Miami Dolphins Free Agency 2022 Primer

and so too is free agency. At least almost the league is already rolling with reports of trades, moves, and goings on that began last week with that really crazy Wednesday kind of kicking things off, and things will only continue to get more bonkers in the coming days. Today here on the podcast, a primer, a look at some potential fits and landing spots, plus a look back at recent free agency periods, returning to an increase in the NFL cap figure, and a whole heck of a lot

more busy podcast from somewhere in South Florida. This is the Drive Time Podcast. We kick off the podcast today with some news of a tender ring of cornerback Nick Needham with a second round designation. So after a season where Nick allows no touchdowns in coverage, has a pick six, some consistent impressive coverage on the inside, and a handful of plays coming down on the blitz, off the edge

and the running game. I want to find this guy has been and the path This is a path for an undrafted free agent right He had to earn his job originally back in twent nineteen, had to fight off competition, high draft picks, proven veteran free agent editions, and he

has done nothing but battle and earned playing time. And now he earned a nice little pay raise as a result in his fourth NFL season, And just to put a bow on his numbers from his most impressive year yet, fifty nine tackles, two interceptions, five passes offense, a fumble recovery, a sack, two QB hits, five QB pressures, fourteen run stops.

Those are a Pro Football Focus metric for rundown tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage, no touchdowns allowed, a career low eight point six percent miss tackle rate. And I think my favorite of all of them is right here. Three penalties for Nick Needom last year. That's down from ten his rookie season, down from seven, and year number two to just three a year ago in

his third season. And that's a position where you face two way goes and really if you get beat instantly in that position, like the best way to defend that once you get beat is to grab on and hold. So good on Nick need Um for just three penalties last season in a very difficult position on the football field. And we talked about again that slot spot in some of the receivers that he had some really great coverage

numbers against last year. I should say there was a stretch of games against Tyler Boy, Jamison Crowder and now Super Bowl m v P Cooper Cup where it was a catcher two per game for US a few yards in those games. And he also gave you ninety snaps last year in the post as a free safety, including forty four of those in a Week fifteen game against the Jets when Javon Holland was on the COVID list. Not to mention a hundred forty seven snaps on special teams.

What to find? What a value, What an example to have on your roster. Just another one of these guys that Josh Boyer. We've heard stories about him kind of pounding the table for Nick need Um as a U d f A back in nineteen, just another defensive back who goes undrafted to playing in Josh Bowyer's DB's room. That's where he was in twenty nineteen, and also with the Patriots prior to that, to turning into a legitimate quality starter. Nick need Um, J C. Jackson, Malcolm Butler,

just to name a few. There, so great value here for the Miami Dolphins. Before we get into and expand upon my free agency primer that's up on Miami Dolphins dot com this morning, I want to go ahead and look at a few things, and first among them is a look at the cap and the correlating rise in annual salary, these guarantees and just general money that will be spent in the coming weeks. Here at the onset of free agency this year, the cap is at two

hundred eight point two million. Last year it was at one eighty two point five million, down from twenties number at one point to which was up from twenty nineteen at one eight point too, and the year prior at one seventy seven point two, So you kind of get the rhythm there, right. Eleven million dollar increases ten million dollar increases their year to year about a five percent increase with that trajectory each year until you get to that COVID season, which kind of knocked things out of

whack there for one season. But now a twenty million dollar increase from where it left off last season. So we're right back on that track with you know, give or take five percent increase in the year to year. So the NFL man business be booming even inside of a pandemic, but especially outsider, I should say, you know, two years removed from the onset of COVID really becoming

a part of our lives. So when we think about the contracts that we might see with that dip and cap and now back up, you have to remember that you must re calibrate each year what each contract means relative to the league cap figure. Right, So five percent give or take increase. Apply that to the players as well. So what was once a twenty million dollar contract now becomes a you know, getting I don't know math, but I'm pretty sure that becomes one million dollars. You have

