Dolphins Potential Free Agent Targets in Likely Places
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When it comes to trying to identify potential free agents for the Miami Dolphins, a good place to start would be players familiar with head coach Mike McDaniel and some of his top assistants.
It wasn't by accident that by the time the 2022 season ended, the Dolphins roster included four players who were with the San Francisco 49ers when McDaniel was the offensive coordinator — RBs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, and WRs Trent Sherfield and River Cracraft.
The Dolphins don't have nearly as much cap space as they did last offseason, though they did clear an awful lot of space last week by restructuring the contracts of Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Terron Armstead, and they can make more moves to create additional cap space and put themselves in a position to still be able to add some notable free agents this offseason.
And if they targeted free agents from the San Francisco 49ers, it should surprise no one. And the same goes for free agents from the Denver Broncos, those who played under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio when he was head coach there from 2019-21.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS FREE AGENTS TO WATCH
The big name among the pending 49ers free agents clearly is right tackle Mike McGlinchey, a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
McGlinchey, who like Liam Eichenberg played at Notre Dame, has started all 69 games he has played for the 49ers, including 16 at guard in 2018.
His performance through his first three seasons was good enough that the 49ers picked up in the spring of 2021 his fifth-year option for 2022.
McGlinchey would fit in pretty well on the Dolphins offensive line unless the team is adamant about giving 2020 first-round pick Austin Jackson another shot after his 2022 season was derailed by injuries.
The 49ers have two other offensive linemen who are free agents but would figure more as backups, guard Daniel Brunskill and center Jake Brendel, whose career actually began with the Dolphins in 2016.
Another pending 49ers free agent is tight end Ross Dwelley, who could be added for depth purposes with the likely departure of Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen.
DENVER BRONCOS FREE AGENTS TO WATCH
The Broncos have four pending defensive free agents of note, though linebacker Alex Singleton arrived in 2022 after Fangio had left as head coach.
That leaves three players very familiar with Fangio and the scheme he'll bring to Miami, as well as three players with whom Fangio is very familiar.
The one name that jumps out here is defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones.
A third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2019, Jones has made himself a very good 3-4 defensive lineman after starting one game as a rookie.
Jones started 15 games for Fangio in 2020-21 and had 12 sacks in those two seasons, a very good number for a 3-4 defensive end. It's an element that's missing from the current roster because as good as Christian Wilkins was in 2022 — and he was very good — he had a modest 3.5 sacks.
Jones continued to produce last season when he became a full-time starter, tying his career high with 6.5 sacks. If the price is right, this is somebody who really could help the Dolphins defense.
But we have to understand also that Jones won't come cheap.
Also scheduled to become unrestricted free agents are defensive lineman DeShawn Williams and safety Kareem Jackson.
Williams is coming off his best NFL season with 4.5 sacks while starting 15 games and he's got experience at nose tackle, so that versatility will bolster his value.
Jackson joined Denver in Fangio's first year as head coach after nine seasons with the Houston Texans, most of them at cornerback. He was very productive in his two seasons in Denver, judging by Pro Football Reference's 75.8 and 85.2 opponent passer rating marks when targeted, though those numbers slipped badly the last two years (113.3 and 100.2).
Jackson will turn 35 in April and definitely would bring experience to the Dolphins defense, but he's been a starter pretty much his whole career and he's not a fit if the team is committed to Brandon Jones returning to the starting lineup after he missed most of the 2022 season with a torn ACL.
One final player to remember has a connection not with McDaniel or Fangio, but with offensive coordinator Frank Smith, and that's Raiders tight end Foster Moreau.
Smith was the tight ends coach for the Raiders from 2018-20 and Moreau caught five touchdown passes for him as a rookie fourth-round pick in 2019. Moreau could jump into the mix at tight end with Durham Smythe and young players Hunter Long and Tanner Conner if he ends up with Miami.
RANKING THE TARGETS WITH TIES TO MIKE McDANIEL OR VIC FANGIO
Here's our ranking of the seven pending free agents we identified in this story in terms of the impact they could make (understanding, of course, that financial considerations will be a factor):
1. DL Dre'Mont Jones, Denver Broncos
2. T Mike McGlinchey, San Francisco 49ers
3. DL DeShawn Williams, Denver Broncos
4. S Kareem Jackson, Denver Broncos
5. TE Ross Dwelley, San Francisco 49ers
6. C Jake Brendel, San Francisco 49ers
7. G Daniel Brunskill, San Francisco 49ers
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