00:00 ESPN's Dan Graziano had a very
00:03 interesting report around the Miami
00:05 Dolphins and Christian Wilkins yesterday
00:08 and you better buckle up is we're in the
00:11 endgame now franchise tag talk here
00:16 dolphins you are locked on dolphins your
00:19 daily Miami Dolphins podcast part of the
00:22 locked on podcast Network your team
00:28 day oh all right Miami welcome to
00:33 another episode of Locked on dolphins it
00:36 is your team every day here on the
00:38 locked on network I'm your host Cal
00:40 crabs a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan host
00:42 of locked on dolphins co-host of locked
00:44 on NFL scouting you can find our shows
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00:56 it here on the locked on network today's
00:58 episode of Locked on dolphins is brought
00:59 brought to you by FanDuel make every
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01:13 started and we have entered into the not
01:18 faint of heart chapter of the waiting
01:22 game between uh the end of the NFL
01:25 season and the start of the league
01:28 calendar year because ESPN Dan Graziano
01:31 went on ESPN network television
01:33 yesterday and said the following
01:35 statement as it pertains to one of
01:38 Miami's biggest looming free agents the
01:41 Dolphins don't plan on letting Christian
01:43 Wilkins leave if that means franchising
01:46 him that's likely what they'll
01:50 do okay um we did the other week on the
01:55 show what the ideal outcome was for the
01:59 Christian Wilkins Saga at this stage of
02:01 the game and My outcome for the most
02:03 preferable long-term benefits of both
02:06 Christian Wilkins and of the Dolphins
02:09 included the franchise tag but it was
02:11 hypothetically with a tag and trade
02:15 scenario that uh is only half of what
02:19 was disclosed here from Dan Graziano it
02:21 sounding as though the Dolphins are
02:23 really intent on letting Christian
02:27 Wilkins stay in Miami for at least
02:29 another season now there's of course the
02:33 game that's being played in the same way
02:36 that the conversation around Tu aanga
02:37 ala's contract extension is put out
02:40 there into the ethos that he has a
02:43 strong argument because of the rising
02:45 salary cap to be right in line with the
02:47 market reset dollars right that gets put
02:50 out there into space and you hear that
02:51 and you say hm I wonder if athletes
02:53 first had any nudge towards that NFL
02:56 Network report ESPN obviously this
02:58 statement is coming through from the
03:00 perspective of the team so this could be
03:03 factually what the Dolphins plan on
03:05 doing this could be a leverage play from
03:07 the Dolphins to try to help better
03:09 facilitate Christian Wilkins to acques
03:12 in some of the contract negotiations
03:14 that have been ongoing for the better
03:16 part of a year with Christian Wilkins
03:19 but it is particularly notable that
03:21 Graziano's report says the Dolphins
03:23 don't plan on letting Christian Wilkins
03:25 leave if that means franchising him
03:28 that's likely what they will
03:32 so we kind of have to recalibrate some
03:34 of our conversations and that's exactly
03:36 what I'm going to do here today on the
03:37 show with the objective being look if
03:41 the Dolphins want to do this what does
03:43 it look like and you go all the way back
03:45 through this whole Saga this whole
03:48 salary cap debate for the past 12 plus
03:51 months for dolphins outlets and content
03:54 creators and beat writers and podcasters
03:58 and everybody in between
04:01 my stance has always been that dolphins
04:03 are going to be able to do whatever they
04:07 do and I've said before and I'll say
04:10 again very often it's not what you say
04:12 it's how you say it I can hear how some
04:15 people may hear that and say well Kyle
04:17 doesn't think there's any problems or
04:19 limitations but in reality what I am
04:21 saying is if the Dolphins decide to do
04:25 something there will be nothing that
04:27 precludes them from doing it it doesn't
04:29 you get to do everything you want to do
04:32 but the Dolphins it's always been
04:34 they're going to have all their options
