Few NFL teams have been as aggressive in 2020 as what we’ve seen from the Miami Dolphins. This was, however, always a part of the plan — stockpile assets, bite the bullet for a year and then barge full steam ahead with an overhauled cap situation and a load of NFL Draft picks.
On that front, consider the Dolphins’ offseason “mission accomplished”.
But how will Miami’s moves this offseason project onto the field in reality? ESPN’s Bill Barnwell stacked up each NFL team’s offseason this year to assess who did the best job assembling talent — and he views the Dolphins’ offseason work as not only some of the most active work but also some of the best work in the league this spring, recently ranking the Dolphins’ offseason at No. 7 overall in the NFL.
Barnwell’s praise starts with Miami’s defensive blueprint; Miami is embracing their team identity as a complex, aggressive and “in your face” defense that will derail opposing offenses and dictate the pace of play. Of course, the addition of Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5 overall (without a trade-up in the 2020 NFL Draft) was another source of praise for Miami.
Barnwell does have some skepticism, mainly surrounding some of Miami’s contracts given out this offseason. He mentioned Ereck Flowers, Kyle Van Noy and Jordan Howard as significant costs that were perhaps above the true market value — and while that criticism may be true, Miami assembled those contracts with front-loaded guaranteed money to ensure there’s long-term flexibility in the event that the contracts do not “age well”, as Barnwell puts it.
Overall, Miami’s offseason sits second among AFC East contenders behind the Buffalo Bills (6th) and well ahead of the New York Jets (13th) and New England Patriots (30th) in Barnwell’s eye. Is that enough to close the gap and allow the Dolphins to compete for a division championship in 2020? Here’s hoping that it is — but even if Miami is still one more year away, it serves a drastic improvement from what 2019 looked like in the first half of the season.