Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins reportedly hosted free-agent pass-rusher Melvin Ingram for a visit Monday, according to Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald.

The 32-year-old has spent his entire nine-year career with the Chargers since being selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. He earned three straight Pro Bowl selections from 2017-19.

In 2020, Ingram was limited by a knee injury that cost him nine games and led to two different trips to the injured reserve.

Though the veteran was held without a sack last season, he has 49 in his career, including 43 from 2015-19. He has proved he can be an impactful player defensively if he can return to full strength.

The South Carolina product could be a useful addition for Miami, which is looking to improve upon last season's 10-6 record with a defense that allowed the sixth-fewest points in the NFL.

Adding an experience pass-rusher would go a long way after losing Shaq Lawson and Kyle Van Noy to free agency. Emmanuel Ogbah and Andrew Van Ginkel will return while the team drafted Jaelan Phillips in the first round, but depth could be a major concern on the front seven heading into 2021.

Having athleticism on the perimeter will also be important when facing Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen twice a year.

Ingram previously visited the Kansas City Chiefs in March, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, although he didn't end up with a deal.

Jaylen Waddle signed his rookie contract with the Miami Dolphins on Friday, reuniting the Alabama star with Tua Tagovailoa, his former college quarterback.

Waddle signed a four-year deal worth $27.1 million, with the contract featuring a $17.1 million signing bonus, according to Safid Deen of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the four-year deal will be fully-guaranteed.

Per Deen, the pact includes a fifth-year option.

Miami grabbed Waddle with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, giving its franchise QB a familiar face in the huddle. Coming off a year in which the Dolphins had the 13th-worst passing offense in the league (233.5 yards per game), the addition of Waddle represents not only an investment in Tagovailoa's development but also a commitment to surrounding the QB with the type of players who make him better.

Waddle certainly did that at Alabama.

The 2020 second-team All-SEC star compiled 591 yards and four touchdowns on 28 catches last year after tallying 78 receptions for 1,408 yards and 13 touchdowns in his previous two seasons with Tagovailoa.

Now after a year apart, the two will look to pick up where they left off with the Crimson Tide. Namely, competing for championships.

Waddle is locked in for at least four years, giving Miami plenty of time to see what he can do on the field.

If he turns out anything like the last wideout the Dolphins took in the first round, it likely won't take long for Waddle to establish himself. After taking DeVante Parker No. 14 overall in 2015, the Louisville product averaged 19 yards per catch as a rookie before exploding with 1,202 yards on 72 catches in 2019 to go with nine touchdowns.

Waddle could turn out better.

B/R's NFL Scouting Department named him the fourth-best wideout in this year's class, rating him an 8.4 out of 10, which translates to an immediate starter.

With his first contract all taken care of, Waddle can focus on reaching that potential and helping move the Dolphins' rebuild ahead.

While they wilted down the stretch to narrowly miss out on the playoffs, the 2020 season was a success for the Miami Dolphins. Now, the pressure will be squarely on head coach Brian Flores to get the team into the postseason.

Miami demonstrated how quickly a team can execute a rebuild in the NFL when the process is done right.

The front office tore the roster down to the studs in 2019 while positioning the franchise to have a ton of salary-cap space and strong draft picks in the subsequent offseason. The Dolphins proceeded to win 10 games while anointing Tua Tagovailoa as their franchise quarterback.

The 23-year-old's ceiling remains something of a question, though. He threw for 1,814 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions and completed 64.1 percent of his passes in 10 games. That production wasn't otherworldly, but it was encouraging given how much his recovery from a dislocated hip limited him in the offseason.

This isn't a Super Bowl-or-bust kind of year for the Dolphins, but the bar for success will be reasonably high.

Here's a look at the road ahead for Miami as it looks to punch a ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

2021 Schedule

Analysis

The AFC East is matched up against the NFC South this year, which isn't an ideal draw but could have been worse.

The bad news for the Dolphins is they have to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints—shaping up to be the division's strongest teams again—on the road while welcoming the Carolina Panthers and rebuilding Atlanta Falcons.

