Will the Dolphins Go for Big Name at Wide Receiver Again?

After the failed Odell Beckham Jr. experiment, the Miami Dolphins still could use a great third wide receiver option behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

And if they want to go with the big-name approach, well, they certainly are going to have a lot of options this offseason.

The list of impending unrestricted free agents or players already cut or on the trading block at wide receiver includes a lot of big names.

A whole lot.

Here we go: Davante Adams, DK Metcalf, Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams, Robert Woods, Chris Godwin.

With all due respect to all the wide receivers on the roster not named Hill or Waddle, any of those would be an instant upgrade over what the Dolphins currently have.

THE DOLPHINS DILEMMA AT WIDE RECEIVER

But the Dolphins are operating under some financial constraints because they still were over the salary cap before Bradley Chubb agreed Wednesday to restructure his contract and they still have only 49 players on the roster.

This means we probably can forget about the big-ticket players, and this is where we point out that Adams, Diggs, Allen, Godwin and Cooper all are coming off contracts that averaged more than $20 million annually.

Of the players we listed above, only Woods came in at under $10 million.

Given what they’re paying Hill and Waddle, the Dolphins aren’t really in a position to spend big money on a third wide receiver — and, yes, we continue to operate under the assumption that Hill will be on the roster in 2025 — but maybe one of them would be willing to play for the Dolphins for a reasonable amount.

That would apply to players who have slowed down in recent years and maybe have some kind of ties to Miami or the Dolphins. For example, Cooper wasn’t much of a factor for the Buffalo Bills after they acquired him in a trade from the Cleveland Browns last year and probably can’t command a huge contract anymore.

Cooper, for those not aware, played at Miami Northwestern High before going to Alabama.

But the reality is if the Dolphins go free agent shopping at wide receiver — the idea of trading for one doesn’t make a ton of sense given all the team’s needs — it likely will be for a second-tier free agent.

The names to watch here, from this vantage point, would include a couple of former Dolphins players, Mack Hollins and Trent Sherfield.

Other intriguing options would include Tim Patrick of the Detroit Lions, Josh Palmer of the L.A. Chargers and Demarcus Robinson of the L.A. Rams.

It’s also not out of the question the Dolphins could re-sign one of their own impending free agents, whether it be River Cracraft or Braxton Berrios or Dee Eskridge.

THE FAILED OBJ EXPERIMENT

What the Dolphins don’t want is an OBJ repeat.

And the problem there was that he wasn’t going to be ready for the start of training camp, which caused him to miss the start of the regular season, and once he got into the lineup he simply was just another guy, not close to the star he once was in his prime.