Dolphins Updates: Running Backs, Negotiations and Extensions, Fifth-Year Option

While General Manager Chris Grier's comments regarding Tua Tagovailoa and Xavien Howard were the most noteworthy of his combine media session with South Florida reporters, he addressed several other important topics.

The Dolphins and the franchise tag

NFL teams have until next Wednesday to apply the franchise or transition tag on a pending free agent, though no team has yet to make that move.

The Dolphins have two clear candidates for the tag, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and tight end Mike Gesicki, and the question is whether they will use a tag for the first time since 2018 when they tagged Jarvis Landry before trading him to the Cleveland Browns.

"I think all options are open," Grier said. "Again, with the coaching staff coming in, we're just giving them the opportunity to look at the players and evaluate the guys we potentially might tag, but I think we have to leave all options on the table for us. That could be a potential move for us."

Grier then provide this update on negotiations with the representatives for both Ogbah and Gesicki.

"Yeah. I would say we've probably had more discussions with Drew (Rosenhaus) on Ogbah," Grier said. "Those are going on all throughout the course of the season. ... We know what he is. He's a good guy, good player, good person. Fits all the criteria we're looking for. He's done a nice job for us the last two years.

"And then Mike, obviously Mike knows how I feel about him. I drafted him and have had separate conversations with Mike. We've had limited talks with his agents. As it got to the end of the season with free agency, both of those guys get to this point, they want to be be able to see what their options are. They both told us they want to be back in Miami. They both love it here. They want to be back. We'll see what happens."

Making running back a priority

The arrival of head coach Mike McDaniel means a lot of optimism that the running game can take a big step forward and it was suggested to Grier that maybe the time has come to prioritize the running back position after using a committee approach the past few seasons.

Of course, we should remind everyone that the 49ers had a different rushing leader each of the past five years and the last four included three running backs who entered the NFL as undrafted free agents and a sixth-round pick.

“Obviously Mike is known for (his) run game and just talking to people, going through Gary Kubiak — my father (longtime Houston Texans exec Bobby Grier) worked together — so talked to Coach Kubiak about him and us going through it, obviously Mike has had a lot of success in evaluating and finding running backs too," Grier said. "John Lynch has talked about that, talked about it when we were interviewing him. Kyle Shanahah. All the guys that have worked with him. Yeah, the running back position is very important to him and to have success in this league you kind of have to run the ball as well. It’s one of the positions we’ll be studying hard and we love this time of year with free agency and the draft.”

The question, of course, is when in the draft to take a running back, specifically what is the sweet spot.

“At the end of the day you always to do what’s best for your team," Grier said. "Mike’s had a lot of success finding good running backs in that mid-late round and 49ers people all confirmed it. We had (Kenyan) Drake in the third round a few years ago, so that balance is right. At the end of the day, you go with your gut and that information you find out on players. We work through it and you decide the value of the player if you end up taking him, whether it’s the first round or seventh round of a free agent.”

Christian Wilkins and the fifth-year option

NFL teams have until May 3 to decide whether to pick up the fifth-year options on 2019 first-round pick Christian Wilkins, which seems like almost a no-brainer in light of Wilkins' breakout 2021 performance.

Picking up the option would guarantee Wilkins a $10.1 million salary for 2023, per overthecap.com. The last time the Dolphins were faced with this decision was two offseasons ago when they not only declined to pick up the fifth-year options for both Charles Harris and Taco Charlton, but ended up moving on from both players before the deadline.

Those two moves were just as expected, as is the idea of the Dolphins picking up the option for Wilkins.

"He had a heck of a year here last year," Grier said. "I would say most likely. But we'll make that decision."

Time for Dolphins to work on extensions?

If the Dolphins do end up picking up Wilkins' fifth-year option, that will leave them with one less potential unrestricted free agent next offseason.

And they could bring down that total even more if they sign somebody else to a contract extension, like they did with kicker Jason Sanders and linebacker Jerome Baker in 2021. To that end, Grier was asked specifically about the idea of extending linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.

“Yeah, we will talk to a few different players, we’ve talked about that," Grier said. "We’ve got to make sure these guys fit into what Mike wants and his coaching staff, what they’re looking for. A guy like Andrew does things the right way, good guy, and at some point we’ll reach out and have discussions with him, as well.”