The Miami Dolphins’ 2019 roster will be built on several types of players. One of them figures to be young, cheap talent with something to prove. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver John Ross, who the Bengals are reportedly shopping this week in Indianapolis, could feasibly fit into this category but the Dolphins would still be wise to steer clear.
Here’s why.
The Bengals made John Ross the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, a move that hasn’t bore the fruit the team was obviously hoping for. Ross’ production bubbled in 2018, as he did log 7 touchdowns on the season. But those scores came on just 21 catches (58 targets).
And Ross, who has struggled with durability throughout the course of his college career going all the way back to Washington, has more working against him than his underachievement in his first two seasons.
The Dolphins’ rebuild will revolve around adding draft capital, not trading picks away for underachievers. The Dolphins would be doing themselves a disservice to part with draft picks at this point in the process, especially when considering Ross, although on a rookie deal, won’t come all that cheap (relatively speaking).
Ross has two years remaining on his base contract, which was 4-years, $17.1M in length with a fifth year team option. The Bengals have eaten a lot of his guaranteed money in signing bonuses. That said, a $2M base salary in 2019 is a pretty penny for potential. As such, Ross checks only one of the boxes the Dolphins are looking for.
- Young: Yes
- Cheap: Not really
- Low investment (keeping draft picks): No
- Health/durability are in question
So when the proposition arises for the Dolphins to land a young, talented wide receiver with something to prove, they’ll be wise to look the other way.
