Free Agency Fodder: Fuller, Centers, What's Next
Things picked up considerably for the Miami Dolphins after a very quiet start to free agency, though it's fair to wonder whether there will be any more moves forthcoming.
The Dolphins have now signed six unrestricted free agents, plus three players who were "street free agents" after being released or not being tendered a qualifying offer.
It's an interesting deal on a couple of levels.
First, one could argue it's quite a bit of guaranteed money to give a wide receiver who has failed to play more than 11 games the past four years because of various injuries, along with a league suspension for violating the league's policy against performance-enhancing drugs.
Fuller, it should be pointed out, will have to sit out the first game of the 2021 season to complete his six-game suspension.
On the injury issue, it should be noted that Fuller hadn't missed a game in 2020 before he was suspended.
More importantly, Fuller just might have been the most talented wide receiver on the free agent market — yes, ahead of both Kenny Golladay and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
It's Fuller's speed that helps him stand out, something that neither Golladay nor Smith-Schuster really provided. It's also what the Dolphins wide receiver corps, as currently constituted, was lacking more than anything.
The Dolphins already have tall receivers who can make contested catches (DeVante Parker, Preston Williams) and they have options in the slot (Lynn Bowden Jr., Albert Wilson).
So from a pure football standpoint, it says here that Fuller was absolutely the best wide receiver the Dolphins could have signed for 2021.
It also says here the next-best option would have been not Golladay or Smith-Schuster, but rather John Brown after he was released by the Buffalo Bills in a mostly salary-cap move.
Like Fuller, Brown ended up signing a one-year contract, getting $3.75 million from the Las Vegas Raiders.
The difference between the two is that Fuller is younger and more reliable than Brown, and it's easy to see Fuller eventually getting a long-term deal with Miami if things go well in 2021.
• Barring unforeseen circumstances, don't expect any other Dolphins free agent deal this spring to come close to what they gave Fuller.
The Dolphins now have about $12.5 million in cap space, according to overthecap.com, and that's right around what they will need to sign their draft class.
The team certainly can create additional space with some contract restructuring or cuts, but the idea of a big-ticket free agent joining Fuller in Miami does not appear likely.
It was just one day earlier that Karras had decided to leave the Dolphins after one year to return to New England, but at that time it was widely expected that Andrews would be leaving the Patriots after testing the free agent market.
Now, Karras is staring at the likelihood of again backing up Andrews, which he did from 2016-18 before Andrews sat out 2019 with blood clot issues.
The Dolphins replaced Karras with former Ravens starting center Matt Skura, signing him to a one-year deal reportedly worth $1.75 million. Karras made $3 million in his one year with the Dolphins and reportedly got $4 million on his one-year deal with the Patriots.
One can't help but wonder whether Karras would be back with the Dolphins had he been willing to wait to see what Andrews was going to do.
