Player Cuts Must Be About More Than Just Saving Money

Jimmy Bourbon

7 years ago

Cuts need to make the roster better, not just to save money

Cuts can help a team, but the Grass isn’t always greener on the other side

The 2017 NFL Free Agency is quickly approaching and will begin in less than a month. As a result, there’s been a ton of speculation about what’s the Miami Dolphins plan of action.

Considering that Miami has 21 impending free agents (restricted and unrestricted), there’s a lot of speculation on what they should do with these players.

Miami is going to have over $30 million dollars worth of cap space available–with plenty of options to free up even more space.

Bottom line, Miami is going to be in great shape to maneuver and hopefully upgrade this roster.

There are a few players that should definitely be released like Jordan Cameron, Koi Misi, and Mario Williams. Each of these players have under-performed and battled injuries for most of their time in Miami. They add little to no value to the team. And if released, they will give the Dolphins another $15 to $20 million more in cap savings.

Most Real Bookies site like pay per head bookie service wagering fans would agree that this would be an easy and wise strategy for these players.

Cuts can lead to picking up other teams cuts…and sometimes that’s a good thing

However, there are more difficult decisions: Kenny Stills and Andre Branch. Both players are going to be unrestricted free agents and both played well enough last season that they should garner interest on the open market.The problem with both players is that neither is the top guy at their position on our team, and another team is likely going to offer them a lot of money… probably more than Miami would like due to their vision of cap responsibility.

It’s not to say they won’t be back, but it certainly won’t be smooth sailing if they do.

Even though Miami insists that they want to keep their talented, in-house free agents, the open market is where teams overpay for top talent. And considering that Miami did not choose to overpay for their pending free agents in 2016, I don’t see them going against that philosophy this off-season.

Then there’s Earl Mitchell, Brandon Albert, and Byron Maxwell that are not free agents, but they do have expensive contracts. Miami may decide that those financial resources are better served on other players.

But, the grass might not be greener on the other side–then of course, it might be. Big boy decisions like these for Mike Tannenbaum will determine if he is the man for the job or not.

Considering that we are going to have plenty of cap space, there’s no rush in making these decision’s, which huge advantage. So, it’s important not to just cut these players to save a little bit of extra cap space, because with so many holes already, making unneeded ones could spell trouble.

Every off season dead weight needs to be cut

Of these three, I think the most important to keep on the roster is Maxwell despite his slow start. After being benched early in the season, he responded by playing very well — and that says a lot about him. After his benching he played as good as any Cornerback in the league. In his 13 games last year, he made 53 tackles, 15 passes defended, caused 4 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions, and completely shut down Antonio Brown in the middle of the season. With a 2017 contract of $8.5 million in cap space, Miami has a relative bargain for a quality Cornerback in the NFL. Releasing Maxwell will only save the Dolphins $5 million in cap space. So, with minimal savings and creating another holes, this is a no-brainer.

Maxwell will stay, and he should.

As for the other two players: both have battled through significant injuries over their last two seasons. If I had to choose between to Mitchell and Albert, I would keep Albert. He is an overall better player when healthy, and a more respected leader.

Although, the team may not want to keep Albert, since his replacement, in Tunsil, is already on the roster. However, Miami needs to add at least one an Offensive Guard at this point, so releasing Albert would save $7.2 million in cap space, but would force Miami to then need two starting Guards–not just one. Considering that the Dolphins difficult time finding any good linemen over the last decade, it might be wise to keep Albert around for one more season, so they can just look for one starting Guard.

Good players like Michael Thomas and Dion Sims are also players who are at risk of leaving

In terms of Mitchell, the Dolphins have Jordan Phillips who has flashed talent, but hasn’t been able to do it on a consistent basis. However, Phillips is still very young and is entering entering his third year in the league next season. So, it might be worth giving him the keys to the DT position next to Suh, and letting him sink or swim in his third season.

And then there is Damien Williams and Kiko Alonso. Both are restricted agents, so Miami has leverage on them, but if they aren’t careful they could lose them. Anyone remember Welker and Clay? They both played critical roles for Miami in 2016. And while Williams was a back-up and Kiko likely needs to slide over from MLB, their absence in 2017 would be felt.

From top to bottom, this will be as crucial an off season as 2009, but this one will be far more complicated. I’m buying extra popcorn for this one…

What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans thoughts about the Dolphins possible in-house decisions?

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Cuts can help a team, but the Grass isn’t always greener on the other side

Cuts can lead to picking up other teams cuts…and sometimes that’s a good thing

Every off season dead weight needs to be cut

Good players like Michael Thomas and Dion Sims are also players who are at risk of leaving

Start your Betting Business Today!

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