The Miami Dolphins saw their lead in the AFC East slip away as a Week 18 loss to the Buffalo Bills dropped them from a division winner to a Wild Card team. Miami finished the season 11-6 and saw a first-round exit in the playoffs. The Dolphins were infamously built for winning now, came up short and now have to deal with being $29 million over the cap.
Miami was a well-rounded team in 2023 and should be able to hang with anyone in the league unless they have to cut a lot of players to get under the salary cap. The Dolphins have the seventh-best odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win Super Bowl 59 installed at +1700. Miami has the fifth-best odds to win the AFC (+1000) behind the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.
Dolphins free agents
WR, Cedrick Wilson Jr.
C, Connor Williams
DT, Christian Wilkins
WR, Braxton Berrios
LB, Andrew Van Ginkel
T, Isaiah Wynn
G, Robert Hunt
CB, Nik Needham
SS, DeShon Elliott
WR, Chase Claypool
CB, Eli Apple
RB, Salvon Ahmed
DT, Raekwon Davis
CB, Justin Bethel
RT, Kendall Lamm
P, Jake Bailey
S, Brandon Jones
TE, Tyler Kroft
C, Jonotthan Harrison
WR, River Cracraft
CB, Elijah Campbell
ILB, Calvin Munson
DE, Justin Houston
DE, Bruce Irvin
G Robert Jones
EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah
EDGE Da’Shawn Hand
WR Robbie Chosen
EDGE Melvin Ingram
LB Alexander Johnson
If you think the Miami free agent list looks daunting, you’d be correct. They currently sit $29 million over the salary cap. The Dolphins have 30 players set to hit free agency, and most rosters are made up of 63 players between the 53-man roster and 10-man practice squad. Injuries can have that fluctuate, but Miami is set to lose nearly half its roster.
Somewhat luckily, only four of the free agents played more than 50% of snaps. Safety DeShon Elliott and DT Christian Wilkins figure to be the toughest players to replace if they aren’t re-signed. The majority of free agents are depth pieces or veterans who were signed later in the season to try and make up for the several injuries that Miami had.
Franchise tag options
DT Christian Wilkins
C Connor Williams
G Robert Hunt
Wilkins is the most likely player to get the franchise tag. He had the third-most sacks on the team with nine and added 10 tackles for loss, an interception and two fumble recoveries. If Miami chooses to tag him, it would run them $22.1 million for the year but would allow the Dolphins extra time to work out an extension with him.
Williams and Hunt being tagged would allow the Dolphins to keep their offensive line intact. They will likely only be able to keep one of the players and if they can get an extension done quickly with Wilkins, they may still have time to use the tag on one of the linemen.