I know what every Miami Dolphins fan is used to in free agency: The BIG splash, the I-don’t-care-how-much-he-costs player, or the headline of “the Miami Dolphins have won free agency”. Clearly, looking back at how the Miami Dolphins have performed over the past 5 years, the shelling out of high dollars for expensive players has not worked for the team. But, instead of spending big bucks on expensive players, the Dolphins have taken a very different approach to the 2019 offseason. That’s why the Miami Dolphins deserve an “A” grade for this year’s NFL free agency period.
First, in order to truly understand how much the Dolphins free agency decisions of the past were bad decisions, you have to look at some of the highest price tags and some of the ages of the free agents that the Dolphins picked up:
- 2015 - Ndamukong Suh – 6 year, $114 million with $60 million guaranteed
- 2014 Brandon Albert – (30 years old) - 5 year, $47 million with $25 million guaranteed
- 2013 Dannell Ellerbe – 5 year, $35 million with $14 million guaranteed
- 2013 Philip Wheeler – 5 year, $25 million with $13 million guaranteed
- 2017 Lawrence “AWOL” Timmons – (31 years old) 2 year, $20 million with $11 million guaranteed
- 2018 Josh Sitton (31 years old) – 2 year, $18 million
- 2016 Mario Williams – (31 years old) 2 year, $17 million with $11.