The Dolphins’ posture and direction headed into free agency are pretty well established. They’re cutting dead weight, freeing up cap space and hitting the reset button.
But what about the rest of the AFC East? The Patriots are entering another spring as reining champions, fresh off their dominant defensive performance in the Super Bowl. They’re also a rare exception.
The Patriots have mastered the playbook the Dolphins hope to replicate (and be the first to really do so successfully). So don’t necessarily expect the Patriots to come out throwing cash in the air for potential free agents.
With that said, Belichick always has an ace up his sleeve. Last year it was trading peanuts for a career underachiever like Danny Shelton and turning him into a viable nose tackle. Or flipping picks for Trent Brown, only to see him start 16 games and play 91 perent of snaps before hitting the free agent market and almost certainly netting the Patriots a compensatory pick for 2020.
They’ll be busy, just not care-free with their money.
The Bills and Jets, however? These two have some money to spend. The Jets hold nearly $100M in cap space entering next week’s opening bell of free agency, while the Bills have just over $77M. These figures are good for second and fourth in the league, respectively.
How will they spend it? Both have young quarterbacks in need of better support structures in 2019. That includes the receivers, the running backs and the offensive line.
So that’s good news for Dolphins fans: These two rivals will be betting against each other, meaning any signee will come at an elevated cost.
The Bills and Jets are both a year ahead (at least) of the Dolphins’ roadmap to success, which makes their off-seasons critical to taking the next step. Here are some players each team has been tied to in free agency.
Buffalo: OT Daryl Williams (Carolina), C Max Paradis (Denver), WR Devin Funchess (Carolina), TE Dwayne Allen (New England)
New York: RB Tevin Coleman (Atlanta), RB Le’Veon Bell (Pittsburgh), DE Dante Fowler (Los Angeles), RB Mark Ingram (New Orleans)
Keep an eye on these names and dollar amounts as potential divisional adds in free agency when it opens next week.
