Dolphins locked down Grimes, now what about the rest of Secondary?

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The Miami Dolphins earlier this week locked down their Pro-Bowl cornerback with a contract that on paper works very well for both sides. It is a 4 year $32 million deal with $16 million guaranteed. The first 2 years will pay Brent $17 million and $16 million of it will be guaranteed. One major benefit of this contract for the Miami Dolphins is that Grimes will only count $4 million against the salary cap in the upcoming 2014 season, which is less than the $5 million he counted against them this season. Also they did not have to assign the franchise tag to him, which would have been significantly more, leaving valuable cap space available for other players. Now that the Dolphins, have in my opinion dealt with their most important in house free agent, it would be a good time to analyze what they may decide to do with the rest of their secondary.

In 2012 before the arrival of Grimes the Miami secondary was one of their biggest areas of concern on the team. However last season the Miami secondary saw some very noticeable improvements in the back end of their defense, most obvious in their increase in ball hawking skills. However Chris Clemons will most likely test the free agent market. But there are definitely a few notable safeties available that could be seen as an upgrade, however they will most likely cost more as well. I think the key is finding the player that fits the Dolphins system the best, and if that happens to also be the best and most expensive player then so be it. Jairus Byrd and TJ Ward appear to be the two most sort after Safety free agents, however my advice is to take a good hard look at Colts Free Safety Antoine Bethea. His production is better then Clemons on every level, and he rarely has health issues. Bethea’s 2013 stats are as follows: 110 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery and 2 Interceptions, compared to Chris Clemons 62 tackles and 1 interception. Stats are your friend and any Pay per head sites like Ace Per Head fan would be sure to want to have Bethea on their roster over Clemons.

The other cornerback position last season featured Nolan Carrol and Dimtri Patterson. Carrol is serviceable and a free agent, whereas Patterson was amazing in his four games with 4 interceptions, but he less durable then a paper mache middle school science project. Patterson will count $5.4 million against the 2014 season cap, so the smart sports gambling move would be to either re-structure a lower contract, loaded with incentives, or just flat out cut him and use the $5.4 million to go grocery shopping. There are quite a few notable cornerbacks available, such has Aqib Talib, Tracy Porter, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Alterraum Verner, however each of those will more than likely command top dollar. One other name that should be looked at more thoroughly is, Sam Shields from the Green Packers, who has had 13 interceptions over the last 4 seasons. One other obvious thing that sticks out about this young man is that he went to Miami U, and Philbin has direct ties with him from his offensive coordinator days in Green Bay.

The Dolphins have a solid foundation in the secondary with Brent Grimes, and Reshad Jones, and this upcoming free agency period has the necessary talent to upgrade this unit even more. But as always it will come down to dollars and sense.


 

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