The Good and the Bad from the First Day of Free Agency

[TheFish]

The start of free agency has been wild so far, and the Dolphins have been in the headlines a lot, but not always for good reasons. Every year, free agency is full of surprises, excitement, and disappointment, and that’s for every team. You sign good players, good players leave for other teams, and you make unexpected moves. The way the day started made it look like the Dolphins’ season was over before it started, and that’s because we all like to overreact. In the first hours of free agency, the Dolphins lost Christian Wilkins to the Raiders, Robert Hunt to the Panthers, and Andrew Van Ginkel to the Vikings. They also lost Brandon Jones to the Broncos, but that was more of an expected move as it seemed there wasn’t any interest in him being back in Miami this season. The Christian Wilkins news was sad but, at the same time, acceptable. Wilkins signed a massive $110M deal for four years with the Raiders, so as sad as it was for him to leave Miami, we understand that the Dolphins weren’t going to be able to pay him that much under their current cap space situation. But at the end of the day, it’s a massive loss for the Dolphins’ defensive line, especially since their DL is not completely healthy right now, and Wilkins was a really important piece. The thing that got me really upset was the Andre Van Ginkel news, who signed with the Vikings for only $20M on a 2-year deal. I feel like that was an affordable price for Miami and a really cheap price to pay for AVG. The Dolphins should have kept him, specifically after already losing Wilkins. Why would you not keep him for that price or even a little more? He was one of the most consistent players for the Dolphins last season, even though he came off the bench in many games. This one is probably the biggest loss for the Dolphins in this free agency because he was affordable, unlike Wilkins, who was clearly not affordable for the Dolphins. Then we had Robert Hunt’s news of him signing with the Panthers for $100M for five years. He was amazing last year on the Dolphins but suffered some injuries late in the season. This also seemed completely unaffordable for the Dolphins, and that’s the only reason why it’s not that upsetting. The Panthers might have overpaid for him, but they are getting a solid player. And suddenly, when it all seemed lost, Chris Grier woke up and started doing something. He started by restructuring many contracts, like Zach Sieler’s, Alec Ingold’s, Durham Smythe’s, and Jalen Ramsey’s, clearing a total of almost $48M and putting the Dolphins under the Cap and with some room to play. Then he proceeded to sign LB Anthony Walker on a one-year contract. Then he also signed LB Jordyn Brooks, a former Seahawk on a $30M 3-year deal. And when we all thought he was done for the day, he surprised us with Center Aaron Brewer from the Titans by signing him on a 3-year $21M deal. The Anthony Walker signing is more of a depth signing, But the Jordyn Brooks signing is a really important one. The Dolphins really needed a new linebacker to pair up with David Long Jr. and now they got it on Jordyn Brooks. The Aaron Brewer signing was a little unexpected because everyone thought the Dolphins would try to draft a center in the first or second round, but they might still try to go with a Guard in the draft to replace Robert Hunt. All in all, it was a really wild day for the Dolphins, and their roster now looks extremely different, with some key players missing and some new players joining. Hopefully, the Dolphins can figure something out on defense and find some good players for the DL and the secondary. Anthony Weaver’s first year in Miami will be very challenging, and hopefully, he will rise up to the challenge and be able to work his players to the best version possible. There are still a lot of question marks for the roster, there is a lot of free agency left and also the Draft coming up soon which will be really interesting to watch. We will keep an eye on the Dolphins. #FinsUp

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