Dolphins Took On Extra Dead Cap By Trading Tannehill
- Ryan Tannehill is no longer a Dolphin, after he was traded yesterday to the Titans. But he’s leaving behind a significant impact, as Tannehill will leave the Dolphins with $18.423MM in dead cap, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. As Florio points out, it only would’ve been $13.423MM in dead cap had they designated him a post-June 1 cut and released him outright. Essentially the Dolphins ate an additional $5MM in dead cap to get back a fourth and seventh round pick, the compensation they got from the Titans in the trade. They also gave up a sixth round pick of their own.
Kaepernick Interested In Dolphins’ QB Job
Both Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater were linked to the Dolphins this week, with the latter being brought in for a visit. Each agreed to be backups elsewhere, Taylor in Los Angeles and Bridgewater in New Orleans.
The Dolphins also traded Ryan Tannehill to the Titans on Friday. No team has less at quarterback presently. The Dolphins have been connected to a strategy of pursuing 2020 quarterback prospects, perhaps leading to Taylor and Bridgewater signing elsewhere. But Colin Kaepernick is interested in the position, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter).
This comes after the passer’s camp spoke to both the Alliance of American Football and the XFL. In each instance, a $20MM salary demand surfaced. Kaepernick would not get that with the Dolphins, who have not shown interest in the long-unattached quarterback, but La Canfora notes the 31-year-old free agent continues to train and would be “ready to play” if the team contacted him.
While Kaepernick has been mentioned in connection with numerous jobs since his 49ers stay ended in 2017, he has continually been passed over. The NFL settled grievances from Kaepernick and Eric Reid earlier this year, lending some credence to the players’ case they were avoided as free agents due to their decisions to kneel during the playing of the national anthem before 49ers games.
Since becoming a free agent, Kaepernick has only received a workout invitation from one team — the Seahawks — and that was in the summer of 2017. The Seahawks cancelled a 2018 Kaepernick visit. Reports have surfaced of the former Super Bowl starter working out independently, but nothing has transpired regarding a possible return to the NFL.
The Dolphins’ current quarterback contingent consists of Luke Falk and Jake Rudock. They have combined for five regular-season pass attempts (from Rudock in Detroit). Other options for veteran help include Ryan Fitzpatrick, Blake Bortles, Josh McCown, Geno Smith and Brock Osweiler. None are as accomplished as Kaepernick, but given what has occurred on this front over the past two years, it would certainly be a surprise if the Dolphins went in this direction.
Dolphins Trade Ryan Tannehill To Titans
The Titans have a new quarterback. On Friday, the Titans acquired Ryan Tannehill in a trade with the Dolphins, according to a tweet from Tannehill’s agents. ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe tweets that Miami will be receiving a 2019 seventh-rounder (presumably No. 233) and a 2020 fourth-rounder. Meanwhile, the Titans will be getting Tannehill and a 2019 sixth-rounder (presumably No. 188).
As a part of the deal, the Titans have also restructured Tannehill’s contract for the 2019 season. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that it’s effectively a one-year deal worth $7MM guaranteed. There are playing-time incentives that could boost that total to $12MM. Either way, Tannehill will be one of the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in the NFL. Furthermore, it’s not as significant of an investment for the Titans thanks to the Dolphins; Miami ultimately paid $5MM of that $7MM guarantee via a signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
With Marcus Mariota under center in Tennessee, Tannehill will be eyeing a backup role from the onset. However, the veteran could end up working his way into the lineup; Mariota has missed at least one regular season game in each of his four seasons, including two in 2018. With Tannehill, the Titans at least have reliable insurance in case their starter does go down.
The 30-year-old finished last season having completed 64.2-percent of his passes for 1,979 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in 11 starts. He led the Dolphins to a 5-6 record during his outings. While these numbers aren’t outstanding, they’re probably significantly better than what the Titans incumbent backup, Blaine Gabbert, would be able to put up.
The Dolphins have been dangling Tannehill for some time and had little interest in keeping him under the terms of his contract. Tannehill was scheduled to carry a $26.6MM cap hit for Miami in 2019 with a roughly even split in dead money and cap savings in the event of a release.
This week, the Dolphins tried – and failed – to land Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater. With few free agent difference-makers remaining, the organization may be forced to shift their focus to the draft. At the very least, it’s unlikely the Dolphins roll into the regular season with their current quarterbacks depth chart, a grouping that consists of Luke Falk and Jake Rudock.
