The offseason has typically been a time of dramatic change for the Miami Dolphins. In recent years, especially since the team’s 2019 rebuild was embraced, the Dolphins have been a team that has routinely turned over more than half of their roster. But the 2021 offseason marks a new chapter in the rebuild: stability is starting to take hold. Over The Cap took a look at snaps gained versus snaps lost thus far this offseason and the Miami Dolphins are in the bottom tier of NFL franchises as it relates to snaps lost.
The primary culprits?
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, DE Shaq Lawson and OLB Kyle Van Noy. But the core group of Dolphins on both sides of the football remains the same. Seeing it laid out in visual form is eye-opening, to say the least.
A look at snaps gained and lost in 2021https://t.co/kWMCuuH8Ib pic.twitter.com/7VQIggg7DT
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) April 15, 2021
But how do the Dolphins stack up in net gains and losses when you factor in new additions? The top gainers in snaps from 2020 to 2021 thus far, as provided by Over The Cap, can be found below — with the Dolphins sitting in the 4th-highest overall net at this point in the offseason:
| Team | Off. Snaps Lost | Def. Snaps Lost | Total Snaps Lost | Off Snaps Gained | Def. Snaps Gained | Total Snaps Gained | Net Off. | Net Def. | Net Total Snaps |
| Jaguars | 2,486 | 1,116 | 3,602 | 2,078 | 3,161 | 5,239 | -408 | 2,045 | 1,637 |
| Patriots | 3,695 | 2,538 | 6,233 | 4,426 | 3,356 | 7,782 | 731 | 818 | 1,549 |
| Texans | 4,461 | 3,686 | 8,147 | 2,479 | 6,617 | 9,096 | -1,982 | 2,931 | 949 |
| Dolphins | 2,264 | 1,717 | 3,981 | 2,008 | 2,348 | 4,356 | -256 | 631 | 375 |
This is in part a testament to Miami’s renewed focus on the salary cap. Many cap-starved teams, such as the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers, bid farewell to an overwhelming amount of snaps and had no opportunities to bring in new players to fill the void. The Steelers and Rams currently sit at -6,000+ snaps apiece.
Miami’s path would have looked very similar in 2019. The 2020 offseason would have been closer to breakeven thanks to the aggressive free agency plan. But this time around Miami still sits near the top despite a more modest spending plan — thanks to their stability and young nucleus.
