are the only sure starters back (I'm pencilling Phillps in as a starter).
In the secondary, Brent Grimes is the only proven cornerback, and his game has shown natural signs of slowing. No one has been a bigger fan of Grimes than me right from his eye-opening play in his first training camp. But business is business. He couldn't have really expected to cash this final year of his contract. The Dolphins can re-do his deal, if he allows. Or they can save $8 million by designating him as one of the two allowed post-June 1 cuts designated before that date.
With that $8 million, the Dolphins could go a long way to signing a couple of veteran (read: old) from new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's former team in Cincinnati. Joseph was the secondary coach of decent free-agent cornerbacks Leon Hall and Adam Jones and safety Reggie Nelson. New coaches typically want a couple former players on board to help the new team learn the system. Hall or Jones can fit a role at cornerback. Nelson plays the deep safety role, which which fits with Reshad Jones playing the more aggressive safety. Each is expected to cost in the modest neighborhood of two years, $10 million, according to the salary-cap website, overthecap.com.
That puts the Dolphins in position either to sign a higher-priced free agent (Sean Smith? Trumaine Johnson? Janoris Jenkins?)