The Miami Dolphins were labeled as “pretenders” for the entirety of the 2023 season, and their heartbreaking wild-card round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs served ample justification for the accusations. With three seasons under head coach Mike McDaniel, the burden is on Miami to go far in the playoffs.
In light of that, the Dolphins should make the following trade, cut, and signing in the upcoming months.
Miami should look into trading for four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard, but it’s unlikely that the player will be traded until after June 1st, when the team will have $18.5 million in salary room to spare. But the Dolphins need to fill as many rookie contracts as possible because of a cap problem that will only become worse after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa signs his contract extension.
Miami’s best option to achieve this objective may be to move down in the 2024 NFL Draft or to bypass the first round entirely. The Dolphins are tied for the fewest picks among teams with six selections in total from 2024, including the 21st overall pick in the first round of the April draft.
Miami should definitely look to make trades that would result in a third or fourth-round selection, as it would have to wait for 101 players to be taken between its second and third picks unless it acquires additional draft money.
CUT: Emmanuel Ogbah, an edge rusher
The Dolphins will make multiple cuts this offseason due to their third-worst cap situation in the NFL (-$51.9M), and GM Chris Grier’s choice to release Ogbah may be the easiest. Ogbah has become disposable despite having back-to-back seasons with nine sacks in 2020 and 2021 due to a serious biceps injury sustained in 2022 and a difficult adjustment to former DC Vic Fangio’s scheme.
Ogbah appeared in only 25% of Miami’s defensive snaps in 2023, despite recording 5.5 sacks. This is far from ideal for the player earning the highest base contract on the team. By dismissing Ogbah prior to June 1st, the Dolphins would avoid a $4 million dead cap hit and save $13.7 million in cap space for 2024, according to Over the Cap.
SIGNATURE: Denico Autry, edge rusher
In addition to the fact that Ogbah will probably play somewhere else in 2024, the Dolphins are in dire need of pass-rushing support because both Jaelan Phillips (Achilles) and Bradley Chubb (knee) will be recovering from late-season ailments. Although Miami won’t have the funds to sign elite edge rushers like Brian Burns and Danielle Hunter, Autry, 33, is a player to keep an eye on.
Over the past ten years, the former undrafted free agent has been one of the NFL’s more underappreciated edge defenders. He constantly puts pressure on the club he plays for. Autry’s 36 sacks over the last four seasons rank him as the NFL’s 14th most over that time, and he just established a career-best mark in that category in 2023 (11.5).
Autry should be a steal for the Dolphins if he’s ready to leave Tennessee, as Pro Football Focus predicts him to sign an offseason contract worth $7.25 million for a single year.
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