Since the Miami Dolphins are still in the collecting talent stage of this franchise's rebuild, there's no reason they shouldn't put in a waiver claim on recently released tailback Leonard Fournette.
While the Dolphins have two starting caliber tailbacks in Jordan Howard and Matt Breida, both player's injury history indicates that Miami could use another front-line talent to supplement the tailback unit and enhance the rushing attack.
And Fournette has certainly proven his worth the past three seasons, rushing for 2,631 yards and scoring 17 rushing touchdowns on the 666 carries he's had in the 33 games he's played in the past three seasons.
Last season Fournette finished with a career-best 1,152 rushing yards on 4.3 yards a carry and three touchdowns. He also led the Jacksonville Jaguars in receptions (76) and added 522 receiving yards to his totals.
The 24 year old caught 134 passes for 1,009 yards and two touchdowns during his tenure with the Jaguars, who on Monday released the disgruntled tailback they've been trying to trade the entire offseason.
The Dolphins are fifth on the waiver wire claim order, which mirrors the 2020 NFL draft at this point. That means the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington's football team, Detroit Lions and New York Giants would have to pass on Fournette for Miami to secure the former LSU standout and his contract. But anything is possible now that he's up for grabs if the Jaguars formally release him instead of pulling off a last minute trade to another team, like Miami tried to do with Kalen Ballage, who was supposed to be released last week but ended up being traded to the New York Jets _ before failing a physical to nix the deal.
Fournette is slated to earn $4,167,393 in the final year of his rookie deal as the No. 4 pick of the 2017 NFL draft, and he carries a $8.63 million cap hit because of the $17.8 million signing bonus he received for Jacksonville.
Considering the Dolphins have $24 million in cap space leftover from this offseason's spending spree, Miami could easily carry that charge without creating a financial burden. Plus, the compensatory pick Miami could acquire for losing Fournette as a free agent if he signed elsewhere in 2021 is a bonus.
The Jaguars declined Fournette's fifth-year option earlier this offseason, meaning that the back is primed to hit the open market in 2021. To maximize his value, he'll need to have a productive 2020 season and must clean up his image as a malcontent in Jacksonville.
So there's very little downside to claiming Fournette, especially considering Miami had the NFL's worst rushing attack last season and have four other tailbacks on short-term deals that feature very little financial commitment.
And for the sake of transparency, I haven't seen anything from Howard or Breida during training camp that makes me confident they could lead a backfield that averages 100-plus rushing yards a game, and allows the Dolphins to finish 2020 as one of the NFL's top-16 rushing attacks.
"All (the tailbacks) are capable _ competitive guys," Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. "They are all different styles of backs. ... They are a hard-working group. A competitive group. Those are the things I'm looking for."
"Capable" and "competitive" are the words used to describe someone you want to date, not marry.
Where is the game-changing talent?
That's what a healthy Fournette has been at times during his brief NFL career.
Adding a motivated Fournette to the fold would simply provide the Dolphins some insurance, and a possible upgrade from Myles Gaskin, a 2019 seventh-round pick who has had a strong training camp, and Patrick Laird, a former California standout who made Miami's 53-man regular-season roster last year as an undrafted rookie.
Flores envisions the Dolphins being a physical team that can consistently run the ball, and that's exactly the opposite of what they were last season.
That's why claiming Fournette could go a long way toward helping Miami deliver that type of rushing attack and being the tough, physical team Flores hopes the Dolphins will become.
