The Dolphins will be heading into the March free agency period just about $5 million dollars under the cap, but they have to decide on two key players such as Clay and Odrick, who both potentially will cost a small fortune to keep. They also need to decide which contracts are dead weight and can be let loose to free some extra cap space. Two names that immediately jump to mind in regards to getting rid of dead weight are Ellerbe and Wheeler
Ellerbe was brought in the be the stud middle linebacker that Miami could build their defense around. In 2013 he barely made any game-changing impact plays, and in 2014 he had a season-ending injury in the first game. He will count almost $10 million against the cap next year, so the obvious thing will be to cut him as soon as possible because his salary and his play are not on the same level. Compare this with Jelani Jenkins who will count a little over $600k against the cap and led the team with 110 tackles and had 3.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
The other obvious player to get cut would be Wheeler, who was brought in over two years ago with Ellerbe. The Dolphins were expecting them to be an unstoppable tandem that could make the big plays when it counted most. Wheeler failed to make big plays, and even worse, he was a liability in run support and pass defense. He has clearly underperformed his salary. He will count $4.4 million against the cap, so again most free bookie software fans would say this is an easy decision and Wheeler should be one of the first cap casualties.
So even though Miami invested heavily in remodeling their line-backing unit 2 years ago, it appears that it was an absolute failure and they will need to make a similar type of investment in this group next season. For starters, Jenkins was a player that was on the cusp of not even making the 53 man roster this season, but when his number was called he stepped up and had a fantastic season. His biggest strength is that he has a nose for the football, and has the speed to run all over the field. He has tremendous upside and is the type of player that you can build a defense around. The problem is the Dolphins need to find two more linebackers just like him.
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The Dolphins should move Misi back to the other outside linebacker position, and then go out and find a true middle linebacker. It would probably be wise to see if they can find something in a free agency first. When Miami parts ways with Wheeler and Ellerbe they need to use those cap savings and shop for a true middle linebacker. There will be some options in free agency like David Harris, Rey Maualuga, Brandon Spikes, and Casey Matthews. The best of the bunch would be Harris who finished last year with 124 tackles, 6 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. The only thing is that he is already 30 years old. The other option would be to draft the best middle linebacker on the board at the number 14th spot in the first round.
This is one of the Dolphins’ biggest needs, so they will have to either address this need in free agency or the draft or even do both and sign someone in free-agency and draft someone early in the first 2 rounds. I think the wise thing would be to do both.
What does the rest of phins fans think?
