MIAMI _ The two-pronged attack the Miami Dolphins will launch next spring to return to respectability _ they say title glory, but they must walk before they run _ involves loading the roster with very good veteran free agents and using all the draft picks on Earth to select the NFL's future stars.
And it could happen because the Dolphins have three first-round draft picks and two second-round picks next April and another load of picks the following year. And they will boast upwards of $120 million to $130 million in salary cap space next spring _ the most in the NFL.
But before we address how many diamonds that Dolphins Super Bowl ring will carry, the reality is there will be obstacles.
Perhaps surprising obstacles.
And those will go beyond merely selecting the right college players and developing them. Beyond signing the best and brightest free agents and putting them in positions to succeed.
That is because the current process the Dolphins are enduring _ the tanking of the 2019 season _ will have unintended consequences next spring.
Those consequences?
Let's begin with the timing of everything. The 2020 free agency period will begin March 18. That's when the Dolphins will be able to begin signing players they negotiated with the previous two days during the NFL's so-called legal tampering period.
The draft will come five weeks later, April 23, so when the Dolphins begin their pitch to veteran players, the draft will still be off in the distance.
And how does that affect Miami's free agency?
The second thing free agent wide receivers, tight ends, running backs and really, any offensive player, is going to ask before committing to Miami is this: Who is your quarterback?
The Dolphins might or might not have Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick on the roster then, but they will be pointed toward drafting their future quarterback five weeks later.
So, basically, the Dolphins will have to answer with a vision instead of an actual name. And that answer will pale compared to the one provided by the Seahawks, Cowboys, Texans, Bills, and Ravens _ all have quarterbacks and will have at least $70 million in salary cap space next year to compete with Miami for free agents.
The Dolphins need offensive linemen. That's clearly going to be a priority target in free agency and maybe the second-highest draft priority behind quarterback. Well, the question potential offensive linemen will ask _ after the one about money, of course _ is, "Who am I playing next to?"
Offensive linemen, typically one of the smartest position groups in an NFL locker room, understand they succeed and fail as a unit. An offensive line with a great left tackle and four slappys is bad offensive line.
So linemen care about who is already aboard the line before they join the line and who they're going to line up next to.
Consider the case of Laremy Tunsil. As he was dropping like a rock in the first round of the 2016 draft, the New Orleans Saints, picking No. 12, wanted Tunsil. They talked to his camp and were told Tunsil wanted assurances he would play at left tackle.
The Saints would give him no such assurances because they had Terron Armstead at the position. The Dolphins spoke to Tunsil about the same time and told him he would be their left tackle.
Miami had Branden Albert at the spot, but they sold Tunsil on the idea of learning from Albert for a year while playing left guard then inheriting the spot. They also sold Tunsil on playing between Albert and Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey during his rookie year.
Tunsil's camp, sources say, told the Saints he preferred not to be drafted by them. And New Orleans moved on. The Dolphins took Tunsil with the very next selection.
The point is players and their agents consider more than money before deciding on a landing spot.
Multiple NFL agents contacted for this column brought up another issue the Dolphins will face next spring: The team's uncertain leadership history and situation.
The fact is the Dolphins are going to lose a lot of games this season. That means the redshirt season for coach Brian Flores, his assistants, and perhaps general manager Chris Grier will be over.
The team must show significant improvement in 2020 or everyone's job security will be questioned after that season. And with owner Stephen Ross, who has never let any of his three previous coaches survive past 3 \ seasons, expecting great results from the current rebuild, it's uncertain what he will do if the Dolphins don't show those results in 2020.
So, according to multiple NFL agents who asked not to be identified, their free agents next spring will be aware playing in Miami might mean having one coaching staff in 2020 and having a different one in 2021.
"It's not just about who is paying the most money," one agent told the Miami Herald. "Yes, the contract is important, but I seriously think about whether I'm sending my guys into a situation where the floor could collapse under them in a year.
"It sounds like I'm thinking about something every team deals with, but truth is the Dolphins seem to do this a lot. They did it in last year. They signed a bunch of free agents then changed course and fired the coach. So those free agents were left dealing with a different coaching staff that didn't want them. How'd that work out for the players? That's why I think about this."
Agents understand that coaches and GMs who have led franchises into a rebuild period typically don't survive to see the rebuild through. The people who began the process with the Cleveland Browns didn't survive. The people who started the process with the Philadelphia 76ers didn't survive.
The Dolphins are winless, and their prospects for winning multiple games this year don't look great. Twelve teams have suffered 1-15 or worse seasons since the NFL merger in 1970.
And 11 times the head coach was fired before the franchise corrected course, with Jimmy Johnson in Dallas being the lone exception.
So this agent's concerns are legitimate.
Finally, and amazingly not the biggest problem, there's the obstacle of money. It's good the Dolphins will have the most salary cap space in the NFL in 2020 and an owner in Ross with pockets deep as oceans. Because the Dolphins will need that.
The Dolphins are going to have to overpay some free agents to land them next spring.
The Browns had to overpay to land free agents during and coming out of their tank experience in 2016 and '17. And although Miami is a more inviting place to live than Cleveland, and Florida has no state income tax which is a huge advantage, the Dolphins have already seen the need to overpay to get people in the past _ before they tanked.
Ndamukong Suh.
Phillip Wheeler.
Mike Wallace.
Ross had to overpay to land Flores. While every other NFL coach hired in the last cycle got a four-year contract, Ross had to give Flores a five-year deal because the coach's agent understood there is uncertainty in Miami.
And Flores has no prior head coach experience. How much more will accomplished, veteran free agents demand from Miami compared to other franchises vying for their services?
"Great question," one agent said. "Depends on the individual circumstances and what's important to the player because if winning championships is important to him in the short term, Miami won't be in the conversation to begin with.
"But I'd say everything else being equal, and figuring the state tax advantage they already have, the Dolphins will probably have to pay maybe 15-20% more for players than other teams to land a guy."
That raises another question: What kind of player will the Dolphins be signing if they come primarily because they're being overpaid?