to apply that into the way this goes. But I'm gonna talk about Dolphins pass free agent periods here in just a moment and reflecting upon you know when free agency used to kick off in the middle of the night back in the day, and you know this was the case back with Albert Haynesworth. What was that two thousand and nine. I think it changed just a few

years after that. I want to say the eleven lockout ushered in the change to make free agency a primetime event because it was pushed back to like July or August that year, if not, you know, soon thereafter. But that's besides the point. The point about Albert Haynesworth giving that blockbust or deal in an NFL record forty one million dollars and guarantees back in two thousand nine, a defensive tackle setting the guaranteed record for most guaranteed money

in a contract. Think about how crazy that is. And at one point I intended to get to was the contract that Harold Landry was reportedly agreeing to with the Tennessee Titans this last week. A fantastic defensive end, edge rusher, edge defender for the Titans. He pulls on the reported

fifty three million dollars in guarantees. And remember, haynesworth two thousand and eight season was one of the best we've ever seen basically until from a defensive tackle until Aaron Donald arrive and basically took that down seven eight years in a row now, but seven years for one hundred

and fifteen million for Haynesworth. To keep it relative, how about in domin con Sue six years later it became the biggest contract to a defensive player ever at six years, a hundred and fourteen so it was sixteen point four a p y for Haynesworth, nineteen a p y for Sue and sixty million and guarantee, so an average and ten million dollars of guarantee money for the life of that contract. That's not exactly how it works, but just kind of pro rating things compared to Haynesworth carry the

one six point one million and guarantee. So that's a good look there a snapshot at how the cap has increased and increased salaries, you know, over the course of the last decade plus. And just to put a bow on that point, Aaron Donald got six for one thirty five and lord knows what he would get today on the open market. But again twenty two point five per and another three point five million increased from the deal that Sue signed with eighty seven million guaranteed a substantial

increase there. So that's my preamble for saying money is gonna be funny with a considerable leap in cap space this year. So Harold Landry's guaranteed money of fifty three million dollars, like, he's a tremendous player who finished in the top ten both in QB pressures and run stops

among edge defenders last year on Pro Football Focus. You have guys like Nick Bosa, Trey Hendrickson, Von Miller, Miles, Garrett Shack, Barrett max Cross be checked in in that vein last year in terms of guys that had more pressures and more production. For what that could look like for a guy right around top ten and both of those categories, and what that could look like for the guys that you know have had more production than that

at the top of the class. And just like the quarterback position, I mean you see it with Aaron Rodgers and that report of fifty million per So, I just want to do the groundwork to say these figures are probably gonna make you say wow, like all week long expect increases. It's simple mathematics. And that's done by the fact that I can do the maths involved in this one.

So that leads to something else I wanted to explore here before we get into the free agency primer, the top of the market at each position and kind of lay the expectation there. Again, this is according to spot rack dot com and just a disclaimer, there is so much more to these deals than a p Y, but it does give us a little bit of baseline, just kind of to compare these things, you know, apples for apples across the board. So quarterback Rodgers the reporter fifty.

Mahomes is forty five right behind that again, two guys that you know m v P races, deep playoff runs and in a Super Bowl championship there recently from Mahomes, guys that are just at the top of the game and getting you know, the top of these current quarterback landscape or quarterback contract landscape. I should say. With those two guys right there, running back Christian McCaffrey sixteen million

a p Y leads the way there. He signed that deal recently a couple of years back with the Panthers at receiver. It's gonna be mostly recent deals because That's how this the cycle works, right. DeAndre Hopkins seven per and that was, you know, a significant gap to the next guy, Julio Jones at twenty two point five. You wonder what Adams would get, you know, outside of a franchise tag. They're probably closer to the new Coopkins number,

if not more. Tight end position, George Kittle fifteen million per offensive tackle Trent Williams just edged out David back Tier by ten k Both those guys right around twenty three million per at the tackle position. Last year at guard, Joe Tuney of the Chiefs reset the market at sixteen million per, which is the same number Joel but Tonio got in season with an extension with the Cleveland Browns. But Brandon Sure playing on that double tag for the

