The Miami Dolphins’ roster reclamation extends well beyond just adding new players via the NFL Draft or picking up key veterans in free agency. The Dolphins are also tasked with making some key personnel decisions with players still on the roster — but may not make financial sense to keep under contract.
One of those players is veteran safety Reshad Jones — who was reportedly one of the Miami Dolphins on the chopping block last season, before a complicated salary and injuries reared their ugly heads and cut down any potential trade value Jones may have brought for the team.
Miami got creative to trade defensive end Robert Quinn last March — but manufacturing a deal for a then 31-year old Jones, who was due $11.12M in guaranteed base salary and a total base salary in excess of $13M proved to be too steep of a task.
Pair that with Jones going on to miss 12 games in 2019 and it sure seems like the writing is on the wall for Jones and his time in Miami.
But still the question needs to be answered: how do the Dolphins proceed from here. The team might finally be able to find the trade they were searching for last year, but Jones is now another year older and has another year of injury questions to his name. And while his 2020 salary is lower than the bloated restructured mess that 2019 brought, any team trading for Jones will still be taking on a base salary that checks in at nearly $11.5M in 2020. The silver lining? If Miami can swing a trade for Jones, they’ll clear nearly $7.5M in cap space off the books.
By the time you factor Jones’ age and cost into a proposed deal in 2020, the Dolphins would be lucky to get a 6th or 7th round pick in return. It’s better than nothing and it clears more than $2M extra in cap space off Miami’s books — not that it matters for Miami this offseason.
The preferable outcomes for Jones in Miami?
- Trade him for whatever you can get for him
- Cut him outright
- Keep him on his existing deal
Option three is not an option. It’s time for Jones to get a chance of starting anew in the twilight of his career and it’s time for the Dolphins to be done with his albatross of a contract.
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