Latest On Dolphins DE Robert Quinn
Robert Quinn was thought to be a surefire candidate for release heading into the offseason, but the veteran defensive end remains on the Dolphins’ roster. In fact, Miami will Quinn a $1.1MM roster bonus Friday, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
The Dolphins have held trade talks regarding Quinn, and they may still have every intention of dealing him. By taking care of Quinn’s roster bonus, Miami has now reduced the commitment an acquiring club would take on by picking up Quinn. As Beasley notes, any team that trades for Quinn is now only responsible for his base salary of roughly $11.8MM.
That figure still may be too expensive for interested clubs, but Quinn is still a relatively effective player. While he finished with only 6.5 sacks in 2018, Quinn tied for 20th among defensive ends with 24 quarterback hits. Pro Football Focus, meanwhile, assigned Quinn the 19th-highest pass-rush grade among 103 qualifying DEs. And although he’s been in the NFL since 2011, Quinn is still only entering his age-29 campaign.
As Beasley writes, it’s unclear where the Dolphins go from here. If they can’t generate any trade interest in Quinn and end up cutting him, they’ve essentially wasted $1.1MM for no reason. It’s possible Quinn remains on the Miami roster for the entire season, but he’d been an odd fit on a club that’s going into a hard rebuild.
Teddy Bridgewater Completes Visit With Dolphins
The Dolphins announced that their visit with free agent QB Teddy Bridgewater has concluded. However, no deal is in place at this time. Larry Holder of The Athletic, citing the South Florida Sun Sentinel, says Bridgewater had already turned down a two-year, $10MM offer from Miami.
This is a two-horse race, as Bridgewater is apparently deciding between a shot at starting for the rebuilding Dolphins or serving as a backup on the NFC powerhouse Saints. He has a one-year, $7MM offer in hand from New Orleans, but he is reportedly worried about the possibility that Sean Payton may not be with the club beyond this year.
On the other hand, as his offer from the Saints is only for one year, Payton’s status in 2020 may not be overly significant. Of course, if Bridgewater sticks around long enough, he could have an opportunity to step in as the Saints’ full-time starter when Drew Brees calls it a career.
The fact that New Orleans is only willing to offer a one-year deal at the moment suggests that the club may not be entirely sold on that prospect.
Dolphins Sign Clive Walford
The Dolphins have signed tight end Clive Walford, per Pro Football Talk (via Twitter).
Walford was most recently with the Jets, but New York decided to non-tender him earlier this month. He had two stints with the Jets and one stint with the Colts in 2018, appearing in only a single game.
However, he showed some promise during his first two years in the league, hauling in 61 receptions for 688 yards and six scores across the 2015-16 seasons with the Raiders. Oakland drafted him in the third round of the 2015 draft but cut him last offseason.
Walford will join new acquisition Dwayne Allen and second-year talent Mike Gesicki atop Miami’s TE depth chart.
Latest On Saints’ Offer To Teddy Bridgewater
Teddy Bridgewater will reportedly meet with the Dolphins today, but he has a firm offer in hand. The Saints are willing to pay him a base value of around $7MM, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.
With the Saints, Bridgewater would serve as the backup for and heir apparent to Drew Brees. However, the Dolphins have a starting job available and Bridgewater is from Miami. There’s reason to believe that Bridgewater would be interested, but there’s no word yet on whether he would entertain the idea of leaving the Saints.
Meanwhile, if Bridgewater does depart for Miami, the Saints will likely be interested in the man he’s replacing. New Orleans is expected to target Ryan Tannehill as Brees’ backup if Bridgewater leaves, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). There’s a connection in place for Tannehill, as he was originally drafted by now-Saints assistant general manager Jeff Ireland.
AFC East Notes: Waddle, Allen, Copeland
Here’s a quick rundown of some AFC East items:
- The Dolphins lost right tackle Ja’Wuan James and are seeking a cheaper alternative. The club had a discussion about free agent LaAdrian Waddle, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, but nothing had materialized on that front as of this afternoon. Jackson says Miami could also be interested in former Falcons RT Ryan Schraeder, whom Atlanta released today.
- New Dolphins TE Dwayne Allen is under contract through 2020, but his $3.5MM salary for 2020 is not guaranteed, as Jackson writes in a separate piece. As such, the club could cut him at the end of the 2019 campaign and incur only $625K in dead money.
