The Miami Dolphins reportedly did make an offer to former third overall pick and Dolphins legacy John Bosa, but came up short and watched him join the team they’ve been trying to unseat atop the AFC East.
The question now is whether this is a big deal.
Bosa agreed to terms with the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday night on a one-year deal reportedly worth $12.6 million. The Dolphins offered less than $8 million, according to Michael Silver of The Athletic, so they really weren’t that close.
That Bosa ended up with the Bills was a surprise considering it was believed he’d join his brother Nick with the San Francisco 49ers or play for the team that made his father John a first-round pick in the 1987 NFL draft.
John Bosa’s NFL career was derailed by injuries and he was done after three seasons that featured 31 games, 21 starts and seven sacks.
Bosa made $8 million in base salary last season, so it didn’t figure he would come cheap for any team that wanted to sign him.
But it always felt like a strange fit for the Dolphins.
Particularly after news of Bradley Chubb taking a significant pay cut late last week to bring down his cap number, a move that would suggest he’s part of the team’s plans in 2025.
The Dolphins also already have 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson coming off a very impressive second half of his rookie season, plus 2021 first-round selection Jaelan Phillips looking to bounce back from his 2024 ACL injury, which of course followed his 2023 Achilles injury.
Unless the Dolphins have something in mind with any of their current edge defenders, it doesn’t seem as though the position is screaming with a big-ticket addition but rather for a solid mid-level veteran to protect in case Chubb and/or Phillips can’t regain their previous form.
Bosa also is a player who has dealt with injuries in recent years, missing 23 games over the past three seasons.
And while he still flashes his first-round ability, the reality is that Bosa didn’t top 6.5 sacks in any of the past three years after reaching double digits four times in his first six NFL seasons.
The Chargers absorbed a cap hit of $11 million of dead money to get Bosa off their books, a move they likely wouldn’t have made if he were still a high-end performer.
The Dolphins had $28 million of cap space after the Chubb and Terron Armstead contract restructures, but had have a lot of players to sign or re-sign and they always were more likely to take a volume approach in free agency.
And if they do sign a big-ticket player, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to do it as a position where they do have talent and numbers, especially for a veteran in the second half (if not the fourth quarter) of his career.
So we’ll just say that Dolphins interest in Joey Bosa certainly made for a good headline, but it really never was the most logical move for the team.
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