Dolphins To Sign Matt Skura
The Dolphins are set to sign former Ravens center Matt Skura (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). The lineman’s one-year deal is worth $1.75MM, per Garafolo on Twitter.
Skura had issues snapping the ball at times last year and wound up getting the hook in favor of Patrick Mekari. In total, he made 12 starts, giving him 51 total first-string appearances over the course of four seasons in Baltimore. Originally an UDFA out of Duke in 2016, Skura spent his rookie year on the practice squad. As a sophomore he was called on to start 12 games at guard when Marshall Yanda missed most of the season.
The following year he became the team’s center, starting all 16 games. After starting 11 games in 2019 Skura tore an ACL and had significant other damage in his knee, but he made it back in time for 2020 training camp and started the season on time.
He projects as the new starter in Miami, and it’s possible his struggles last year were due to coming off such a serious injury in such a short amount of time. He turned 28 in February.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/21
Today’s “minor” moves:
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: S Deon Bush
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Tony Brown
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Tae Davis
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed off waivers (from Texans): DT Andrew Brown
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: DT Gabe Wright
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: OL Adam Pankey
- Signed: WR Robert Foster
New England Patriots
- Re-signed: DL Cody Davis
New York Jets
- Re-signed: RB Josh Adams
Philadelphia Eagles
- Re-signed: RB Adrian Killins
San Francisco 49ers
- Re-signed: CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun, TE Daniel Helm
Tennessee Titans
- Re-signed: TE Anthony Firkser
Dolphins To Sign Adam Butler
Adam Butler will reunite with Brian Flores. The former Patriots defensive tackle has agreed to a two-year deal with the Dolphins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The contract could be worth up to $9.5MM with bonuses. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the contract has a listed value of $7.5MM, including $3.75MM in guaranteed.
Last year, the Patriots kept Butler from the open market (and, likely, the waiting arms of Flores) with a second-round tender. This time around, the Patriots allowed Butler to walk amidst their own free agency spending spree.
The former Vanderbilt standout has spent his entire four-year career with New England, and he won a Super Bowl championship during his second year in the NFL. He’s missed just one a regular season game as a pro and he’s made an impact, despite making just six combined starts across the last two seasons. In 2019, he set a new career high with six sacks. Last year, he registered four sacks with a new watermark of 34 total stops.
Butler will be joined in the Miami front seven by fellow newcomer Benardrick McKinney. The Dolphins acquired the inside linebacker earlier this week by shipping OLB Shaq Lawson to the Texans.
Dolphins To Sign Justin Coleman
Former Lions cornerback Justin Coleman has agreed to terms with the Dolphins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). He’ll receive a one-year deal worth up to $2.75MM. The actual base value of the deal is not yet known.
[RELATED: Dolphins To Sign RB Malcolm Brown]
The Lions signed Coleman to a four-year, $36MM pact back in 2019, but he only ended up making it halfway through that deal. His contract made him one of the highest-paid slot cornerbacks in the league, but he wasn’t able to perform at that level. A hamstring injury capped his 2020 season at just eleven games and he registered only one pass defended.
Still, in 2019, Coleman turned in a 16-game slate with 54 tackles, three forced fumbles, 13 passes defended, and an interception. Now, the Dolphins have him for a fraction of his would-be $8.9MM for this coming year.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/16/21
Tomorrow is the deadline for NFL teams to extend tender offers to their own restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Chiefs: G Andrew Wylie
- Colts: S George Odum
- Cowboys: DT Antwaun Woods
- Dolphins: OL Adam Pankey
- Packers: CB Chandon Sullivan, TE Robert Tonyan (second-round tender)
- Raiders: K Daniel Carlson (second-round tender)
- Texans: DT P.J. Hall, CB A.J. Moore
Non-Tendered:
- Packers: DL Tyler Lancaster
- Seahawks: LB Shaquem Griffin
- Vikings: RB Mike Boone, DL Ifeadi Odenigbo
Dolphins To Sign RB Malcolm Brown
This Tuesday in the NFL will produce multiple Malcolm Brown agreements. Following the Jaguars acquiring the former Saints defensive tackle, the Dolphins will add a running back.
The Dolphins agreed to terms with the former Rams running back, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Brown has played his entire career with the Rams, beginning that run in St. Louis and staying with the team for its first five seasons back in Los Angeles.
