The Miami Dolphins are facing yet another offseason in 2021 without significant amounts of outgoing free agents. But, unlike in 2020, the Dolphins will have a few priority players that they will need to decide how to handle — there will be more difficult conversations to be had than what Miami had to deal with this past year. Key among Miami’s expiring talents is defensive lineman Davon Godchaux, who has been among one of the Dolphins’ better Day 3 selections of recent memory.
If you’re looking for a lot of splash plays in the opposing backfield, you’ve come to the wrong place. But Godchaux is a reliable interior defender who provides sufficient gap control and plays the physical brand of football the Dolphins are looking for up front.
Should the Dolphins be interested in locking Godchaux into a contract extension ahead of the open of 2021 free agency next spring, they’ll have ample opportunity to do so — and will have no trouble with manufacturing the necessary salary cap space to get a deal done, either. The Buffalo Bills signed defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson this offseason as an interior defensive lineman to a 2-year, $13.5M contract after two promising seasons back to back in Seattle with the Seahawks.
Over that time, Jefferson logged 6.5 sacks while playing approximately 55% of the team’s snaps.
Godchaux, over the last two seasons, has logged 3 sacks on approximately 63% of his team’s snaps.
Of course, there’s much more that goes into player valuation than just a simple sack number. Pressure rates, run defense and snap counts are all valuable weapons for negotiations. But considering Jefferson’s market and Godchaux’s lack of upside in the disruptive side of the game, Miami is probably looking at a potential $5M or $6M commitment for Godchaux is he breaks out even more in 2020. And with a projecting $57.5M on the books for next offseason (pending a salary cap adjustment), Miami should be able to take this resigning completely in stride.