Saturday Dolphins Mailbag: Tyreek, Holland, Cap, and More

Part 1 of a pre-combine Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Thee Dolphins Dum Dum:

Please correct me if I’m misinterpreting you, but you seem to think Tyreek is still a great player. I have my doubts. He’s a soon to be a 31-year-old player coming off the least productive year of his career. His success is based off of speed and quickness. Speed and quickness are the first things that Father Time takes from us. He might be the smallest receiver in the league and if loses a step and that leads to more contact it’s likely to lead to more injuries. He isn’t an exceptional route runner nor does he have great hands. Things that would help a receiver fight off Father Time. Can you give me some hope that he’ll return form this season.

Hey Dana, I’m of the belief that 2024 was an aberration that was the result of Hill never being totally right physically, and I’m not talking strictly about his wrist injury. Remember that he sustained a foot injury in practice that had his status in doubt for a day or two and there also were suggestions of an ankle issue at one point. But it’s also absolutely possible that Father Time is lurking, though there have been some players who still were fast in their late 30s (think Darrell Green). And lastly, Hill is short, he's not small. There’s a big difference.

From Roger Dodger:

Did the Miami Dolphins ever confirm or deny that Tyreek Hill played all season with a broken wrist or was his agent full of spit?

Hey Roger, Drew Rosenhaus’ comments came after the end-of-season press conference with Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel, so they weren’t asked that question then. I would suspect McDaniel will be asked when he speaks at the combine next week, though the fact the Dolphins didn’t have Hill on the injury report until October should tell you what to anticipate the answer being.

From Charles Boyd:

Alain, do you have any insight into the Dolphins process of deciding what positions to fill in free agency ahead of the draft vs. planning to draft the player. Is it related to the players projected to be available when they draft?

Hey Charles, it all comes down to priorities in terms of position. And, yes, if the Dolphins feel they need an immediate starter at a position — say, safety, for example — they’ll evaluate whether there could be that kind of prospect available for them when they draft in one of the first couple of rounds (projecting to fill a starting spot in the fourth or fifth round is bad business). And it can’t be just one name because that player could be taken before your slot (unless you need a quarterback and you have the first pick). Ideally, the Dolphins can have every position filled with a reasonable option heading into the draft so they can fully adopt the best-player-available approach, but that’s not always realistic and this offseason might be one of those times.

From Ed Helinski:

How has the increase in the cap changed the Dolphins thinking for this offseason?

Hey Ed, the Dolphins and every other team knew the cap would increase, it’s just that the projections maybe were a tad smaller in terms of the increase. So the new figure of between $277.5 million and $281.5 million isn’t going to change the Dolphins’ plans because the difference isn’t really that significant.

From Mike:

What position is the easiest to draft and start immediately?

Hey Mike, basically it comes down to the positions where there’s the least amount of thinking involved and athleticism is paramount because it’s the intricacies of the NFL game and schemes that can have rookies overwhelmed. With that said, I think I’d say that running back and cornerback generally would produce the easiest evaluations and immediate NFL success.

From JohnnyFrostbite:

What’s our cutoff on size for a WR? I wouldn't touch a WR under 6-2.

Hey Johnny, well, that then would be a bit of a problem for the Dolphins because Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Malik Washington — the top three right now — all are under that size. I’m not so much worried about size in a particular wide receiver, but I do like the idea of having at least one, if not two, players at that position with some size and 6-2 would be a good cutoff there.

From Jeff:

Hello Alain, I think this is a very straightforward and simple equation for the Dolphins. Whether he is on the team playing on the tag or not, everyone in the league wants to give Holland a big contract. The tag will be the same price as his contract. If they tag him, they have a very easy way to hold on to his rights, trade him, and gain picks, essentially for free. We know what they should do, and we know they can do it pretty easily by adjusting a few contracts around like Armstead or Chubb. My question, why shouldn't the Dolphins do this? Why shouldn't they franchise-tag Holland?

Hey Jeff, couple of problems with your premise (which overall is interesting). The first is the size of Holland’s contract. The projected franchise tag for safeties will be $20.1 million, per overthecap.com, while spotrac.com projects his market value at $15 million annually. Now, the projected transition tag is like $16 million and the Dolphins could explore that and then all they would have is the right to match an offer sheet without getting compensation. As for Armstead and Chubb, the only real savings the Dolphins can get by releasing either is making them a post-June 1 cut but that money couldn’t be used until that date and the money goes on the cap the second the Dolphins put the tag on Holland and stays there until a trade could be consummated (if that were the route chosen). So, as you can see, it’s tricky, and why all along the thought has been that the Dolphins won’t be putting the tag on him.

From Jason Kirkland:

Hi Alain, not having much cap space, needing to replace a lot of FAs, and needing some kind of help at every position other than K, combined with who's buying the groceries, at this point, I'd say 8-9 is the ceiling. Your thoughts?

Hey Jason, I’d say it’s still too early for those kind of prognostications, though I understand the feeling of pessimism. Yes, the Dolphins appear to be in a bit of a pickle here, but I’m not ready to doom the season just yet.

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