The Bucs return almost all of their key players from a roster that won a Super Bowl in 2020, while the gap between Jameis Winston and a then-41-year-old Drew Brees may not be that big for the Saints. Tampa Bay in particular will serve as a solid barometer for where the Dolphins are in 2021.

Miami received some good fortune with the new 17th game. The scheduling formula matched the team up with the New York Giants, the runners-up in the NFC East.

The Giants have been active this offseason but still carry a big question mark as long as Daniel Jones is their starting quarterback.

Intra-conference clashes with the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts figure to be difficult, though the Dolphins at least get those at home.

In general, Miami's schedule isn't a murderer's row, but it does present some tough tests along the way.

Pivotal Matchups

The Ravens and Colts were wild-card teams in 2020, with the latter sneaking in ahead of the Dolphins on the final day of the regular season. They would again be Miami's direct competition for those spots, so the results could carry big consequences.

The Dolphins will also want to measure themselves against the best team in the division, the Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo edged out Miami in Week 2 last season before earning a 56-26 victory in Week 17. The Bills defense intercepted Tagovailoa three times, and his 20.2 QBR was the lowest of the year, per ESPN.com. The result encapsulated the gap between the two franchises.

The East is likely to run through Buffalo or Miami in 2021, so the Dolphins can't afford to go 0-2 against Buffalo again if they have any aspirations of sitting atop the East standings.

The Miami Dolphins are looking to take the next step toward playoff contention in 2021, and young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is doing his part. 

Dolphins head coach Brian Flores provided the latest update, via Peter King of NBC Sports:

"I never like to put it on one player. I think we've got a lot of young players, and we're looking for all of those players as well as really everyone on our team to improve in a variety of ways. If they're putting all the work in, I expect them to improve, get better, and perform better. Tua is obviously at the top of that list. He's been working. All signs point to—or I would say based on my experience—he's doing everything necessary to make some improvements. That's really all we can ask for. My thing is if you put the work in, the results will take care of themselves."

Tagovailoa had an up-and-down rookie year after being taken No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL draft. He had 1,814 passing yards in 10 appearances (nine starts), totaling 11 touchdown passes and five interceptions. 

Though he was efficient with a 64.1 completion percentage and 87.1 quarterback rating, the offense often stalled with him under center, and he was benched at times for veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.  

The Dolphins had a chance to earn a playoff spot going into Week 17, but Tagovailoa struggled against the Buffalo Bills with three interceptions in a 56-26 loss.

Despite the question marks, Tagovailoa will go into his second year as the unquestioned starter. Fitzpatrick left for the Washington Football Team, and the Dolphins didn't add another quarterback in the draft, only signing Jacoby Brissett in free agency.

Miami also invested in the rest of the offense, signing William Fuller V in free agency before drafting Jaylen Waddle, a former teammate of Tagovailoa at Alabama, with the No. 6 overall pick.

The pressure is now on the young quarterback to take advantage of the opportunity.

One story is dominating the NFL news cycle. It isn't the recently completed draft's effect on the league's balance of power. Or a prominent free agent searching for a new home.

No, the story looming large over all others is the possibility that the reigning NFL MVP could change teams.

With Aaron Rodgers reportedly so upset with the Green Bay Packers that he would sooner retire than play another game in the green and gold, sportswriters and fans of approximately 31 other teams have spent the past week-plus postulating about who could be interested in the three-time MVP (anyone with a brain) and what it could take to acquire him (everything that isn't nailed down).

However, while there is no shortage of clubs that would love to add the 37-year-old, one stands out as an optimal fit. A team that has everything it takes to appeal to both Rodgers and the Packers. A team that would shoot right to the top of the list of AFC challengers. A team that has a boatload of draft capital to use as trade bait. A team that even has a young quarterback it could offer as part of a deal.

Of all the franchises that would like to take a run at Rodgers, the one best positioned to do that just so happens to have done more to remake itself over the past couple of years than anyone.

The Miami Dolphins.

Less than two years ago, Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon wrote that the Dolphins could be in the opening stages of the worst season in league history. He wasn't wrong, either. Over the first month of the 2019 campaign, opponents outscored Miami by a staggering margin (163-26). The Dolphins lost their first seven games that year and were having a fire sale that saw prominent players like safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil traded.

