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The Miami Dolphins faced a nearly impossible task this offseason — they’ve managed to find a way to trade veteran offensive guard Ereck Flowers just one year after signing him to a 3-year, $30M contract. It is just the latest of Miami’s key 2020 additions that the team has bid farewell to, as Flowers joins Kyle Van Noy, Jordan Howard and Shaq Lawson as key additions that failed to see a second season with the Dolphins.
But the fine print of Miami’s trade of Flowers tells quite the story. This was not the salary dump that it initially appeared to be for the Miami Dolphins: reports indicate that the Dolphins are actually still on the hook for a $6M salary cap hit in 2021 despite finding a trade partner for Flowers’ services. Such a cap commitment means that the Dolphins only saved a total of $3M in 2021 cap with their decision to move Flowers.
To make his trade to Washington from Miami official, OL Ereck Flowers restructured his contract whereby the Dolphins will pay $6 million in a signing bonus and Washington will pay a $3 million base salary, giving Flowers $9M fully guaranteed this year, per @DrewJRosenhaus.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2021
Flowers, who held down the left guard spot for Miami in 2020 and was well regarded as a leader of the unit, was always going to be difficult to move given that his initial contract with Miami featured $8M in guarantees this upcoming season. So the pick swap for Miami becomes a marginal trade up in the draft order for the Dolphins and the team managed to save $2M more than they would have if they’d have simply cut Flowers outright.
The presumed move for Miami now? 2020 rookie guard Solomon Kindley stepped over to the left side of the offensive line in 2020 when Flowers went down late in the season with an ankle injury — and the team is reportedly in position to transition Robert Hunt to play offensive guard as well. Such moves would leave Miami with question marks at center and right tackle in the long-term and both positions are potential areas of need for Miami to address in the top-50 of this weekend’s NFL Draft.