The Miami Dolphins have built an exciting roster in a relatively short period of time. Miami started aggressively building a contender two year ago and has since added exciting players like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Jalen Ramsey, and De'Von Achane. The Dolphins have a reputation as an incredibly fast offense, and that has led them to some impressive success in the regular season. They even put 70 points up on the Broncos in Week 3.

Miami has continued to build the roster this offseason.

They let superstar defensive tackle Christian Wilkins walk in free agency and used the money they could've spent on him to add depth across the roster. Jordan Poyer, Jordyn Brooks, Shaquill Barrett, and Kendall Fuller should all become heavy contributors on defense. Meanwhile, Aaron Brewer and Jonnu Smith aren't sexy additions on offense but fill important positions of need.

Miami also added some excellent players in the 2024 NFL Draft. Chop Robinson should be a terror off the edge and offensive tackle Patrick Paul could see the field quicker than anyone realizes. There are reasons to be excited about the Dolpins moving forward.

However, the Dolphins have made a few risky moves this offseason. Let's explore a few moves that have a chance to burn the Dolphins in 2024.

Replacing Christian Wilkins in the aggregate could lead to defensive regression

Let's start by pointing out that extending Christian Wilkins could have been difficult for Miami. The Dolphins can only extend so many of their stars, especially with Tua Tagovailoa's possibly massive contract extension lurking in the near future.

That being said, retaining Wilkins would not have been impossible.

Wilkins signed a four-year, $110 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. That looks like a huge contract in terms of average annual salary (because it is), but that doesn't accurately reflect Wilkins' salary cap figure year to year. Case in point – Wilkins will only count $10 million towards Las Vegas' cap in 2024. That figure jumps to $30+ million in future seasons but is comfortably affordable right now.

If the Dolphins really wanted to retain Wilkins, they could have stomached a $10 million cap hit this year.

But let's switch our attention to the actual risk here — letting Wilkins walk could seriously change Miami's defense.

Wilkins was a force multiplier in the middle of the Dolphins defense. Losing Wilkins should cause a ripple effect, making life a little bit harder for everyone else on Miami's defense.

Then we must consider who the Dolphins replaced Wilkins with. The combination of Neville Gallimore, Benito Jones, and Teair Tart is solid but not great. Miami now has multiple players with unique skill sets at defensive tackle. This allows them to rotate their players based on what an offense presents and which types of plays the Dolphins want to stop.

At the end of the day that may be the most reasonable approach to take from a salary cap management perspective. However, it is easy to see Miami's defense regressing in 2024 after losing one of their best players.

Was Jaylen Wright worth a fourth-round pick?

Everyone knows that the Dolphins offense is built for speed.

Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle — all of Miami's playmakers are incredibly fast players.

So why not add even more speed with Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright? The debate ultimately comes down to team building philosophy and the evaluation of Jaylen Wright as a prospect.

Before the 2024 NFL Draft, the Dolphins already had Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane, and Jeff Wilson Jr. in their running back room. All three players are speedy players who fit the running scheme that McDaniel loves to run.

Adding Jaylen Wright to this room gives the Dolphins another young speedster and an eventual replacement for Raheem Mostert. However, it is an open question of how much he will see the field in 2024. Wright would have to prove that he is immediately a better option than the other three backs on the team, all of whom are already familiar with the scheme.

That being the case, it is hard to see how much value the Dolphins will get out of their fourth-round pick in 2024.

Miami may have been better off adding a different type of back to add another way to attack defenses. We all saw how the Dolphins crumbled while playing in the frigid temperatures in the playoffs. Just because Miami struggled in one playoff game does not mean they need to abandon what has worked for them. However, it should have been a wake up call that they need more than one way to succeed on offense.