Part of the Miami Dolphins’ team building strategy under the unquestioned leadership of general manager Chris Grier? Emphasis on building through the draft. And one of the ways that some of the NFL’s best teams have been able to weaponize the NFL Draft over the course of the past decade or so has been to take advantage of the free agency system — not by signing coveted, high priced veterans, but to continue to letting them walk in free agency and cashing in high end compensatory picks in return.
The Patriots have done this for years — acquire talent for cheap, allow them to perform on the short term, subsequently let them walk and then cash in on a compensatory pick that is two rounds better than what you used to acquire that player in the first place.
It’s genius.
Now, of course, the Dolphins were not able to cash in to that degree in 2020 due to the nature of their dramatic rebuild. But this team has officially been awarded two compensatory picks for their 2019 losses — one for the loss of OT Ja’Wuan James and the other for the loss of RB Brandon Bolden.
The full list of compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft: pic.twitter.com/QKADDS4yPu
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2020
For their troubles, the Dolphins will net two extra selections in next months’ NFL Draft, which will bring their grand total to 14(!) picks. Miami did lose additional free agents of note last year, including DE Cameron Wake — but Miami’s other signings (namely Ryan Fitzpatrick) neutralized that net loss for the Dolphins and as a result Miami did not qualify for additional compensatory draft selections.
In all, Miami drafted a player in Ja’Wuan James, got 5 seasons of play from him and let him walk for what equates to a 4th-round pick. It is better than nothing — but it is also the tip of the iceberg as far as what Miami could (and should) prioritize moving forward if the new collective bargaining agreement does not impact the formula and system for compensatory picks.
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