04:35 on the table and no matter what outcomes
04:38 they decide to say you know what we want
04:40 to prioritize this and that they're
04:42 going to have the ability to do it case
04:44 in point potentially putting Christian
04:47 Wilkins on the franchise tag to play a
04:49 season hypothetically now the report
04:52 from grao did include uh cap space being
04:55 an obstacle so they'd be better off
04:56 signing him long term maybe that's kind
04:59 of the context clue you need to know
05:00 that the Dolphins are putting this out
05:02 there to try to facilitate Wilkins to
05:04 bend a little bit on whatever he's
05:06 hoping for in negotiations I don't know
05:09 you can try to read between the lines as
05:10 best you can you know the game within
05:11 the game but if the Dolphins decide yeah
05:14 we're g to franchise tag chrisan W
05:15 because he's not going he's not
05:18 going now there's concessions and other
05:21 decisions and consequences that are
05:22 going to take place elsewhere across the
05:24 roster I've done that so we can talk
05:26 about that for the rest of the
05:28 show when we did the show the other week
05:30 and I said you know the worst case
05:32 scenario is Christian wi's playing on
05:34 the franchise tag because you're
05:36 potentially looking at a fifth year
05:38 option year for Tua that's over $23
05:40 million and then a franchise tag for a
05:42 defensive tackle which is over $20
05:44 million with the salary cap being what
05:46 it is that's a little
05:48 prohibitive that's where I think this uh
05:51 pro football talk NBC sports report of
05:53 an extra $8 million in salary cap space
05:56 comes into play that opens up a little
05:57 bit more flexibility for a franchise tag
06:00 uh to be included on the roster it's
06:02 still the most prohibitive thing that
06:04 you can do this year but if the Dolphins
06:07 want to do it they ain't G to stop them
06:10 from doing it they've got more
06:12 restructure capability than any other
06:14 team in the NFL right now as far as
06:16 dollars that they can create now that
06:18 might include some dollars that you're
06:21 uh creating that that maybe change the
06:24 Dynamics of how cleanly you get out of
06:26 contracts in the coming years we'll talk
06:29 about that on the show as well when we
06:30 talk about moves that help but at the
06:33 end of the day whatever the Dolphins
06:35 decide they want to do this has always
06:38 been the stance they're going to be able
06:40 to do and the report that Christian
06:42 Wilkins may be facing the franchise tag
06:45 is a little bit of a surprise but then
06:47 also you remind yourself if they decide
06:49 it's the most critical piece of their
06:51 offseason to ensure that it gets taken
06:53 care of and they retain his Services
06:56 they're going to do it because they have
06:58 the flexibility now I've been pretty
06:59 close-minded to it because it's not what
07:01 I would do and if you do franchise tag
07:04 him I would make sure that I make the
07:07 other corresponding moves and I would
07:09 still explore trade for Christian
07:12 Wilkins because there is the needs of
07:14 the many versus the needs of the field
07:16 which has been kind of the buzzword
07:17 about the decisions surrounding
07:19 Christian Wilkins in general versus the
07:21 ability to feel a remodeled or retain
07:25 your players on the offensive line I
07:27 think Christian Wilkins the number one
07:29 Domino that comes with Christian Wilkins
07:31 is both of those interior offensive
07:32 linemen who missed half the season for
07:34 you last year but were quality starters
07:36 and Robert hunt and Conor Williams those
07:40 gone again Christian Wilkins them
07:43 deciding to do whatever they want
07:45 doesn't mean there's no consequences it
07:47 just means there's nothing prohibiting
07:48 them from doing whatever they feel are
07:51 the utmost of importance Personnel moves
07:54 to make and The Dominoes that shake out
07:56 after that they're going to find a way
07:58 to piece it together and if it works
07:59 great and if it doesn't it going to be
08:03 problem but it'll still be our problem
08:05 because we're going to be covering the
08:06 team here on LIF Dolphins so let's talk
