Contract Chatter: Dolphins Have Business to Conduct

The Miami Dolphins have their share of contract situations to address at some point, two notable ones involving center Connor Williams and defensive tackle Zach Sieler.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus represents both players and the status of Williams and Sieler naturally came up during his regular appearance on South Florida TV station WSVN. Beyond acknowledging that each player indeed is looking for a contract extension, though, Rosenhaus said he was honoring their wishes not to disclose details of conversations with the Dolphins.

The two players adopted different approaches during the offseason program, with Williams choosing to stay away from not only the voluntary portions but also the mandatory minicamp and Sieler attending but not taking part in on-field work (at least in the practices open to the media).

Each player is in the final year of their contract — Williams has a cap number of $8.4 million (per overthecap.com), while Sieler is at $3.2 million.

On a team with several high-profile players, Williams and Sieler are two important pieces to the Dolphins puzzle, and it would be impossible to argue that Sieler isn't underpaid given how valuable he's become on the defensive line.

THE WILKINS WATCH

The issue with Sieler might be complicated by the fact that the Dolphins have two other defensive linemen entering the last year of their contract, Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis.

Wilkins is the attention-getter, of course, as he prepares to play on his fifth-year option for $10.7 million in 2023.

As we discussed recently, the big contracts signed by other young defensive tackles around the NFL this offseason no doubt will be used as a barometer. Rosenhaus, who does not represent Wilkins, suggested Wilkins could get a deal worth $20 million annually, while spotrac.com put his market value at $19.4 million annually.

One issue there is that the Dolphins already are scheduled to have six players with a cap number topping $20 million in 2024, though they'll find a way to make it work obviously if they ultimately decide that Wilkins is worth that kind of money.

It could be that the Dolphins will let things play out first to see how effective Wilkins will be in the new scheme brought by Vic Fangio.

KEEPING UP WITH COOK

That brings up to running back Dalvin Cook and his search for a new team, which oddsmakers have suggested is likely to be the Dolphins.

But, as we've suggested all along, the Dolphins likely only will sign Cook at a reasonable price and this could come down to whether any team around the NFL is willing to give Cook a sizable contract at a time when running backs continue to be devalued.

On his WSVN appearance, Rosenhaus said he didn't expect the Dolphins to give Cook a big-money deal and we have a hard seeing any team doing that considering the Vikings were looking to trade him all offseason but nobody wanted to take on his $10.4 million contract for 2023.

With the offseason program wrapping up around the NFL this week and training camps opening in late July, there's no urgency for Cook to find another team.