The Rams drafted Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers in consecutive years, minimizing Brown’s status going forward. But the soon-to-be 28-year-old back received interest and will head to south Florida. He will join a Dolphins team that has acquired a few running backs under GM Chris Grier.
Miami signed Jordan Howard and traded for Matt Breida last year. Neither move resulted in much production, and the Dolphins made seventh-round pick Myles Gaskin its primary running back. Both Howard and Breida are no longer with the Dolphins. Gaskin remains under contract, and he will have a veteran complement in Brown.
A former UDFA out of Texas, Brown has posted a 4.0 yards-per-carry average as a pro. Brown spent five seasons backing up Todd Gurley in L.A. but received more work after the Rams cut their previous starter. Brown rushed for a career-high 419 yards last season, helping the Rams transition from their Gurley era. He will now help the Dolphins assemble a backfield in Year 3 of the Grier-Brian Flores regime.
Dolphins To Sign Jacoby Brissett
The quarterback market is really starting to heat up now. Just moments after news broke about Andy Dalton signing with the Bears, we’ve got word of Jacoby Brissett‘s next destination.
Brissett will be signing a one-year contract with the Dolphins, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The former Patriots and Colts quarterback will sign for a guaranteed $5MM, according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin (on Twitter). The deal can max out at $7MM.
Ryan Fitzpatrick left for Washington last night, and Miami wasted no time in finding their new veteran backup for Tua Tagovailoa. After all the controversy last season from the Fitz/Tua flips that Brian Flores initiated, it’s a little eyebrow-raising to see them go with another high profile player behind Tagovailoa.
If Tua falters in his second season, Flores will once again have another player with lots of starting experience waiting in the wings behind him. The Dolphins have sought to establish themselves as committed to Tagovailoa ever since the season ended, amid lots of speculation that they’d try to make a move for Deshaun Watson.
Brissett’s time in Indy came to an end with the Colts trading for Carson Wentz earlier this offseason. After a shoulder injury to Andrew Luck in 2017, the Colts traded with the Patriots for Brissett and he started 15 games for them that year. In 2018 he backed up Luck but after Luck’s sudden retirement, he again started 15 games for them in 2019.
His play in 2019 was subpar, causing the Colts to go out and sign Philip Rivers last offseason, once again relegating Brissett to clipboard-holding duties. In his last season as the starter he had 18 touchdowns and only six interceptions, but averaged just 6.6 yards per attempt as he was often too conservative with the ball and failed to push it down the field.
Dolphins To Re-Sign LB Vince Biegel
The Dolphins will re-sign linebacker Vince Biegel, as Josh Tolentino of The Athletic tweets. It’s a one-year deal for the veteran as he looks to rebound from a lost season. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Trade Shaq Lawson To Texans For Benardrick McKinney]
Biegel suffered an Achilles’ tendon tear last August, stopping his 2020 campaign before it even began. Previous to that, the former Packers draftee started ten games for the Dolphins in 2019 and led the team with 13 quarterback hits. It was a big step forward — Biegel had zero QB hits in 2017 or 2018. He finished 2019 with 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one interception.
Biegel bounced from the Packers, to the Saints, to the Dolphins, but he now seems to have made a home for himself in Miami. If Biegel performs on his one-year, prove-it deal, he could be in line for a much larger pay day next March.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/21
We’ll keep track of the latest “minor” moves here:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: S Brandon Wilson
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Chris Moore
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: TE/FB Cethan Carter
New York Giants
- Re-Signed: DT Austin Johnson
- Signed: FB FB Cullen Gillaspia
New York Jets
- Signed: CB Justin Hardee
Tennessee Titans
- Re-Signed: TE Geoff Swaim
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/21
Teams have until March 17 to extend tender offers to their restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents. Some teams are already making their calls in advance of March 17. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:
RFAs
Non-Tendered:
- Chiefs: TE Deon Yelder
- Dolphins: WR Isaiah Ford
Both of these guys will now be hitting unrestricted free agency. Yelder signed with the Saints as an UDFA in 2018, and was added to the Chiefs’ practice squad later that year. He got meaningful playing time in 2020, mostly as a blocker, playing around 18 percent of the offensive snaps for Kansas City last season. He had only seven catches for 36 yards.
Ford was drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh-round back in 2017, then was traded to the Patriots this past November but quickly re-signed by Miami after New England cut him a month later. This one is mildly surprising since Ford played a real role on offense for the Dolphins the past two years, catching 51 passes for 520 yards in 18 games between 2019-20.