Commanders was an eighteen. He'll potentially hit the market here coming up this week, leaving Washington after two years of getting the tag there. At the center position, Frank rag Now with the Lines got his extension thirteen point five per, and Corey Lindsley of the Chargers got his deal last offseason at twelve point five. On the interior defensive line, we already mentioned this guy, Aaron Donald twenty two point

five a p Y off the edge. There's so many guys I had to list them all, and basically to get down to that Harold Landry figure J J. Watt, per Nick Bosa or Joey Bosa, I should say twenty seven per Miles Garrett twenty five per Khalil Mack twenty three point five, Von Miller nineteen and then Landry seventeen

point five. For off ball linebackers, Darius Leonard of the Colts nineteen point seven a p Y at cornerback, Jalen Ramsey at twenty a p y and then safety at seventeen point five, Jamal Adams and his ap y there. So again, those are the top of the market. Contrary, it's kind of how the market gets set and then

you plug them in as you go along there. I always love this time of the year for not just the player acquisition, but kind of the playing with the cap and figuring out a way to make it all click together, to put together that piece and maximize the allotment of resources that you have. But while those big time signings, you know, slot in accordingly based upon production and precedent, there are always always gonna be bargains to

be had. We see it every single year. Of course, the price tag reduction always means an increased sense of risk, right, That's kind of how this works. But I mean there's always risk in the sport and what is the ultimate game of chess. But you look back at like Brent Grimes, for instance, coming off an achilles tear in really dampened his market. Then he gets a one year, five point five million dollar deal with the Dolphins and has a Pro Bowl season, similar to Eric Rowe back in twenty nineteen,

a one year deal here in Miami. Also, he had a hard time playing through an entire sixteen game schedule before that, which certainly had an impact on his market. Now after getting extension within his first season here, the Dolphins has played all forty nine possible games in those three years, So you can find those guys. Doesn't have

to be top of the list. And just to kind of go back over the Dolphins recent free agency here, I was looking back and you know, I remember all these free agent classes, but just to really lock in and and look back on how the team has done in some of the bargain deals are just good deals they've had, you know, Byron Jones, a big part of this defense the last couple of years, and Emmanuel Ogba

were certainly nice gets there. Nineteen mentioned Eric Rowe, how about Josh sitting back in and that was a fun signing for one game because he played so well in that season open and then he gets hurt and missed the rest of the season at a spot that the the Dolphins really thought, you know, the fan base thought we'd kind of solved that left guard issue. They're heading into that year. Plays just one game that the best acquisition and kind of make this, you know, comprehensive because the

trades are a big part of the game nowadays. But I thought the best ad there was the trade for William Hayes the defensive end. But a very nice teen season there were the Dolphins in twenty seventeen season. I should say Issa Abdulla could do remember him. He was playing so well before that injury in the Christmas Eve Buffalo game, the one that essentially sent Miami to the a f C playoffs that year, and Dominican Sue also traded for Kenny Stills. That was one of my favorite

moves of the last decade or so. No Sean Marino mentioned Brent Grimes and how about Brandon and gibbson gokuks there, So it's a good place to cut it off. But again, remember when they used to kick off free agency at midnight Eastern on Friday night? You remember that? Or was it Thursday night? I'll never forget. This is before I had my first iPhone, sitting in a movie theater, and because I was so geeked about football, I don't remember

what movie this was. And after a quick search on Google, there are two possibilities, semi pro and strange wilderness that I went and saw in theaters. Maybe it was witless protection.