However, those Dolphins rallied to win five of their last nine games to end the season 5-11. The draft capital acquired in the Tunsil and Fitzpatrick trades helped accelerate the franchise's rebuild. By the end of Brian Flores' second season as head coach, the Dolphins were a 10-win team that narrowly missed the playoffs. In the post-draft set of 2021 NFL Power Rankings here at B/R, the Dolphins checked in 10th.

Miami should be in the thick of the playoff chase in 2021. But with Rodgers under center, the Dolphins would be right there with the Buffalo Bills as the primary threat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Offensively, the Dolphins took major steps to upgrade the passing-game weaponry in both free agency and the draft. After setting career highs across the board in his fifth season, wide receiver Will Fuller V signed with the team.

Miami traded the third overall pick in the 2021 draft (obtained from Houston in the Tunsil trade) to San Francisco for a package that included three first-rounders. It then shipped a package to Philadelphia that included first-round picks in 2021 and 2022 to move back up to the sixth overall selection to take Alabama's Jaylen Waddle—another blazingly fast field-stretcher.

Combined with veteran wideout DeVante Parker and rising tight end Mike Gesicki, Waddle helps give the Dolphins a stable of pass-catchers as good as any in the division. Quite possibly better.

Defensively, the Dolphins used their second first-round pick in 2021 on Miami Hurricanes edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips. The front seven may be a little short on star power, but the secondary features arguably the league's best one-two punch at cornerback in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. Miami quietly ranked sixth in scoring defense in 2020 and third in turnover differential.

The totality of the supporting cast that would surround Rodgers in Miami may not quite be what he has in Green Bay, but if it isn't, the gap isn't especially wide. Rodgers would be exchanging the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field for the sun of South Beach. And the lack of state income tax in Florida would put a fat chunk of extra cabbage in Rodgers' pocket.

Yes, the Dolphins have a young quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa, who won six of nine starts and threw 11 touchdown passes against just five interceptions as a rookie. But with all due respect to his talent and potential, Tagovailoa ain't Rodgers—and all but certainly never will be.

While Tua was barely breaking 180 passing yards per game last year, Rodgers was averaging just under 270. Throwing a career-high 48 touchdown passes and just five picks. And posting a ridiculous passer rating of 121.5—almost 35 points higher than Tagovailoa's.

With Tagovailoa, Miami's ceiling in 2021 is a postseason trip and maybe a playoff win before getting bounced in the divisional round.

With Rodgers? Confetti raining down at SoFi Stadium as the Dolphins pass around a Lombardi Trophy. Rodgers would be easily the best quarterback Miami has had since Dan Marino in his prime.

This isn't just some pipe dream, either. In terms of draft capital, the Dolphins are better positioned than most to take a real run at a Rodgers trade. The move up to No. 6 this year cost Miami its shot at three straight years with multiple first-rounders, but the 'Fins have three extra picks next year and will be right back to having multiple first-rounders in 2023.

Four teams have an extra pick in the first round over the next two drafts. Three of those teams are in the NFC, though, and one is in Green Bay's division.

Flipping Rodgers to Detroit would kick this soap opera into Melrose Place-esque levels of melodrama. But Jared Goff's presence in the Motor City makes that all but financially impossible, and the New York Giants are tighter against the cap than Miami. The Philadelphia Eagles could have three first-round selections in 2022, but they are a rebuilding team with no cap space.

Granted, plenty of teams would like to take a run at acquiring Rodgers. Something about landing a surefire Hall of Famer is appealing for some reason. ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently offered up more than half-a-dozen suitors, from established contenders like Cleveland and Tennessee to teams like Denver and Las Vegas looking to wedge their way into the Super Bowl conversation.

But most of those potential deals involve either young players the Packers may not necessarily even want or picks spread out over more years. Those squads can't turbocharge a Green Bay rebuild like the Dolphins can.

Tagovailoa could also be used to sweeten the pot. With Jordan Love (whose selection in Round 1 last year rather started this kerfuffle) in Green Bay, the Packers may not have much interest in the fifth overall pick from 2020. But more than a few teams in the league (Denver, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh) would—especially with Tagovailoa on an affordable rookie deal for the next several years.

Add another Day 1 pick to the pot by involving Tagovailoa and a third franchise, and the Dolphins could essentially offer the Packers four first-rounders over two years for Rodgers.

If he really is hellbent on leaving, that offer is probably about as good as it's going to get.

The reality is that this is probably more thought exercise than actual possibility. In the history of the NFL, a reigning MVP has never been traded. The Packers have insisted from the get-go that they have zero intention of being the first team to do so. The most likely conclusion to this saga is mended fences, a new contract with a nice chunk of guaranteed cash and Rodgers playing for the same franchise in 2021 that he always has.

But if he truly is dead-set against playing another game for the Packers, then the Dolphins make sense (for both sides) as a trade partner.

Miami has a good enough roster to both appeal to Rodgers and justify mortgaging the future for the sake of a Super Bowl run or two. And it has the draft capital to both assemble an enticing package for the Packers (a Packer package, if you will) without gutting later for now's sake.

Of all the teams mentioned for Rodgers' second act, Miami's in the best position to actually pull it off.

That groan you just heard came from the general vicinity of Buffalo.

Salary-cap figures via Over the Cap.

Bobby McCain might not have to wait too long to find his home for the 2021 NFL season.

The safety, who was released by the Miami Dolphins on Thursday, will visit the Washington Football Team on Monday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

McCain, a team captain, spent all six seasons of his career with the Dolphins. 

McCain was a fifth-round pick out of Memphis by the Dolphins in 2015. He started a career-high 15 games in 2020 while appearing in all 16 for the fourth time, posting 46 tackles and an interception.

He finished his time in Miami with seven interceptions, four sacks and a forced fumble in addition to 254 tackles. 

The 27-year-old signed a four-year, $27 million extension with the team in 2018. According to ESPN, the Dolphins will save $5.6 million against the cap and accumulate $1.5 million in dead money. McCain's roster spot went to tight end Jibiri Blount, the son of Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount. The newcomer played basketball, not football, at North Carolina Central.

In another move that bolsters the defense, the Dolphins reportedly signed former New England Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty to work alongside the league's 2020 interception leader, Xavien Howard. 

Jason McCourty is headed to the Miami Dolphins on a one-year deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. 

The move sets him up for a reunion with Brian Flores, who worked as the Patriots defensive play-caller in 2018 before taking the head coaching job in Miami in 2019. 

McCourty, who will turn 34 years old in August, is entering his 13th NFL season. He played with the Tennessee Titans (2009-2016), Cleveland Browns (2017) and New England Patriots (2018-2020) before joining the Dolphins.

The Rutgers alum won the Super Bowl with the 2018 Patriots, starting in the secondary alongside his twin brother, Devin McCourty.

For his career, Jason McCourty has recorded 18 interceptions, 723 tackles, 106 pass breakups and four touchdowns.

He's primarily been a starter since the 2011 season, when he was the Titans' left corner. Last year, McCourty played 16 games (11 starts), registering 42 tackles and three pass breakups.

Pro Football Focus gave McCourty the following write-up when discussing his 2020 season.

"After an incredible start to his time in New England, Jason McCourty has seen his role reduced, but he still technically started 11 games in 2020 and played a versatile part within the New England defense, lining up at safety or in the slot on occasion in addition to his usual spot out wide. He is now 33 years old and coming off his lowest PFF coverage grade (51.8) since 2015. This season, he allowed a 135.0 passer rating when targeted. His versatility is useful, but McCourty isn't transforming anybody's secondary."

The 2020 season was a bit of a down year for McCourty, but it would have been hard to replicate his excellent 2019 campaign. Per Pro Football Reference, opposing quarterbacks completed just 48.2 percent of passes in his direction for 4.8 yards per target.

Now, he'll slot into a secondary that also boasts star Xavien Howard, who earned a first-team All-Pro nod in 2020. 

McCourty is still a capable defensive back who can provide depth at minimum, and he'll look to continue his stellar career in Miami.