The Miami Dolphins gave their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills all they could handle on Wild Card Weekend with a third-string quarterback but couldn’t quite get it done. The Dolphins now head into the offseason with more question marks than most playoff teams. In 2023, the Dolphins' offseason targets need to include an offensive tackle, a safety, and probably a quarterback. That’s why the Dolphins' free agency objectives need to involve signing San Francisco 49ers OT Mike McGlinchy, Philadelphia Eagles S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady.
San Francisco 49ers OT Mike McGlinchy
The 2022 Dolphins' free agency period was a success because they brought in the best left tackle on the market, Terron Armstead. In 2023, the team should do the same and sign the best right tackle available, Mike McGlinchy.
McGlinchy plays under Kyle Shanahan for the 49ers, so Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel (who came from San Francisco) is intimately familiar with his work. He is the perfect bookend to play in McDaniel’s system, and it won’t take him long at all to get up to speed.
If Tua Tagovailoa comes back next season (more on that below), the right tackle becomes even more important, because he is the protector of Tagovailoa’s blindside as a left-handed QB.
No matter which QB McGlinchy is blocking for next season, he’ll be a perfect fit with Miami as he will better be able to block McDaniel’s unique run schemes, which will make the offense click even more next season.
Philadelphia Eagles S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Signing Eagles safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson will have two benefits for the Dolphins in 2023. First, the team needs a safety. Jevon Holland is still under contract next season, but Eric Rowe, Clayton Fejedelem, and Justin Bethel (a CB who can also play safety) are all free agents.
Gardner-Johnson was tied for the league lead in interceptions this season with six and is the type of playmaker that should be among the Dolphins offseason targets this offseason. He’ll also hopefully help the ‘Phins D not get beat over the top so often by Stefon Diggs.
The other reason that Chauncey Gardner-Johnson needs to be a Dolphins' offseason target is that he is an absolute dawg.
Miami can get a bad rap in terms of toughness, playing in South Florida and shrinking on the cold of the Northeast in the winter. Gardner-Johnson is sometimes controversial, unlinked by many in the league, and either a tough and nasty player or a downright dirty one, depending on who you talk to.
Gardner-Johnson immediately gives the Dolphins D an edge it doesn’t have and could turn the unit into one of the most feared (and hated by other teams) in the league.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady
This is a tough one, but if Dolphins' free agency can include the great one, Tom Brady, then it should.
Let’s start with the fact that we all hope Tua Tagovailoa gets healthy and comes back next season … if independent doctors fully OK it. No one wants to see a promising athlete’s career end at 24 years old, but what we really don’t want to see is Tua’s brain get so injured that it ruins the rest of his life.
At this point, with three (two diagnosed) concussions in a 12-week span, the best decision for Tagovailoa as a person may be to hang it up. And if he does come back, the harsh reality is that another concussion could end his career at any moment.
It is hard to pivot from that to the Dolphins’ free agency needs, but that is what the Miami brass will have to do this offseason.
In the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Dolphins don’t have a pick due to tampering with Tom Brady last time around. This time, Brady is an unrestricted free agent, and Miami could sign him without getting in trouble.
Sure, Brady (likely) only has one or two years left in him. But the Dolphins are built to win now, and having the greatest winner in NFL history under center will help them do that.
As for Brady, he would have a good line in Miami and two of the best wide receivers he’s ever played with in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. And the best part about them is how comfortable they are operating underneath and going vertical, which are the two types of throws Brady specializes in late in his career.
The Dolphins may be on double-secret probation from the league when it comes to signing Tom Brady this offseason. If they’re not, though, they need to go do it.
Follow Us
Subscribe