a used up RB who’s trying to score a big payday as it was evident in his holding out. Why on earth would you even wanna consider a guy like that, especially at the RB position?

Are you trolling me bro?

Where did I say I wanted Melvin Gordon? Am I not allowed to ask about a player's salary in regards to the OP assessment?

 

[EasyRider]

Are you trolling me bro?

Where did I say I wanted Melvin Gordon? Am I not allowed to ask about a player's salary in regards to the OP assessment?

Ok, this conversation is over, I don’t troll anyone. I’m disagreeing with you on a subject on a public forum. If you brought Gordon up on a Fin site that means to me you are interested in kicking his tires. You have your opinion and I have mine which is great for both of us, I’m just stating that I think you’re opinion stinks. I’m not trolling you personally. Have a good day.

 

[nick1]

Yeah Cap won't roll over with the CBA ending.

I see that being a thing we won't see anymore too.

That should hypothetically mean lower contracts are given out but players won’t be down for that