Why the Dolphins Must Re-Sign This Critical Internal Free Agent

The Miami Dolphins made a lot of big decisions Monday, and all of them were cuts.

Officially cutting Tyreek Hill, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, James Daniels, and reportedly Bradley Chubb had to be done. But the team has another no-brainer decision on the horizon. The Dolphins should do everything in their power to re-sign tight end Greg Dulcich.

Of Miami's 29 internal free agents, few make as much sense to bring back as Dulcich does.

Why the Dolphins Should Re-Sign Greg Dulcich

Dulcich was legitimately good when he made his way into the lineup last season.

He didn’t run more than 10 routes in a single game until Week 9, and he managed to finish fourth on the team in receptions (26) and third in yards (335).

That’s an indictment of Miami’s lack of passing game options, but Dulcich was a consistently productive player.

With Bobby Slowik sticking around at offensive coordinator, we know he’ll likely run some version of a Shanahan-style system. That system loves to tight ends and feature them in the passing game.

Last season, the Dolphins saw a lot of success with jumbo and mult-tight end formations. The team used 12 and 22 personnel just 10 and 8.9%, respectively, but it was a nice wrinkle for the offense. Dulcich was a big part of that during the second half of the season.

If you go back to Slowik's last season as the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, you'll see that his offense used 12 personnel 31.5% of the time, which is pretty high. It's more likely it'll be closer to the number Miami had last season, but it's worth noting.

Dulcich is no George Kittle, but he can certainly be a productive pass catcher on play-action concepts. His blocking could use some improvement, but he’s a big enough body to get in the way in the running game.

What makes Dulcich extra appealing to this Dolphins team is his age. He’ll be 26 at the start of the season, and 2025 wasn’t his only productive season. He had 33 catches for 411 yards as a rookie in 2022 with the Broncos.

Dulcich is a great athlete with the ball in his hands and is young enough to continue getting better — the Dolphins need as many of those players as possible.

Plus, Miami’s tight end room is pretty much empty. Darren Waller is a free agent, and Julian Hill is a restricted free agent. Miami has some young lottery tickets like Zack Kuntz and Cole Turner, but none of them have Dulcich’s NFL production.

Doubling Down on Dulcich

Dulcich feels like a no-brainer for the Dolphins to bring back this offseason. He’s the right age, a scheme fit, and has proven he can be a productive player when healthy.

The injury concerns are real. Dulcich was fighting for a spot on the New York Giants' roster this past offseason because Denver cut him due to injury issues. However, it seems unlikely Miami will pay Dulcich enough to truly get burned if he misses significant time.

There’s just not much risk in bringing back Dulcich for next season, and there’s a ton of upside in him being a long-term TE2 option. Again, that’s the type of upside play the Dolphins need to be making this offseason.

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