Who should be the #1 target for the Dolphins with in-house players hitting free agency?
The Miami Dolphins have tons of work to do heading into 2025 regarding roster reconstruction. It’s already an imperfect model that needs to not only fill holes but change the foundation of it.
The Dolphins will go into the offseason roughly $14 million over the 2025 salary cap per Over The Cap. They’ll need to cut, restructure, and extend some of their higher-paid players to get them back in position to make moves, same as they did going into 2024.
Some will say that they’re “maxing out another credit card,” but that’s the name of the game in the NFL. You go all in when you think you’re close. Unfortunately, the Dolphins are stuck in “close,” but not close enough.
General Manager Chris Grier will first need to look at players on the roster who will be free agents in 2025 and figure out how to bring back value at the most team-friendly cost possible. The question is, who should they prioritize bringing back?
Back For Seconds
A few names stick out in this year’s Dolphins free-agent class. You have one big name that’s due for his first big contract in Jevon Holland, and the rest are sticking in the single digits for average salary.
The names with value that catch your eye are Jevon Holland, Kader Kohou, Jordan Poyer, Tyrell Dodson, Isiah Wynn, Kendall Lamm, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Calais Campbell.
I would vote to bring all these guys back outside of Holland and Kohou only because their number will be too high for the Dolphins to make a competitive offer, but there’s one player here that needs to be put at the top of the list and circled twice, and that’s Calais Campbell.
Everyone listed here made a positive impact, even in small ways, and some will be resigned because they don’t cost much and have familiarity with the system.
Yes, that means Poyer, too. I know most fans like to dog him, but on a defense that struggled to tackle, he would put his body on the line and make tackles. He just took horrible angles. Either way, Poyer and the others don’t move the needle for the Dolphins, but Campbell does.
Bargain Shopping
The status of Campbell’s retirement is up in the air, but recent talks with Chris Grier point to Campbell not only playing another year but his willingness to come back to Miami.
Campbell signed a one-year, $2 million deal for the 2024 season but played like a $20 million player. PFF has him ranked as the Dolphins number-one free agent with a rating of 82.3 and had him rating among the elite throughout the season. Due to his age and future in football being a bit foggy, the Dolphins could get a deal done with him at a relatively fair price.
I could see Campbell inking another one-year deal under the $10 million average salary of his counterpart Zach Sieler.
The Dolphins issues with the defense came from tackling at the second level and getting pressure on the quarterback. Stopping the run was one of their strengths, and Campbell was the leading force behind it. If Miami loses him, they’ll need to sign someone of equivalent talent, which would cost too much, or use an early draft pick that should be used in other places, such as the offensive line or the secondary.
If Campbell is playing another year, get the deal done first. As we’ve seen in the playoffs, the best teams emphasize the trenches, and the Dolphins should follow suit.
