The Miami Dolphins have been attacking their rebuild with a constant churn of their roster ever since last spring — when the team shipped off QB Ryan Tannehill, DE Robert Quinn and others before ultimately flipping young talents like OT Laremy Tunsil and DB Minkah Fitzpatrick in August and September, respectively.
That roster churn will continue, but it will do so through a different lens this time around — this team is looking to add talent. But not all talent is necessarily a great fit for the Miami Dolphins, a team that has embraced youth and upside as much as anything else throughout the course of the last year. So as the team looks to add players, fans will need to be aware that not every player is a logical fit with Miami.
Among those players? The latest confirmed veteran to hit free agency, left tackle Jason Peters.
How could the Dolphins not have time for Peters? He’d definitely be an upgrade and his veteran leadership would be a welcomed addition to Miami’s youthful locker room. But bringing him into the picture accomplishes what, exactly? Peters is 38-years old, long in the tooth by any measure of NFL veterans. And the Dolphins should be focused on getting long-term development out of whoever they peg as their left tackle of the future, not plugging gaps for 2020. That was the operating procedure for Mike Tannenbaum’s Dolphins — not necessarily for Chris Grier’s Dolphins.
Peters is a no-brainer addition for a team looking to plug the position in the short-term while looking to compete for a Super Bowl title in 2020.
That is, unfortunately, not a likely scenario for the Dolphins. Yes, the value Peters brings in leadership and experience would be a nice addition. But this feels like a right place, wrong time type situation for Miami, given their life cycle as a team. Peters is hitting the market because he still wants to play — and the Dolphins giving him that opportunity satisfies a short-term gain and nothing else.