I doubt I got her done. That's a bit of a sarcastic mark there, But I was checking the Finns dot com because this is before Twitter and the signing the update of Justin Smiley, Like that was one of my first memories of really being just nuts about the sport and about this team and about this league with Justin Smiley as a midnight free agency signing back in two thousand and eight. So there you have it. One

last note on this. A guy that does not get enough credit for the work he does because something we talked about all the time on this podcast is the flexibility and Brandon Shore a big, big part of that positional flexibility. We always love to talk about here the minimal dead money and available cap for this offseason. Always feel great about having that in your back pocket around this time of year, and a big shot out there to Brandon Shore for making that happen for this Miami

Dolphins club. All right, let's go ahead and take our first break. We're gonna come back and recap and get to an in depth look at the free agency primer up on Miami Dolphins dot com this morning. Written by yours truly Drivetime Podcast Travis Winkflord, brought to you by Auto Nation. Alright, we are presented by Auto Nation here on the Drivetime Podcast with Travis Winfield, and we have a piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com this morning.

Taking a look at what I did was I went and looked some websites that had suggestions about positions of need, and off of those, took the NFL dot com Top one one free agents list and just kind of spelled out what is unique about those position groups and maybe

some connections to those guys from previous coaching staffs. And some Pro Bowls and all all the fun stuff we'd love to do here the Drivetime podcast taking a look at everything comprehensively at those position groups, and then also some interesting facts about the other position groups that were

not on that list. But first I go back to a couple of quotes here from the sit down interview on YouTube as well as the Drivetime podcast with general manager Chris Greer and head coach Mike McDaniel who recently on Drivetime had this to say. First with Greer knowing we have flexibility to do stuff is good, but at the end of the day, we're gonna build a team.

It's best for us and quote and then McDaniels kind of follow up to that, which was, you know great as always talking about how it's not like the alliance you get when you're younger, where hey, you have the money, you should go spend it. You know, flexibility, sure, that's important, but don't just go spend it because you've got it.

And liked how he talked about and this is something I heard, you know from the Move the Sticks podcast that I always love the reference here on Drive Time and just other stories around people that are executives or gms or scouts or coaches, whatever the case may be about how coaches. You know, I have a practice on Wednesday, I need a linebacker to run my practice, or whatever

the case may be. That was just an example, right, I need a I need a free safety for this particular practice to get done when I have to get done. And so that's kind of the short setted mindset in terms of we have to go get this done. And I liked how he talked about Chris Greer kind of being the balancer of that in terms of helping him maintain that balance when talking through everything, especially when you're talking about salary cap and spending limits, is how McDaniel

ended that quote. So the collaboration of those two guys working together, just the wisdom that Greer has that he can, you know, institute for Mike McDaniel and vice versa two in terms of just, you know, here's here's the picture of things. I prefer how the best way I can run my system and get guys from my staff and career is gonna do what he can to make that happened as well. So those guys working kind of in unison. I thought that was evident in those answers and again

talking about flexibility. Miami enters the free agency period with the fourth most projected available cap space and the eighth least amount of dead money in the National Football League. That's courtesy of spot rack dot com and just taking a look here at the CBS Sports dot Com. They kind of went through a mock draft and had teams needs uh listed on that lock drafting for the Miami Dolphins.

It was four positions and they were three on offense, one on defense across the offensive line, and they mentioned both tackle and guard spots, specifically the running back position, the receiver position, and then linebacker on defense. So we start here with the NFL dot Com Top one oh one written by Greg Rosenthal who had a chance to meet in Indianapolis of the Around the NFL podcast and

the entire crew. That was a pretty cool, uh little sitt and chat and meet and greet there with my guy Mark Sessler, who's one of the best people in this entire industry. So thanks for saying what's up, Mark and talking to me off to the side of the a t n riser there. So Greg Rosenthal wrow at the NFL dot Com Top one on one and across the offensive line. I went ahead and put everybody that's uh guard, tackle or center. They all made it in this list. The number one player on the overall boards

to Ron Armshead of the Saints. Just one of the best left tackles of the last eight nine years in the National Football League. Really good player. Brandon Schurf from the Washington Commanders. We talked about him earlier double tags. The last two years, he's been a very good productive player at that right guard position for them after being the number five pick in the draft back in twenty fifteen. Ryan Jensen, the Super Bowl champion of the center for

