That rumbling you feel off in the distance? It is the floodgates of NFL transactions getting ready to burst at a moment’s notice. The league calendar will open for all 32 teams next Wednesday — and in the time between now and then we will continue to get reports of pending moves; all reliant on the calendar flipping to the 18th. Our first bit of Dolphins news came through yesterday when it was announced that the team would be releasing veteran safety Reshad Jones next week. His departure will mark the end of a decade-long tenure in South Florida.
The latest pending transaction isn’t quite as monumental or sentimental, but it will mark another significant change. According to ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe, the Dolphins are planning to pass picking up starting center Daniel Kilgore’s option for the 2020 season — he will become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the league year.
Dolphins won’t pick up the option on C Daniel Kilgore making him a FA at the start of league year, per source.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) March 12, 2020
Kilgore was one of the few consistent bodies up front for the Dolphins this year, but his play left something to be desired none the less. Struggling to anchor against powerful and explosive interior lineman, Kilgore and the rest of the interior offensive line routinely crowded running lanes and squeezed the pocket around veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Kilgore’s departure, which will save the team over $3.5M against the salary cap in 2020, is just the latest domino as Miami’s roster purge of veteran players continues. But while some departures were hard pills to swallow, this one should go down fairly easy — Miami has reported interest in former Patriots center Ted Karras and the draft is stocked to the brim with quality center prospects, more so than your typical NFL draft class. Finding an upgrade to play at the heart of Miami’s upgraded offense line shouldn’t be too taxing; but gauging how high to prioritize it amongst the other slew of team needs will be the real challenge.
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