The Miami Dolphins will enter the 2021 offseason with plenty of ammunition to better their roster after the foundation laid in 2020 bore fruit with a 10-win season. The challenge for the Dolphins is to parlay that success and continue to level up their roster amid some potential key changes, such as at offensive coordinator — that change is guaranteed. But the Dolphins, thanks to all of their assets in the 2021 NFL Draft and their salary cap space, do have a key luxury on their side.
They don’t have to worry about threading the needle. There is not, as there were in the Jeff Ireland and Mike Tannenbaum eras, a razor thin margin for error that handcuffs what direction the Dolphins choose to go this offseason. And if you best summarize Miami’s outlook this offseason with one word, the one that makes the most sense is “flexibility”.
So if the Dolphins find a wide receiver hit the free agent market that is too good to pass up, they’re free to sign him to a big-money contract and not worry about collapsing the rest of the roster build. If, hypothetically, superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson continues his full court press attempt to get out of Houston and declares Miami a desirable destination, the Dolphins can assess that situation and perhaps even pull off a monster trade without crumbling their salary cap. It would require some subsequent moves to negotiate the short-term cap situation — but it is very easily attainable for the Dolphins.
If Miami wants to stay put at No. 3 overall and draft Penei Sewell of Oregon or DeVonta Smith of Alabama, they can. But they can also field offers for the No. 3 overall pick from quarterback hungry teams and cash out to see their pick surplus continue for years to come. Pick your poison. Choose your own adventure.
The Dolphins will have the chance to explore it all. And if big moves are a part of the puzzle, some will suggest the team is falling into old, bad habits. But that isn’t the case and the reason why is because the Dolphins were so deliberate in establishing a bare bones foundation in 2019. That’s why Miami tore things down the way they did. So that, in the words of Chris Grier during the 2019 season, they can “do whatever they want” in building up their roster.