The franchise tag dried up the 2019 free agency pool pretty suddenly over the past 24-hours. Much like this year’s NFL Draft, defensive talent was poised to flood the open market and allow for some wild bidding wars across the league.
Miami is out of the big money pool this year, there are too many bad contracts, too much bad money, too many restrictions on the team. Which is fine. This is a necessary part of any legitimate team-build. Once you’ve established your roster, there’s ample flexibility to manipulate the cap. The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles are prime examples of this in recent years.
But not Miami. Not with this team. BUT. If they were in the market, which one of the 2019 franchise tagged players would have hurt the most to see come off the board?
The following players were designated as franchise tag players before yesterday’s 4 PM deadline:
- Houston DE/LB Jadeveon Clowney
- San Francisco K Robbie Gould
- Atlanta DT Grady Jarrett
- Kansas City OLB Dee Ford
- Seattle DE Frank Clark
- Dallas DE Demarcus Lawrence
As great as it would be for Miami to have an absolute star kicker, Gould isn’t the pick here. Neither is Dee Ford, given he doesn’t really fit the multiple front philosophy Miami is seeking to establish.
The one who would have meant the most to an active-spending Dolphins team is Jadeveon Clowney.
Clowney is as “multiple” as they come: he’s played as a B-gap defensive end for the Texans, he’s played stand-up outside linebacker, he’s rushed with his hand in the dirt and he’s blitzed from a muddled box.
Clowney’s experience in Houston comes with another obvious link: he’s worked with Bill O’Brien and Romeo Crennel ever since entering the league, meaning he’s thrived with coaches off the same Bill Belichick coaching tree as Miami now has in Brian Flores and others.
It isn’t meant to be, at least for now. But in an alternate universe, the Dolphins are kicking themselves to see Clowney slapped with the tag.
