In the 2013 off-season, the Miami Dolphins went on a spending spree and almost of all of the new free agents picked up performed below expectations, such as Mike Wallace, Dannell Ellerbe, Philip Wheeler , and Tyson Clabo. Clabo was a disaster for a large part of the season, Ellerbe and Wheeler failed to create turnovers, and had a difficult time covering tight ends in pass coverage. Mike Wallace was probably the best of this bunch, but he and Ryan Tannehill had a lot of problems connecting on the long ball.
The other 3 new high profile free agent signers were Dustin Keller, Brandon Gibson and Brent Grimes. Keller was having a strong camp developing solid chemistry with Tannehill, but unluckily Keller suffered a gruesome knee injury during a preseason game. During the first 7 games of the season, Gibson was one of Tannehill’s favorite targets in the passing game, however a torn ACL ended Gibson’s season early and was a blow to the passing game and to a successful signing. Even though Brent Grimes was coming back from an Achilles injury, he proved to be far and away the best new 2013 off-season free agent signing. He was one of the best performers during mini-camp, and continued to get better as the season went on. He ended the season with 4 interceptions, 1 touchdown, 60 tackles and a well deserved trip to the pro bowl.
Most sports gambling fans would say that the Dolphins’ 2013 free agents were a big disappointment and failed to live up to their lofty price tags. Instead of becoming frustrated with signing new free agents, the Phins decided to dive in again and open their wallets for new players such as Brandon Albert, Louis Delmas, Cortland Finnegan, Earl Mitchell, Shelley Smith and Knowshon Moreno. On paper sports gambling fans would say there is some very decent talent there, however sports gambling fans would have said the same thing about the 2013 list of names, and unfortunately for the Phins and their fans the 2013 players underperformed.
So the big mystery is going to be which of these 2014 names is going to help our team the most? Obviously injuries could happen to anyone, so even if they appear to be an excellent signing during the season, there is always the chance that they could have a season ending injury. To go out on a limb I am going to say my two choices for top free agent signing are going to be Delmas or Finnegan. Both are very good players that are coming to the team with a chip on their shoulder, but both will need to stay healthy, if they want to exceed expectations. Who does the rest of phins nation think will be the best performer from this years’ free-agent class for Miami?