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's the top center on this list. Dwayne Brown from the Seahawks is up here at number fourteen. James Daniels of the Chicago Bears, just twenty four years old on this list, Joe note Boom of the Rams. Number thirty three is Bradley Bozeman. Number thirty five Ben Jones, thirty seven is Trent Brown, the former tackle of the Patriots and forty nine. He's a massive, massive player and people mover Lake and Tomlinson, the guard formerly of the

forty Number forty three on this list. Number forty Eric Fisher, formerly of the Colts and Chiefs. Before that, forty six is Connor Williams and the Cowboys. Fifty Alex Kappa from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Number seventy nine is Morgan Moses, So a bit of a drop there from the top fifty. Lots of names on the offensive line in this top fifty, and then you go twenty nine spots to Morgan Moses, who had a great year last year for the New York Jets. Number eighty two Austin Corbett and number ninety

four Riley Reef number Andrew Norwell. So just kind of looking at that list and one name that would probably be added to that if they updated it would be Roger Staffold, who was released and you might recall he was with the Rams at the beginning of the Sean McVeigh era, and he came back for that game back in week seventeen and had a fantastic performance in that running game against our defense, And I think that kind of shows you the value he provides on the offensive line.

A big guy that can help you in the running game and obviously helping pass protection, and a good veteran presence there and a potential left guard on the open market. So again, what we have here one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven twelve offensive lineman here in the top fifty of Rosenthal's list, and there's a good mix of it all guard, tackles, center, Armstead, Churf,

and Jensen. The tack the top tackle, guard and center on this list have a combined nine Pro Bowls and some of the best tape across the league year in and year out. And the depth of this group, I think is really aided by the increasing longevity of the position. And that's that's for a lot of positions, right but offensive line. Like I look back to Andrew Whitworth, who just had the storybook ending to his career. You know, he arrives in Los Angeles after an eleven year career

with the Bengals, all with the Bengals. He's thirty six years old and twenty seventeen. And I remember looking back when that happened, thinking, like the Rams one like three or four games last year, you're thirty six, where you're going and he goes there and winds up playing for you know, four playoff teams or four division championship teams or whatever the case may be, in a bunch of

playoff wins and in a Super Bowl championship there. But you know, he caps his age forty season with that Lombardi and under his performance there at left tackle for five years, they had some of the best offenses, some

of the best rushing attacks. And just looking across this list, among the offensive lineman in the top one oh one, there was thirteen in the top fifty and then how much total here fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen of them, twelve of them our thirty age thirty years or older on opening days, So you can get quality offensive line play on the other side of thirty. Everyone's doing it, and it's it's going to be the case again this year.

Some other offensive line notables again, James Daniels twenty four years old, the youngest of the crop. So if you want to get a guy just kind of entering his prime, there, he's a good looking, uh inter your offensive line prospect. He's one of three players on this list to kind of who's set to test the market fresh off their

rookie contract. Lake and Tom and Sin is a guy that has familiarity with Mike McDaniel played under him for the last five years in San Francisco, where Tehron Armstead's career began in the same offensive line room as Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith. So that's the offensive line snapshot there. At the running back position, number forty one is our first player and he's a running backslash wide receiver. Cordarell Patterson of the Atlanta Falcons checks in number fifty two.

