If the Miami Dolphins plan to have a free agency clash next week – and it looks like they do – the team will get much-needed clarity on what their top priorities will be. At 4 p.m. EST this afternoon, he went through the NFL window to designate free agents as “franchise players” under the franchise label; a deadline that drove many actions across the league as teams went on to retain their best players with expiring contracts. Some, like Broncos ’Justin Simmons safety designation, were expected. Others, like the Jaguars ’decision to place OT Cam Robinson under the franchise label, will have no impact on the Dolphins.
But a free agent who has been rumored by Miami as a potential target came unscathed until the franchise deadline, as the Green Bay Packers chose not to put Aaron Jones under brand control. Although, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team will continue to work next week to try to get a longer contract extension with Jones to keep him at Green Bay.
According to reports, the Dolphins, who saw a number of possible targets withdrawn from the market, will look closely at Jones if he is still available by entering the agency’s “legal manipulation” window next Monday – and it was reported that Jones will have a mutual interest in bringing his talents to South Florida.
If the Dolphins hired Jones, it would provide the team with some added flexibility in the early parts of the 2021 NFL draft. And that could provide Miami with a more impactful player at the start of the draft, while allowing them to incorporate a player into a more valued position and keeping him under a rookie contract for several seasons.
So there are economic and talented motivations for Miami to pursue Jones, and the adjustment makes a lot of sense as long as the Dolphins don’t match some of the suggested numbers that a new contract would cost Jones (more than $ 10 million). per season)). The price will have to be right for Miami. But we now know that the price of the roughly $ 11 million franchise tag was too high for Green Bay, which augurs the potential for the Dolphins to land Jones at a more reasonable price next week.