What to Expect from the Dolphins in Free Agency

Yes, tight end Isaiah Likely would make for a very good addition for the Miami Dolphins once free agency hits next week.

And, absolutely, signing Malik Willis to become the new starting quarterback is a very intriguing idea as well.

OK, time to get back to reality.

The Miami Dolphins absolutely would love to add those kinds of players at the start of the new league year, but they simply are not in that kind of position.

The Dolphins just do not have the financial wherewithal to make a splash in free agency because creating enough cap space to simply sign their 2026 draft class and bring enough players to training camp in July will be a task in itself.

No, the Dolphins are more likely to create a ripple, if that.

We never say never around these parts, but when we see national reports indicating the Dolphins are in on Willis or Likely is a good fit for the Dolphins, we can't help but respond with a head shake, eye roll or both.

Now, the Dolphins won't completely ignore free agency, but it's more likely they'd sign no free agents from other teams than spend big money on an outside player like, yes, Likely.

The Dolphins stand less than $1 million under the salary cap limit of $301.2 million, but they're more than $6 million in the red in effective cap space, which includes the cap space needed to sign a team's draft class.

Miami likely will make some moves in the next week to create a little more space, like maybe releasing kicker Jason Sanders and fullback Alec Ingold, trading Minkah Fitzpatrick and restructuring a couple of contracts, but it's not like the Dolphins all of a sudden will find themselves with a lot of cap room to go on a spending spree.

Besides, GM Jon-Eric Sullivan has talked about putting together a roster that can compete for the long term, not a quick fix.

LOW NUMBERS EXPECTED

To indicate just what kind of reset the Dolphins are embarking on, Miami tied its record last offseason when it signed 11 unrestricted free agents.

It was mostly bargain shopping, with almost all of them and the results were brutal.

After James Daniels and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine were released a couple of weeks ago, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu became the last remaining member of that free agent class still on the roster.

Ouch!

Let's just say we shouldn't expect the Dolphins signing 11 UFAs from other teams this offseason.

On the contrary, they're way more likely to come close, if not match, their record for fewest UFAs from other teams signed.

That number is one, and it came in 2003 when Miami signed defensive tackle Larry Chester from the Carolina Panthers.

The Dolphins also have signed only two on a couple of occasions, the last time in 2019 when they signed QB Ryan Fitzpatrick from Tampa Bay and DB Eric Rowe from the New England Patriots.

That 2019 offseason was the first with new head coach Brian Flores on the job and GM Chris Grier assuming control of personnel decisions after the departure of VP of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum.

This is the same setup the Dolphins have this year with new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and new head coach Jeff Hafley.

The salary-cap fiasco is the other part of the equation, and all the variables add up to what should be a very quiet free agency signing period for the Dolphins.

So, again, signing big names? Not likely (or Likely).