Dolphins Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/18/24

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

Dolphins Re-Sign G Isaiah Wynn

Isaiah Wynn‘s debut season with the Dolphins was cut short, but he will remain in place for the 2024 campaign. The veteran offensive lineman has inked a new one-year deal with Miami, per his agents (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter).

Wynn came to Miami on a one-year deal last offseason following the end of his Patriots tenure. He was moved to left guard after splitting time on the inside and at tackle with New England. That decision proved to be a sound one given the way Wynn played to start the year. PFF charged the former first-rounder with no sacks and four pressures allowed in pass protection in 2023.

While his run blocking evaluation was much worse (a career-low 48.2 mark), Wynn’s injury dealt a notable blow to Miami’s O-line. The Georgia alum suffered a season-ending quadriceps injury in Week 7, leaving the team without a starter on the inside in a season which featured multiple other ailments up front. Center Connor Williams suffered an ACL tear, something which has hindered his free agent market. Left tackle Terron Armstead, meanwhile, continued his career trend of dealing with multiple injuries.

The latter will remain in place for next season, giving Miami stability on the blindside. Wynn’s return will provide continuity on the left side of the offensive line and ensure one guard starter will be retained. The other – Robert Hunt – landed a $20MM-per-year deal with the Panthers in free agency, creating a major vacancy at that position. A number of internal candidates to fill the spot are in place, and the draft looms as an option to add a rookie blocker.

Long-term investments up front will no doubt be a priority for Miami given Armstead’s age (32) and injury history. The 28-year-old Wynn faces similar concerns given the way his 2023 campaign came to an end. If he can remain healthy in 2024 and replicate his play from last season, though, he could land a pact better than the ‘prove-it’ accord he signed in 2023 (and which he has likely inked this time around) with the Dolphins or another team in free agency next year.

Dolphins Looking To Add At WR

The Dolphins have been extremely active in free agency, both losing and attaining several players with expired contracts. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, after all their recent developments, wide receiver has become a position of focus.

The Dolphins are by no means short of talent at the wide receiver position. Between Tyreek Hill‘s incredible season in which he hit over 1,800 total yards and caught 13 touchdown passes and Jaylen Waddle hitting the 1,000-yard receiving mark with four touchdowns of his own, Miami has more receiving talent in those two alone than many other NFL teams have on their roster right now.

Beyond Hill and Waddle, though, the statistics drop off dramatically. After those two, the receivers with the next most yardage were Cedrick Wilson with 296, Braxton Berrios with 238, Robbie Chosen with 126, River Cracraft with 121, and Chase Claypool with 26. All five of those receivers hit free agency when the new league year began. Wilson is headed to New Orleans on a new two-year deal, while Berrios recently re-signed with the Dolphins on a one-year contract. Currently, Hill, Waddle, and Berrios are the only three wideouts on the roster who caught a pass for the Dolphins in 2023.

The team does have interior options on the roster, but they aren’t necessarily experienced and have yet to show they can step up. Erik Ezukanma, a fourth-round pick out of Texas Tech from 2022, is also under contract. Former third-round speedster Anthony Schwartz and undrafted receivers Braylon Sanders and Mathew Sexton all signed reserve/futures contracts with the team, as well.

Still, Miami desires a bit more upside and experience behind its elite duo. One name that Jackson reports they’ve inquired about is former Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins. Watkins served as WR2 for Philadelphia in the year before they acquired A.J. Brown but has since taken a back seat. 2023 saw his worst season since his rookie year, but in both of those years, he missed several games. He dealt with hamstring issues last year that held him to only nine game appearances.

Whether Watkins is the guy or they continue exploring other options, it’s clear that the Dolphins need more behind Hill and Waddle. They will continue shopping the free agent market and are likely to target the position through the draft, as well. For now, though, Hill, Waddle, and Berrios represent the totality of their experience.

Return Specialist Braxton Berrios Re-Signs With Dolphins

The Dolphins have re-signed wide receiver and return man Braxton Berrios to another one-year contract. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Berrios is back on a deal that could pay him up to $3MM in 2024.

Berrios returns to a wide receivers room that was utterly dominated by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in 2023. While both receivers surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark and combined for 17 touchdowns, with Hill absolutely dominating his share of the statistics with 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns, the next closest receivers on the field didn’t nearly sniff the success of those two.

Despite only catching 27 passes for 238 yards, those numbers were good for third in the receivers room for receptions and fourth in receiving yards, just falling short of Cedrick Wilson‘s 296 yards. Berrios’ bigger impact came in the return game, where he served as the team’s primary option for both punt and kickoff returns. While not quite posting the averages of his first-team All-Pro season with the Jets, Berrios put up the second-best kickoff return average in his career (24.5 yards per return) while still delivering a reliable 10+ yards per return average on punts.

He’ll slide right back into his returner role in 2024 and may even get a chance at more receiving opportunities. Wilson is currently sitting on the free agent market, and Miami signed a pass-catching tight end in Jonnu Smith to supplement the receiving game. Affordable free agents or late-round draft options may join the fray, but Berrios should stand to see more looks from Tua Tagovailoa in 2024. It also helps Berrios that he already has a year of experience working under wide receivers coach Wes Welker, the former Patriots legend whom Berrios changed his number from 83 to 8 in college to avoid being compared to.

