Day one of the NFL’s “legal tampering period” is in the books. The day started off somewhat slow for the Dolphins — as the team agreed to terms with a defensive end, an offensive guard and a special team ace. None of those agreements necessarily floored fans and with the Dolphins having nearly $100M in cap space, more moves were expected.
The Dolphins didn’t disappoint.
The Dolphins evening was filled with fireworks as the team agreed to terms with a star cornerback and a former pupil of head coach Brian Flores from his time in New England. But how should Miami fans feel about the first waves of additions?
Two years ago, the news that Dolphins would be signing Ereck Flowers and Shaq Lawson would have seemed to feed into talk of tanking — not on the rebound. But both Flowers and Lawson are coming off of good seasons respectfully in 2019 — their additions somewhat mirror moves made last year with defensive back Eric Rowe and linebacker Vince Biegel. How? The Dolphins are taking on reclamation projects with Lawson and Flowers.
Flowers has proven to be a better guard than a left tackle, but he still has work to do. The Dolphins signing him shows they have faith they can help him get to become a quality starter. The same can be said for Lawson, as he is coming off of his highest sack total of his career with 6.5 — but he quietly led the Bills in quarterback hits in 2019
. It is up to Flores and his staff to continue to get the most out of Lawson and Flowers, much like they did with Rowe and Biegel.
The second wave? There’s more excitement here.
Agreeing to sign former Cowboy cornerback Byron Jones was no small feat. The Dolphins had a lot of competition but at the end of the day, Miami also had the deepest pockets. Shortly after news broke about Jones, the Dolphins also agreed to terms with former Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who played for Flores in New England.
These two pending additions are guys that can make a difference right away in Miami’s defense — and in a big way, too. Van Noy comes in as a veteran that knows the system and should seamlessly pick up on what is expected of him, much like Rowe last year. Jones comes in as a playmaking corner that fits the physical coverage that Flores covets in his defense. Having a lockdown corner opposite of Xavien Howard really gives Miami one of the best corner tandems in the NFL.
It ended up being a busy day one of negotiations after a slow start, but the Dolphins still have plenty more to spend as they see fit.
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