08:08 about the moves that help this happen if
08:11 it does let's talk about where uh Miami
08:16 can go what levers they can pull what
08:18 cuts they can make what restructures
08:21 exist what extensions that can be
08:25 done and then we'll talk about the
08:26 spending expectation that comes after
08:29 that next here on this episode of Locked
08:31 on dolphins so stick with
08:35 us today's episode of Locked on dolphins
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08:43 something off of our chest big or small
08:46 certain things can really start to weigh
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09:00 have bigger problems than our favorite
09:02 sports team using or not using the
09:04 franchise tag on one of your favorite
09:05 players so it's important to get those
09:07 things off of your chest uh betterhelp
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09:25 lockon so accommodating a Christian
09:31 tag in 2024 for the
09:34 Dolphins one of the things that we
09:37 acknowledge is your veteran players that
09:39 are going to be here for at least the
09:40 next two seasons they're all in a
09:42 universal bucket if they are big
09:44 contracts they're getting restructured
09:47 to the maximum degree so that includes
09:49 Tyreek Hill Bradley chub Zack sealer who
09:53 you just gave a contract to you could
09:55 restructure Zack sealer and save $4.7
09:56 million in gap space so so according to
09:59 over the cap and there's more savings
10:01 power that can be had depending on if
10:03 you implement void years on the back end
10:04 of these contracts or not so at a
10:06 minimum if you Max restructure Tyreek
10:08 Hill with the salary and bonuses that he
10:11 has available you can cut his cap number
10:14 to under $19 million you could save 12 a
10:15 half million against the cap Jaylen
10:18 Ramsey has $1 million in roster bonus in
10:21 addition to a salary base salary you can
10:23 restructure all of that into a new
10:25 signing bonus and his salary cap number
10:27 checks in this season at $9 million you
10:30 can save $8.2 million against the cap by
10:32 restructuring Jaylen Ramsey Bradley chub
10:35 you can save $14 million too when we
10:37 that contract was first signed one of
10:39 the things that I admired about it was
10:41 how it was structured in a way that gave
10:43 you very easy leverage to pull to save a
10:45 lot of cap space but also if you wanted
10:47 to get out of that contract quickly
10:48 based on how it was initially structured
10:50 you could Bradley Chell played
10:52 outstanding football this year until he
10:54 unfortunately had the knee injury week
10:55 17 all intents and purposes we're
10:58 assuming he's going to continue to do
10:59 that once he recovers from his injury
11:01 whether we see him in the first month of
11:02 the Season or not remains to be seen but
11:04 you can restructure all of his dollars
11:07 and his salary cap hit goes to
11:12 million Zach celer we mentioned you can
11:14 cut his cap hit to $5.6 million with a
11:17 restructure of his base salary the other
11:20 restructure that's possible here and
11:22 I've alluded to this um maybe not the
11:25 most popular idea in the
11:27 world but the other thing that you can
11:30 do is you can restructure teron
11:34 Armstead would I be surprised if the
11:36 Dolphins ultimately decided to do this
11:39 no I would not um it was reported
11:42 yesterday that he is probably going to
11:44 be back obviously there is a health and
11:47 availability durability component for
11:50 Armstead the retirement was floated
11:53 around this off season but I've ran the
11:55 numbers he's doe 13 and a quarter
11:58 million dollar in salary plus 60
12:02 $650,000 as a bonus for making the Pro
12:06 that's I'm going to do the math live on
12:08 the show $ 13.9 million in salary plus
12:11 the pro-rated dollars from his previous
12:13 commitments and he also has
12:18 as his incentive money for last year
12:21 which was however many games you were
12:23 active with a maximum of $1 million so
12:25 he got the portioned out bit of that so
12:29 his cap commitment for this upcoming
12:38 78857 you could restructure he's got
12:40 three years left on his deal you could
12:41 restructure and put a void year on the
