Wrapping up the main part of the NFL offseason, there are some teams that were not at good as they seem.
Most people put the Dolphins as having a top 5 offseason, However I do not believe that is the case. I would argue that they failed the offseason and it was the single most overrated one in the NFL
To start off, take a look at talent acquired. The biggest names that they brought in from FA were Shaq Lawson, Kyle Van Noy, Ereck Flowers, and the biggest of them all, Byron Jones. Byron Jones signed a 5 year- $82.5 Million contract to make him the highest paid CB in NFL history, Ereck Flowers agreed to a 3 year contract worth 30 million dollars. Kyle Van Noy signed 4 years-51 million, and finally Shaq Lawson who signed the same contract as Ereck FLowers.
In the draft they got QB Tua Tagovailoa, OT Austin Jackson, slot CB Noah Igbinoghene, G Robert Hunt, and DT Kaekwon Davis. They also traded during the draft for Matt Brieda and gave up a 5th. The only two additions that I completely agree with were Tua and Brieda.
Focusing on their problems, the biggest was getting groups of players for only one position, rather than spreading out. They got two guards, Ereck Flowers and Robert Hunt. They gave a player that looked like he didn’t know how to bend his knees $10 million per year. Another problem is the guard they took. They should not have taken Austin Jackson with pick 18, they should have taken Ceaser Ruiz, who was the best OL in the draft.
Next, CB; they signed Byron Jones, who struggled in 2019 (to a record breaking deal). According to PFF, he had a grade of only 76.1. To put that into perspective, he had an 83.1 in 2018 which was similar to Stephon Gilmore’s 2019 DPOY season.
They also had Xavien Howard, who was injured for a chunk of the year, but in 2018, may have been the best CB in the league with 7 ints. Finally, they took Igbinoghene, debatably the best slot CB in the draft. However they spent first round capital on him, when the Giants got the next best slot CB Darnay Holmes in round 4. The better pick would have Been Xavier McKinney due to their gaping whole at Safety.
To sum up the offseason, the Fins reached on players in the draft, overpaid players in FA, and rather than filling as many holes as possible, they got groups and filled only a few holes.
Photo: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
