Revisiting the Dolphins' 2023 UFA Activity
As we prepare for the NFL's version of "March Madness" — with apologies to college basketball — it's a good time to revisit what the Miami Dolphins did in free agency last offseason.
While the scorecard will say the Dolphins signed six unrestricted free agents and lost seven, what should also be mentioned is that the emphasis for Miami was on retaining their own players.
The Dolphins ended up re-signing eight unrestricted free agents, including their four running backs who were ready or had hit the market — Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin — along with Duke Riley, Nik Needham, River Cracraft and Kendall Lamm.
The six UFAs signed represented the lowest total for the Dolphins since 2019 when they signed only two as they were starting their rebuilding project.
In the three years since, the Dolphins had signed 11, 10 and 10 unrestricted free agents, including big-money deals for cornerback Byron Jones in 2020 and tackle Terron Armstead in 2022.
Despite the overall numerical deficit in their UFA transactions, the Dolphins didn't earn any compensatory pick because the number of "compensatory free agents" lost was the same as "compensatory free agents" gained.
Considering the Dolphins entered the offseason with 26 potential UFAs, it would or should surprise no one if the focus again this offseason was on re-signing players rather than going on a shopping spree.
All that said, here's a quick review of the Dolphins' UFA gains and losses from a year ago.
THE DOLPHINS UFA SIGNINGS OF 2023
The Dolphins' six UFA additions last year were safety DeShon Elliott from Detroit, offensive lineman Dan Feeney from the Jets, linebacker David Long Jr. from Tennessee, linebacker Malik Reed from Pittsburgh, tight end Eric Saubert from Denver, and quarterback Mike White from the New York Jets.
The overall results were pretty modest.
Elliott and Long did become full-time starters on defense, and Long earned rare reviews for his work against the run, but White was the only other one on the 53-man roster. And Elliott is a UFA again since he was signed to a one-year contract.
Feeney did bring the Dolphins a 2024 sixth-round pick when they were able to trade him to the Chicago Bears late in training camp, while Reed failed to make the 53-man roster, and Saubert was waived/injured before he went on to sign with the Houston Texans.
THE DOLPHINS UFA LOSSES OF 2023
The seven UFAs who left the Dolphins were guard/center Michael Deiter, tight end Mike Gesicki, defensive tackle John Jenkins, punter Thomas Morstead, linebacker Elandon Roberts, safety Eric Rowe and wide receiver Trent Sherfield.
Roberts had the best season of those seven players for the Pittsburgh Steelers, though Deiter did move into the starting lineup for the upstart Houston Texans after injuries hit their offensive line.
What stands out among the group is that Roberts is the only one who signed for more than one year, so the other six are unrestricted free agents again. Rowe ended the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad after being released by the Carolina Panthers.