James Conner, who had a big time year after signing a pretty small deal with a one year deal with the Cardinals last year. Leonard four Net sixty two checks in is a third running back on the list, Melvin Gordon's number sixty three, Chase Edmonds another Cardinal number, and number ninety two Raheem Mostert, who the reports came out from Adam Schefter over the weekend that he is healthy and ready to go for football and full speed activity after an injury last season. So that's good to hear

for him. But Patterson, man, this guy is an NFL enigma, primarily a return specialist the first seven years of his career after being a first round draft pick for a potential wide receiver role with the Vikings, and he showed that in his rookie season but never really got back to it, and then last year he gets converted to a not last year because if the Bears he ran some of this, and the falcon saw that and said, I'd like to have one of those, please, and they

signed him up and rush him for over six hundred yards and six touchdowns on the ground, and his flexibility helped that offense create mismatches, give them flexibility across personnel packages. So he's a really fun player to watch. I'm curious to see his market where he winds up. James Conner tied for second last year in the National Football League with fifteen touchdowns on the ground. He was behind only

Jonathan Taylor with the Indianapolis Colts. And then you have Leonard four Net on that list, who kind of recaptured his rookie for with the Buccaneers. I thought he looked his best in the National Football League the last two years with Tampa Bay. Last year twelve hundred sixties six yards from scrimmage and ten tds in the regular season, one year after a big playoff run and a Super

Bowl championship. So interesting list. There some veteran presence is We've talked about us running back class kind of being deep this year in the draft as well. Just real quick back to most obviously arrived with the forty Niners and twenty sixteen. That was his fifth NFL team. He had to kind of work his way through some camps before he found a fit, and he led the Niners in twenty nineteen with seven hundred and seventy two yards in the ground and eight touchdowns. At your running back class,

they're moving on to the receivers at number eight. The first receivers Allen Robinson, number eleven, Odell Beckham, number twenty, Michael Gallup of the Cowboys, number thirty four, Russell Gauge, thirty six, Juju Smith Schuster, and then Christian kirk Is at number thirty nine of the Cardinals, number forty four, Will Fuller, fifty one, DJ Chark, number fifty five Marquez Valdez Scantling, and number seventy six Jamison Crowder of the New York Jets. So the franchise tag took the top

two receivers off the board. It was number one Davante Adams and number three, I think Chris Godwin, but There's still plenty to love about this group of free agents, because well, Allen Robinson and Odell Beckham, we're gonna get you the Marquis. I mean, those are two guys that have had big time production. Beckham coming off a Super Bowl but also a knee injury there, and then also Michael Gallup number twenty, he'll probably do pretty well for

himself as well. Russell Gauge and Christian Kirk. Those are two guys that are intriguing here after the top twenty their number thirty four and thirty nine, I should say, but you continue to see their numbers trend upward over the course of their careers, as well as Michael Gallup, as Gauge produced hundred and fifty six of his two thousand, sixty five career receiving yards so about over the last two years of his four year career, while Gallop checked

in just under three thousand receiving yards and fifteen touchdowns in four years. And that was a very loaded Cowboys offense there with Ceedee Lamb and a Marii Cooper and Dalton Schultz, just a really really good plethora of options in that passing attack. And then Christian Kirk last year had a career best nine hundred and eighty two receiving yards. Man. He can make the big play down the football field.

He is shifty with the football in his hands, A real guy that I think can run for some yack. He's I like his game heck of a lot, And we talked a little bit about the kind of opportunities from for maybe a guy that you can get um to have a bounce back or a rebound type of year. DJ Chark is one of those guys looked like a super a surefire superstar with the Jaguars with a thousand yards season and eight touchdowns back in twenty nineteen, but

he's battled injuries since then. It hasn't played a whole bunch of snaps. He could be one of those guys that you look as a hidden gym in this class, coming at number fifty one on this list despite not playing a lot of football the last two years. And then finally the linebacker position, Bobby Wagner started off at number seventeen. He was recently released by the Seahawks number nineteen.

