How Recent Free Agency History Could Provide a Clue for Dolphins Plan

After they get done with the scouting combine in Indianapolis this week, the Miami Dolphins will turn their attention to NFL free agency with the start of the new league year March 11.

But new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan warned shortly after joining the organization not to expect big splashes in free agency, and this would match what he knew during his time with the Green Bay Packers.

Sullivan said that the idea was to use free agency sparingly, far behind the draft-and-develop approach, when it comes to building a contender.

And that's just what the Green Bay Packers — where, as we all know, the Dolphins got both Sullivan and new head coach Jeff Hafley — have done in recent years.

The numbers actually are startling.

According to research done by Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, over the last five free agency periods not team signed fewer players from other teams to contracts of at least $2 million annually than, you guessed it, the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay signed nine such free agents during that five-year span, two fewer than the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were tied for 30th on the list. Doing some quick math, that's not even two $2 million-a-year free agents per year.

At the opposite, the Houston Texans signed 59 free agents for $2 million per year from 2020-25, easily outdistancing the Carolina Panthers with 47. Tied for third with 41 such players were the Jacksonville Jaguars and — you guessed it — the Miami Dolphins.

Green Bay went two years without signing any free agents for at least $2 million, in both 2021 and 2023.

The Packers signed two each of the past two offseasons, with cornerback Nate Hobbs and guard Aaron Banks in 2025 and running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney in 2024.

Over those past six offseasons, the Packers never signed more than three UFAs to deals worth at least $2 million.

By comparison, the Dolphins signed 11 such free agents over the past two offseasons — safety Ashtyn Davis, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, guard James Daniels, tackle Larry Borom, wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and quarterback Zach Wilson in 2025; tight end Jonnu Smith, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, center Aaron Brewer, cornerback Kendall Fuller and linebacker Shaq Barrett.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE DRAFT

Green Bay's history aside, the Dolphins don't have the cap space to be big spenders in free agency even if they wanted to shop.

That's going to put even more of an onus on the draft, which makes this combine more significant than it normall is.

The draft-and-develop idea starts with picking the right players, and that means a better batting average for Sullivan and crew than what the Dolphins have managed in recent years when they often were forced to go the free agent route to compensate for roster shortcomings that couldn't be filled by draft picks.

This isn't to suggest that Green Bay's drafting was perfect because no team has that kind of record.

As a matter of fact, the Packers came in dead last in a recent ranking of the 2025 draft classes done by NFL.com's Gennaro Filice. The Dolphins weren't much better, coming in at number 29.

But Green Bay has been successful enough through the years that the Packers have made the playoffs six of the past seven seasons and produced three consecutive 13-win seasons from 2019-21.

That's the kind of success the Dolphins can only dream about, but it's gotta come through the draft and not free agency.