Dolphins Free Agency Forecast

Among the biggest reasons for the Miami Dolphins' dramatic turnaround in 2020 was the work they did in free agency last offseason.

The Dolphins secured quality and quantity when they signed 11 players as unrestricted free agents, including six full-time starters.

This isn't going to be the same kind of free agency for the Dolphins, who simply don't have the same kind of cap space they did last offseason — and also don't have as many pressing needs to address.

The Dolphins currently have a little more than $33 million of cap space, though that number could increase with by restructuring some contracts or simply cutting players.

Regardless, the cap space won't come close to what the Dolphins had last year when they entered free agency with a league-high amount that exceeded $90 million.

The obvious consequence of that is that the Dolphins won't be nearly as active as they were last year and it's also entirely possible they'll stay away from giving any player a mega deal as they did with cornerback Byron Jones, who they signed last March to a five-year, $82.5 million contract.

This doesn't mean the Dolphins don't have some specific targets in mind, though it might difficult to pinpoint exactly who they are because the reality is the Dolphins could use an upgrade at practically every position on the roster via free agency, except maybe cornerback and tight end, and maybe safety.

“This is a very unique year, a very unique year," head coach Brian Flores said this week. "We do have some money form a cap standpoint that we can spend, but again, it’s an interesting year. I think I’m going to be playing the song ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want,’ on Day 1 in free agency, to be honest with you, because we may get priced out on some guys we’re looking at that we’d like to have. They may just want to go elsewhere.

"So I think we’re going to try to do the best we can. We’ve had multiple meeting about this and I would say just getting the cap number (Wednesday) kind of sets the stage for us to at least say, ‘We’re going to have this; we can do this, this, this and this,’ and kind of forecast and predict said player, we expect him to get this, which I’d say wipes out this amount or whatever percentage of cash we have to spend. You can’t always get what you want. I try to tell my kids that too."

The official signing period for unrestricted free agents begins with the start of the 2021 league Wednesday, though deals between players and teams will start being revealed Monday when the negotiation period opens.

For anybody wondering, the Dolphins were able to reach an agreement with punter Michael Palardy last week because he was not an unrestricted free agent, but rather a "street" free agent as the result of having his contract terminated by the Carolina Panthers in February.

The Dolphins' 11 unrestricted free agents signings last year matched the franchise record, which had been set in 2006 in Nick Saban's second year as Dolphins head coach.

The lowest number of UFAs for the Dolphins in a year is one, which happened in 2002 when they signed defensive tackle Larry Chester from the Carolina Panthers and nobody else.

On the flip side, the Dolphins have 13 players who will become unrestricted free agents Wednesday unless they're signed before then: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, RB Matt Breida, RB DeAndre Washington, WR Isaiah Ford, WR Mack Hollins, C Ted Karras, T Julién Davenport, DT Davon Godchaux, LB Kamu Grugier-Hill, LB Elandon Roberts, LB Vince Biegel, S Kavon Frazier and P Matt Haack.

Linebacker Kyle Van Noy also is a free agent, but like Palardy he is a street free agent after the Dolphins released him this past week.

He also was part of the Dolphins' 2020 unrestricted free agent haul, though the Dolphins decided to move on after one year. Based on salary, Van Noy was the second-biggest UFA signing by the Dolphins last year behind Jones with an average of $12.75 million on his four-year deal.

RELATED: The Van Noy Move Fallout

Ereck Flowers and Shaq Lawson also both got free agent deals averaging at least $10 million a year.

It's pretty obvious the Dolphins won't have four $10 million-a-year UFA signings this offseason, but they certainly could have or maybe two.

The next question will be trying to figure out who might be targeted for that kind of deal.

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Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 as an editor for Dolphin Digest, write for miamidolphins.com and now publisher of SI All Dolphins. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.