12:44 deal if you did that if you did that say
12:47 you take an even number take1 million of
12:52 million salary that that or of cash that
12:55 Toronto arm said has owed he's got three
12:58 years remaining on his deal if you added
13:00 a void year on the back end of it for a
13:02 fourth year for a dummy you would save
13:04 $9 million against the cap this year to
13:07 cut his cap commitment to 11.7
13:11 million if you did that with the
13:13 understanding that we're going to post
13:15 June 1st wave teron Armstead or he's
13:17 going to retire next year and you
13:19 process it post June 1st they'll have no
13:22 more guaranteed money left for salary
13:23 purposes so you don't have to
13:25 restructure anything you say look teron
13:28 last ride we're going to restructure you
13:30 we're going to process your retirement
13:32 or we're going to cut you post June 1st
13:33 it's up to you if you have that
13:36 understanding here's the Fallout from
13:38 restructuring Toronto Armstead you save
13:40 $9 million against the cap this
13:43 year if you post June 1 in next year in
13:46 2025 versus the originally scheduled cap
13:55 2065 million in cap commitment into
14:00 2025 you would gain $1.3
14:04 million against the cat by cutting him
14:07 or re process his in retirement in 2025
14:09 post June 1st so you save 11.3 versus
14:11 what you're on the books for right now
14:14 and then you would save 8.3 in 2026
14:17 versus what he's currently on the books
14:18 for in the final year of his
14:21 contract so I save 9 million this year I
14:25 post June 1st of next year and then save
14:29 11.3 million versus what he's currently
14:31 on the books for and then in 2026 I save
14:33 8.3 million of what I'm currently on the
14:36 books for is it better and ideal to get
14:39 out of the contract as clean as possible
14:42 yes of course it is but this is the
14:45 point if the Dolphins want to do
14:48 something they're going to be able to do
14:50 it there's enough different ways to
14:53 finesse and fudge and work this system
14:57 that you can manufacture and for teron
14:59 Armstead to know my exit ramp includes
15:02 $9 million in savings this year when I'm
15:04 trying to spend and I know I'm taking
15:06 the exit ramp next year and I'll save
15:08 11.3 versus what I'm on the hook for
15:10 right now and then I'll save 8.3 the
15:13 year after that by restructuring $12
15:16 million of money into a signing uh new
15:19 signing bonus with a fourth year on the
15:21 back end of the deal that is a void year
15:23 where he's not under contract I mean
15:24 that money gets accelerated up when you
15:26 cut him anyway but the point is it's
15:29 another year as a placeholder so instead
15:30 of dividing $12 million by three you get
15:34 to divide it by four and you save an
15:36 extra million against the cap this
15:40 year you can do it I've done the
15:44 numbers and what I can tell you is if
15:47 you do it $9 million plus this perceived
15:52 Pro footall talk NBC Sports $8 million
15:55 more of salary cap space was projected
15:57 at 42 might clo check in at 250 I'm not
16:00 a math guy but I can tell you 8 plus 9
16:02 is 17 I can tell you the franchise tags
16:04 in the 20s you're almost all the way
16:07 there for those two things
16:10 alone there's a long-term sustainability
16:17 yes but the Dolphins were always either
16:19 going to build until it broke and then
16:20 have one down year and hopefully you
16:22 want enough in the meantime where
16:23 everybody keeps their jobs for the
16:25 transition or they were going to try to
16:27 slow play the transition year over-year
16:29 and remain competitive and not have the
16:31 bottom Dropout and keep chasing dubs
16:34 they could do it either way you just
16:37 have to achieve a certain amount of
16:38 success to give you the grace for when
16:41 the transition needs to happen one way
16:45 other we didn't mention Jerome Baker uh
16:48 who I think is a a contract extension
16:50 cut candidate as well could save you
16:52 9.4 if you wanted to give him a contract
16:55 extension you could cut his salary cap
16:57 in half to about 7 and half $8 million
16:59 depending on what what uh his salary