De Andre Campbell number fifty four, Anthony Barr of the Vikings sixty seven, Kaiser White, seventy seven, four year Olacoon from the Falcons, Number Layton vander esh and number one d j On Brown. You know, Wagner's release gave this linebackers crop. The same thing most the other groups have is that one top of the line megastar and Wagner. He once win an entire season without a miss tackle in twenty nineteen. From Pro Football Focus. He also went

to a straight Pro Bowls. Devandre Campbell's interesting because he was a four year Atlanta Falcon goes to the Cardinals for a year and then goes to the Packers for a year and winds up as a first team All Pro. So you know these guys can find lightning in a bottle. Campbell did it last year at the Packers. He's back on here as number nineteen. Anthony Barr has been a really good rusher slash edge edge rundefender for the Vikings for a long time. Kaiser White kind of a hybrid

safety slash linebacker nicol linebacker type. Olakun had that pick against the Dolphins last year. That's says about as much as I know about his game. I'll look into him more of it if it requires and then Layton vander rash is a kind of a big thumper, a guy that had a really strong rookie season. You know, he's

he's got a nice blend of size and speed. A pro bowler and second team All pros a rookie back in eighteen, and while he hasn't re found that that production, he has made three D forty nine tackles with twelve passes defense and eight tackles for lost and fourth season. He's got a lot of range and and just covers ground with his wingspan in length. So that's your your positions of need, according to CBS Sports dot com. Some additional facts are on top one hundred and one free

agents from Great Rosenthal NFL dot com. Four of the top five players are cornerbacks or edge defenders, and if you separate the offensive line into tackles, guards, and centers individually, then no position has more players in the top fifty than the seven cornerbacks on this list, and with thirteen a piece, cornerback and edge are the most represented position on the entire list, again without offensive line being one spot.

You know, Mike McDaniel spoke to his Combine presser about backup quarterback traits, you know, aiding a quarterback and also being able to come off the bench and win games if you need him. You hope you never do, but if you do. And he talked about if you need to replace Jacobe Brissett, who was the backup in one his contracts had to expire in the new league year.

That there are four quarterbacks on this list there, Jamis Winston, Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, and Andy Dalton and they have a combined three hundred and forty nine starts among them. It's a I thought that was a very fascinating stat there. And then again, free agency is not the only medium with which a team can use to upgrade its roster this time of year. Trading draft picks has always been

common practice. But did you know the veteran trade market remains robust because the number of trades has increased in the league year to year every year since. So that is your free agency primer again, this piece up on

Miami Dolphins dot com. You can take a look at that with some more in depth information there about beyond the top one on one on the list and the Dolphins success in that regard in years past, We're also going to cover the post free agency or post signings uh coming up later this week, just taking a look at whatever the Dolphins add, their in depth look at their film, their status, their numbers, their advanced metrics, some

quotes from teammates and past coaches. You know, we'll have you covered here on the Draft Time podcast as well as you can find anywhere out there in the content sphere. Coming up next year on the podcast, We're gonna get you updated with the very up to the minute list of NFL transactions and acquisitions and getting you ready for this week of crazy, crazy NFL news and notes that next year. Drivetime podcas Gust brought to you by Auto Nation,

coming into the C block here. Before we get out of here, I want to go ahead and finish up with a rundown here of the reported transaction wire ahead of this podcast and get you the latest on what has transpired across the league to get you the most ready you can for the time you hear this and before the new league gear starts on Wednesday. But also the quote unquote legal tampering period opens up later today

here in the National Football League. I'm gonna update this right before bedtime on Sunday night to give you again the latest I hope with reports. So here's what we have so far. We've already discussed the big ones at quarterback, Aaron Rodgers reportedly staying in Green Bay with the possible extension there. Russell Wilson to the Broncos for two ones, two twos, Noah Fense, Shelby Harris, Drew Lock and that

midground pick swap. Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders. Not a quarterback here, but a huge one on Thursday came in Khalil Mack to the Chargers for a two and a six man him and Joey Bosa. That's gonna be a special pass rush duo there, with Thirdwin James creeping around in that box as well. Also, the Bears released running back to Riet Cohen with an injury designation because he didn't pass a physical from a knee injury something back.