Under his new deal, Berrios stays close to his alma mater, playing in his college homefield for another season. He gives the Dolphins security in the return game and a solid WR3 option.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/24

Friday’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

  • Released: OL Roy Mbaeteka

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Irwin gets a crack at a WR3 role in Cincinnati as Tyler Boyd heads to free agency. Irwin also holds experience as the team’s backup return man, filling in last year when Charlie Jones was injured.

Heck rejoins the Texans on a one-year deal worth up to $3.3MM. He’ll add some key depth at an important position.

Rozeboom was a restricted free agent who wasn’t tendered. Regardless, the two sides work out a fully guaranteed deal for 2024.

Feeney joins the Vikings on a one-year deal. Though far removed from a consistent starting role with the Chargers, Feeney has continued to find starts throughout his career as a valuable body off the bench.

The Giants bring in two tight ends without much receiving experience. Manhertz, a veteran whose played for the Panthers from 2016-20, has extensive starting experience as a blocking tight end with 53 starts in his career.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/14/24

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Dolphins To Sign DL Benito Jones, Re-Sign DT De’Shawn Hand

The Dolphins have agreed to contracts with some familiar faces. The Dolphins are expected to sign defensive lineman Benito Jones, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic. The team is also expected to re-sign defensive tackle De’Shawn Handaccording to Russini.

Jones spent the first two seasons of his career in Miami, although he was limited to only six games between the two campaigns. He was claimed off waivers by the Lions prior to the 2022 season and proceeded to get into 34 games for Detroit over the next two years. This culminated in a 2023 campaign where Jones started 15 of his 17 appearances, finishing with a career-high 26 tackles.

Hand joined the Dolphins last August and ended up getting into a career-high 16 games with his new squad. He appeared in about 20 percent of his team’s defensive snaps, finishing the year with 17 tackles and one sack.

The Dolphins have been busy adding to their defensive line after Christian Wilkins left for the Raiders. The team has also added Isaiah Mack, Daviyon Nixon, and Neville Gallimore, and the team will be counting on their new additions to soak up some DL snaps in 2024.

Dolphins, CB Kendall Fuller Agree To Deal

Kendall Fuller was among the top defensive options still on the market amongst 2024 free agents. He has found a new home, however. The veteran corner has agreed to a two-year, $16.5MM deal with the Dolphins, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

Fuller found himself as one of the best corners available due to Jaylon Johnson and L’Jarius Sneed receiving franchise tags. The 29-year-old has spent six of his eight seasons in Washington, having gone to Kansas City in between as part of the Alex Smith trade. Fuller served as a full-time starter during his first season with the Chiefs, but Sneed’s arrival pointed to his departure in 2020 following a smaller workload the previous campaign.

The Commanders inked Fuller to a four-year, $40MM pact, and he played out that contract while rarely leaving the field. The former third-rounder logged more than 1,000 snaps in each of the past three seasons, earning strong PFF reviews along the way. While his coverage statistics in 2023 in particular (120.4 passer rating, nine touchdowns allowed as the nearest defender) were not impressive, he posted those figures on a defense which saw its top two edge rushers traded away at the deadline.

The Dolphins were in the market for a new starting corner with Xavien Howard being released as a post-June 1 cut. A new Miami agreement briefly seemed to be a possibility, but by last week the former All-Pro confirmed that would not be happening. Fuller will step into Howard’s role as a starter opposite Jalen Ramsey moving forward.

Fuller posted 10 interceptions and 49 pass deflections during his second stint in the nation’s capital. He will aim to replicate that ball production on a defense which ranked 14th in interceptions last season and 15th in passing yards allowed. A number of changes have been made in the secondary, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio departed after a single campaign in Miami. Anthony Weaver is now in place as DC.

Weaver will oversee a unit which lost Christian Wilkins in the early portion of free agency, a departure which will weaken Miami’s defensive front. On the backend, however, the combination of Ramsey and Fuller (who has experience both in the slot and on the perimeter) will be expected to provide high-end play.

Dolphins To Sign DB Siran Neal

Siran Neal will be sticking in the AFC East. The former Bills defensive back/special teams ace is signing with the Dolphins, according to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.

The 2018 fifth-round pick had spent his entire career in Buffalo, missing only a pair of regular season games in six seasons with the organization. Neal got a look on defense for a handful of years before mostly playing on special teams between 2022 and 2023 (108 defensive snaps vs. 658 special teams snaps). Over that two-year span, Neal has compiled 32 tackles, giving him 115 for his career.

Thanks to his special teams performance in Buffalo, Neal was becoming a popular name on the free agent circuit. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported earlier this week that the special teamer was expected to meet with the Giants, and Wolfe later added that Neal was set to meet with the Falcons.

Ultimately, the Dolphins won out. Neal will be following his teammate Jordan Poyer to Miami, as the veteran safety agreed to a deal with the organization yesterday. While Neal will likely see a similar role with his new squad, he could end up earning some defensive snaps. At the moment, the Dolphins are only rostering five other cornerbacks in Jalen Ramsey, Cam Smith, Kader Kohou, Nik Needham, and Ethan Bonner.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/13/24

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders