The Most Ideal Free Agent Guard Option ... with the One Big Catch

San Francisco 49ers guard Aaron Banks is a perfect scheme fit and has history with Mike McDaniel, but there's one big potential obstacle to landing him in free agency

San Francisco 49ers guard Aaron Banks (center) blocks against Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Bilal Nichols (left) during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Aaron Banks seems like the perfect fit for the Miami Dolphins in free agency.

He's a young ascending player with plenty of experience in the outside zone scheme the Dolphins employ, plus he's got a history with head coach Mike McDaniel from their time together with the San Francisco 49ers.

But there's just one little problem. Actually, it's a big one.

Banks is expected to — pun alert — break the bank this offseason. Or something close to it. At least, that's the suggestion from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero in a story about under-the-radar free agents who could be in for a huge payday in free agency.

Per Pelissero, Banks is similar to another guard who hit it big in free agency last year, fella by the name of Robert Hunt. Like Banks, Hunt was a second-round pick who performed well, though without making the Pro Bowl, and became coveted in free agency.

Hunt wound up getting a five-year, $100 million deal from the Carolina Panthers, and Pelissero is suggesting Banks could come close to that, putting his number at between $18 million and $20 million annually.

The Dolphins let Hunt leave because they didn't want pay that much for a guard, so it's difficult to envision them doing it for Banks when the argument can made that while Banks is a better scheme fit, Hunt is the better player.

That expected price tag is far above what Spotrac evaluated as Banks' market value, which the site put at $9.7 million annually.

Because that's the way these things go, it's probably fair to expect Banks' deal to come somewhere between the two extremes, but what has transpired already at the guard position around the NFL this offseason won't help.

The Kansas City Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Trey Smith, they agreed to trade Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears, and then the Los Angeles Rams agreed to trade Jonah Jackson to the Bears.

LIMITED FREE AGENT OPTIONS AT GUARD

The reality is there are not a lot of attractive free agent guards on the market below the age of 30, which means there should a battle for Banks' services.

Kevin Zeitler and Brandon Scherff both have impressive NFL credentials, but they are — to borrow a golf phrase — in the second half of their careers.

Teven Jenkins is another attractive option, but the Chicago Bears impending free agent has a pretty good history of injuries that teams would have to overlook.

The Dolphins have three impending free agent guards of their own in Robert Jones, Liam Eichenberg and Isaiah Wynn, but they're looking to upgrade at the position and certainly won't be re-signing all three, maybe not two of them, and even possibly any of them.

That means bringing in reinforcements from the outside.

Aaron Banks fits the bill on so many levels. Unfortunately, it's the bill for his services that might become a deal-breaker.