There is a popular idiom that focuses on the risk and dangers of the unknown — it says “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” To paraphrase the saying, it is better to deal with existing problems as compared to taking unknown risk because at least you know the limitations of your existing problems as is.
It seems as through Brian Flores, Chris Grier and the Miami Dolphins aren’t subscribers of this line of thinking. At least not as it pertains to the team’s cutdown methodology ahead of tomorrow’s opening day of training camp. Because among the Dolphins’ cuts to this point in the approach, only one is a rookie undrafted free agent. And even in that instance, the Dolphins’ decision was made for them — UDFA DL Ray Lima decided to retire from football in favor of other pursuits.
WR Ricardo Louis, QB Jake Rudock, DL Avery Moss and LB Trent Harris were all dismissed over the weekend — each has logged at least one year in Miami as a member of the 2019 team and each has “devil you know” limitations to go along with a more established track record at the pro level. For Rudock, physical talent was the big hurdle. For Louis, durability. But regardless, the Dolphins have instead opted for the mystery and potential upside of players like NT Benito Jones, DE Tyshun Render, WR Kirk Merritt and DL Bryce Sterk, all 2020 undrafted free agents.
How should this mentality be interpreted? For one, it could indicate that the Dolphins have great trust in their ability to tab players who aren’t selected through the draft and would like to maximize their “lottery tickets” for a big hit or two — remember that this team landed Nik Needham and Preston Williams last year through the same process.
Electing, in the 2020 offseason of all years, to embrace this kind of approach is ambitious. And it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which suggested that the COVID-19 restrictions would make undrafted free agents the big losers among NFL players. But Miami only has a handful of cuts left to make at this point to get to the magic number of 80. And, if the early cuts are any indication, low level veterans need to keep their head on a swivel.