NFL Offseason Previews: Miami Dolphins

March 1, 2023, by Patrick K. Flowers NFL

The NFL offseason is upon us, and teams will begin working to craft their 2023 rosters in the coming months. In this series of offseason previews, we will look at what each team has to work with and their biggest needs. Today we continue with the Miami Dolphins offseason preview.

As a reminder, here are dates to keep in mind for the 2023 NFL offseason:

March 7: deadline for teams to use the franchise tag
March 13: legal tampering period opens
March 15: NFL free agency begins and the new league year starts
April 21: deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets
April 27-29: NFL draft
May 1: deadline for teams to exercise 5th-year options on 2020 first-round draft picks
July 15: deadline for franchise tag players to sign an extension

2022 Summary

The Dolphins landed a playoff berth in 2022. Heck, they even flirted with winning the AFC East when Tua Tagovailoa was healthy.

In the end, concussions to Tua Tagovailoa and a Swiss cheese defense haunted the Dolphins down the stretch and cost Miami a chance to compete for the AFC East title with Buffalo. And Miami’s season ended in the Wild Card round against those Bills with rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson playing in place of the injured Tagovailoa.

However, the duo of Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle as one of (if not the) most talented wide receiver duos in football, coupled with Tua’s emergence under center (when healthy), leaves the Dolphins with plenty of promise for 2023.

Key Positional Needs

Here’s where the Dolphins need to find help this offseason:

Key Free Agents

Here’s a look at the Dolphins upcoming key free agents:

Justin Bethel (CB)
Mike Gesicki (TE)
Melvin Ingram (OLB)
Myles Gaskin (RB)
Greg Little (OT)
Jeff Wilson Jr. (RB)
Andrew Van Ginkel (LB)

Salary Cap & Draft Capital

Here’s a look at the salary cap room and draft capital that the Dolphins have to work with this offseason:

Current draft picks: 51 (2), 77 (3), 84 (3), 197 (6), 240 (7)
Cap space: -$16.3M

Offseason Outlook

Priority No. 1 for Miami should be shoring up the offensive line to keep quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on his feet and healthy next season.

Priority No. 2 (maybe even 1a) will be fixing the defense. Miami’s defense ranked 24th in scoring, allowing 23.5 points per game. So giving defensive coordinator Vic Fangio a hefty contract to come to South Beach and oversee the defense is a good start.

Still, Miami has to do some cap gymnastics, and they only have five draft picks, with their first coming in the second round at No. 51.