The Miami Dolphins are all set to enter 2020 free agency next month and continue the team’s ambitious plan to completely overhaul the roster. Yes, this team’s primary objective appears to be to build through the draft. But the Dolphins will have a mass surplus of cap space at their disposal and the environment in South Florida is one filled with optimism after the Dolphins finished 5-4 over their final nine games.
Looking across the NFL landscape, there’s a ton of potential contributors set to hit the market. Here’s one pending free agent from each team in the NFC South that the Dolphins should consider:
New Orleans Saints – Offensive Guard Andrus Peat
Peat might be one of the top targets for the Dolphins in the entire league. He’s got college experience at tackle, NFL experience at guard, he’s generally considered the 3rd best guard on the open market behind Washington’s Brandon Scherff and New England’s Joe Thuney and he’s the youngest of all three at 26-years old.
Peat also missed 6 games in 2019 with a broken arm and hasn’t played a full 16 games schedule once in 5 NFL seasons.
The players stacked above Peat and some modest injury questions could help keep him out of the $13- to $15M-per year expectation that Thuney and Scherff are looking at challenging in free agency.
If Miami signed him, Peat would instantly be the team’s best offensive lineman.
Atlanta Falcons – Defensive End Vic Beasley
Talk about good timing! Beasley didn’t have the explosive season he enjoyed in 2016 — he logged 15.5 sacks and 6 forced fumbles that season — but he did have a better year than each of his last two NFL campaigns, just in time for free agency.
If the Dolphins are looking for a little bit of speed off the edge, they could do a whole lot worse than Beasley, who has 37.5 sacks and 46 quarterback hits in 78 career games. Beasley, for the Dolphins, would be a rush specialist only. But his explosive first step is a trait none of the team’s rotational pass rushers illustrated in 2019 — so it would be a step in the right direction provided teams aren’t offering him crazy dollar totals.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Rush Linebacker Shaq Barrett
Be honest — did you know Shaq Barrett led the NFL in sacks last year with 19.5? How about his 37 quarterback hits and 19 tackles for loss last year?
That’s the good news. The bad news? The Buccaneers are highly unlikely to let Barrett test the market. The team has expressed just how happy they are with Barrett’s play and the expectation is that he will be back in the Bay again next year.
But should something fall through the cracks and Barrett hits the open market, he’d be a compelling candidate to consider alongside the Yannick Ngakoues (Jacksonville), Jadeveon Clowneys (Seattle) and Matt Judons (Baltimore) of the world.
Carolina Panthers – Cornerback Ross Cockrell
Cockrell isn’t the youngest, the most athletic or the most productive football player the Dolphins could target off the Panthers’ docket of free agents to be. But Miami can’t go target every team’s top player (that would be CB James Bradberry, who will get paid), they can’t target every offensive lineman (the Panthers have G/T Darryl Williams up as well, but he struggled greatly this season). With Cockrell, the Dolphins are getting a productive player (5 interceptions and 19 passes defensed over the last two years) who has proven to be effective in a number of systems.
He’s played two years in Pittsburgh, a year in Buffalo, a year in New York with the Giants and a year in Carolina. Perhaps he’d like to keep moving south?
The Dolphins need all the depth they can get in the secondary — even mid-range free agents like Ross Cockrell.