The Seahawks again released Bobby Wagner. The Chargers extended Mike Williams. The Broncos released receiver day Shawn. Hamilton's formerly of Penn State, was a big fan of his game as a slot receiver coming out of college there. He'll hit the market. The Patriots released Kyle van Noy. The Buffalo Bills released long time star John Feliciano. The Titans mentioned Roger Staffold also released Kendall Lamb and Derrington Evans, a I think third or fourth round pick at running back a few

years ago. The Saints resigned Carl Granderson. That's a pass rusher off the board. Texans resigned linebacker Christian Kirksey, really good off ball linebacker there. Cleveland tendered Deerness Johnson from the Cleveland Browns. Found that to be interesting with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt still in the mix there. The Jets extend LaMarcus Joiner for another season. The Commanders released Landon Collins almost said Lyle Collins, and the Jaguars released

Carlos Hyde. And that was where I stop. After recording on Friday, now back with you. On Sunday evening, the Bears released snows tackle Eddie Goldman, as Chicago continues to let go of some veteran players off that roster. The biggest news of the weekend was a Marie Cooper traded from the Cowboys to the Browns for a fifth and sixth round pick and a very interesting move there on the heels of that mid season Odell Beckham release last year. You have to assume Cooper kind of slots into that

position and kind of fulfills that role. And they will also absorb roughly three years sixty million giver take to a Marie Cooper off that Cowboy off the Cowboys books. We'll see if that frees up space for Michael Gallup extension. Possibly. We've heard some rumblings about Lyle Collins possibly on the move. So the Cowboys a team to monitor here in the coming days in the week. And you know how I said, this all moved so fast. Well, by the time I

went back to this podcast and update you. On the other side, Derrington Evan, after being cut by the Titans on Friday, has been claimed. He's now a Chicago Bear. The Falcons cleared up twelve million dollars in cap space with a Matt Ryan restructure. Is he a potential veteran quarterback that could be on the move this year or maybe next year. We'll see with him. The Chargers extended

another wide receiver, Jalen Guyton. He's a nice big play threat for them, so they have him and Mike Williams back Jacoby Myers for the Patriots winds up with a second round tender, so he'll likely go back there with the Patriots. And then the rap sheet report of that particular second round tendering also mentioned the potential of full back fullback Yakob Johnson hitting the open market as a result.

Speaking of fullbacks, we did not mention this earlier, but Andy Aanovich of the Cleveland Browns will not be brought back, or at least he'll test the open market come free agency. And then alec Ingold also was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders. Two very good full backs right there from the a f C potentially hitting the open market, and why not go ahead and end the podcast right there

on the fullbacks. I'm cutting this right around five fift on Sunday evening, Sunday afternoon, so hopefully nothing goes down in a couple of hours it takes for me to put the podcast out and you guys for to hear this podcast, because with the free to see window opening or i should say legal tampering period opening on Monday at noon, this could potentially need to be updated right away.

So that's where I'm coming your way here, Sunday night, what's to come here On Drivetime, We're gonna post a mail bag podcast as well as a get you caught up on the reports from the legal tampering period that will be up on Wednesday. We'll have in depth podcasts and get to know you pieces on Miami Dolphins dot com taking a look at each of your Miami Dolphin veteran acquisitions, whether it's free agency, trade or otherwise. We'll also have that Twitter spaces show for you guys coming

your way on Wednesday night as well. One of my favorite weeks on the entire calendar. It is here in the meantime, That's gonna be my time. You all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the team across all social platforms at Miami Dolphins. You do not want to miss any of our content this week. We

have plenty coming your way. Check out the fish Tank podcast, some great guests coming up there with Seth and o J, the YouTube channel for Dolphins Today, and some media availabilities as well as Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, finds up Caroline, Daddy is coming back upstairs to watch them. Disney plus m