- The Patriots lost their top sack artist from last season, Trey Flowers. and are looking for some pass rush help. To that end, the club has inquired on free agent Brandon Copeland, who had five sacks for the division-rival Jets last season.
- In case you missed it, the Jets are unlikely to re-sign return man Andre Roberts.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/19
Here is the latest news involving restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents, with updates coming throughout the day:
ERFA
Tendered:
- Bears: DE Roy Robertson-Harris, LB Isaiah Irving, OL Rashaad Coward
- Seahawks: LB Austin Calitro, LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, C Joey Hunt, RB J.D. McKissic, CB Kalan Reed
Non-tendered:
- Bears: S DeAndre Houston-Carson (via Howard Balzer on Twitter)
- Bengals: QB Brad Kaaya (via Balzer)
- Cardinals: LB Gabe Martin, DE Zach Moore, C Daniel Munyer (via Balzer)
- Chiefs: TE Alex Ellis (via Balzer)
- Colts: S Ronald Martin (via Balzer)
- Falcons: WR Marvin Hall (via Balzer)
- Giants: DT Kristjan Sokoli (via Balzer)
- Patriots: WR Cody Hollister (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
- Raiders: CB Tevin Mitchel (via Balzer)
- Rams: LB Garrett Sickels (via Balzer)
- Ravens: OT Steven Moore (via Balzer)
- Saints: DB Rickey Jefferson (per NOLA.com’s Josh Katzenstein, on Twitter)
- Seahawks: DE Ricky Ali’ifua, DB T.J. Green, RB Tre Madden, DB T.J. Mutcherson
- Steelers: T Joseph Cheek, S Malik Golden, LB Keith Kelsey, TE Jake McGee (via Balzer)
- Vikings: OT Cedrick Lang, TE Josiah Price (via Balzer)
RFA
Tendered at second-round level:
- Seahawks: T George Fant (per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, on Twitter)
Tendered at original-round level:
- Chiefs: S Jordan Lucas
- Saints: CB Ken Crawley (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate)
- Seahawks: DL Quinton Jefferson (via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, on Twitter)
Non-tendered:
- Bears: LS Patrick Scales (via Balzer)
- Bengals: TE Matt Lengel (via Balzer)
- Bills: TE Logan Thomas (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
- Broncos: QB Kevin Hogan, LB Deiontrez Mount, WR Jordan Taylor (via Balzer)
- Browns: CB Juston Burris, TE Orson Charles (via Balzer)
- Buccaneers: TE Alan Cross, CB Javien Elliott, T Leonard Wester (via Balzer)
- Cardinals: LB Jeremy Cash, OT John Wetzel (via Balzer)
- Chiefs: LB Terrance Smith (via Balzer)
- Dolphins: WR Leonte Carroo (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald)
- 49ers: S Tyvis Powell (via Balzer)
- Jaguars: OG Chris Reed (via Balzer)
- Jets: DT Destiny Vaeao (via Balzer)
- Panthers: WR Damiere Byrd (via Balzer)
- Raiders: DE Shilique Calhoun (via Balzer)
- Redskins: WR Maurice Harris (per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com, on Twitter), RB Rob Kelley (via Balzer)
- Saints: WR Tommylee Lewis (via Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com, on Twitter)
Dolphins Release Josh Sitton
Josh Sitton expected the Dolphins to make him part of their roster cuts, as they venture in a rebuilding direction. That happened Wednesday afternoon.
Minutes after the 2019 league year began, the Dolphins parted ways with Sitton. The former Pro Bowl guard was limited to one game in Miami, with an injury shelving him after Week 1.
A longtime Packer-turned-two-year Bear, Sitton has played 11 NFL seasons. Should he opt to continue his career and land elsewhere, he will be entering his age-33 campaign. Sitton made Pro Bowls with both Green Bay and Chicago, his most recent coming in 2016. The Bears declined his 2018 option last year.
Sitton tore a rotator cuff, cutting short his Dolphins tenure. While he has been one of this decade’s better guards, Sitton will almost certainly have to accept a one-year deal — and at a lower rate than the two-year, $13.5MM pact he signed with the Dolphins — if he is to play in 2019.
The Dolphins have now cut ties with two of their guards, with Ted Larsen being the other departure, and saw their efforts to keep right tackle Ja’Wuan James end with the Broncos making James the NFL’s highest-paid right tackle. Brian Flores’ team will have a new-look line next season.