17:01 he's owed like $10 million in cash if
17:03 that becomes a signing bonus how many
17:05 years are you extending him out what
17:07 does that look like but you can create
17:11 again another $7 million in c space by
17:14 extending Jerome Baker or you can save
17:16 9.4 by cutting Jerome Baker do you want
17:17 to open up another need on the team
17:21 not and then there's the two a Tong of
17:23 aowa contract extension which is kind of
17:26 looming variable here as well
17:30 if you gave Tua a monster contract I've
17:33 been studying the quarterback contracts
17:35 of Justin Herbert and Joe burrow and
17:38 Lamar Jackson and Jaylen Herz Patrick
17:41 Mahomes who's got a really unique
17:42 contract structure all these dudes with
17:45 these big money quarterback
17:48 contracts if they're going to have to
17:50 find a way to thread the needle right
17:52 with Tua and they want to make the
17:54 commitment because of the benefit of the
17:56 short-term cap space and the long term
17:58 stability of knowing what direction they
18:00 have at quarterback you can like it or
18:02 not like it don't come at me it's just
18:03 like yesterday on the show we talked
18:05 about Tyreek Hill and Jaylen W said if
18:07 you're going to trade a wide receiver
18:09 don't trade the 25y old on a rookie
18:11 contract you got a 30-some wide receiver
18:13 who's owed 60 million dollar in three
18:15 years that would be the name that would
18:16 be on the conversation people in the
18:18 comments Kyle you're talking crazy
18:19 talking trading D kill I'm not trying to
18:23 anybody I'm saying if you want to
18:24 maximize your window you keep the
18:27 players that are here you try to
18:30 complement with the proper ancillary
18:32 places pieces around it and I think
18:33 that's the appropriate thing for the
18:34 Dolphins to do you want to tear it all
18:37 down because you don't believe in this
18:39 that or the other thing or so and so so
18:41 and so and so and so that's
18:44 fine I'm not trying to trade Tyreek Hill
18:46 if I were trading Tyreek Hill I'd trade
18:48 him in two years in the last year of his
18:49 deal I'm not trading him now because
18:50 dolphins are they're gonna be
18:52 competitive in 2024 you might not think
18:54 so because they lost three games at the
18:56 but like I'm overing feeling sorry for
19:02 it I say all that to say
19:04 this Christian Wilkins on the franchise
19:07 tag plus the $8 million in what has been
19:11 reported from NBC Sports as extra salary
19:16 reported plus contract restructures of
19:20 Tyreek Hill Jaylen Ramsey Bradley chub
19:22 Toronto Armstead Zack
19:24 seeler plus cutting Emanuel ogba
19:28 Jeff Wilson and Keon cron plus contract
19:33 extensions for Jerome Baker and two a
19:37 Al okay players that are going to be
19:39 here either get new contracts or they
19:42 restructured we already went through the
19:43 exit strategy on the Toronto armad
19:45 contract is kind of the controversial
19:47 contract restructure That
19:49 Remains the extra cap we already covered
19:51 Christian Wilkins where are the Dolphins
19:53 at in cap space after all
19:58 $30 million in cash
20:01 Spas what can you do with that well you
20:03 got to go over who's left to be resigned
20:05 on the rest of the team you got to talk
20:07 about free agent needs draft needs all
20:09 that kind of stuff that's next here on
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20:44 NBA so $30 million in cap
20:48 space approximately and it depends on
20:51 what how much of a signing bonus you
20:52 give to a Tong ofo it might be more than
20:54 that i g a big like my my forecasted and
20:57 and we're not ready to have that
20:59 conversation here in segment three of a
21:00 Thursday show but I think I have my Tu a
21:03 tongue of aloa like compromise what I
21:07 would want to offer versus what their
21:10 Camp wants to offer so finding some
21:12 Middle Ground there for a competitive
21:14 offer quarterback contract extension for
21:19 done I could tell you the the number for
21:21 year one on the cap in that regard is$
21:23 135 million so you open up$ 10 million
21:29 um that does lock him in long term
21:34 you can accomplish with Christian
21:37 Wilkins he's gonna want Jeffrey Simmons
21:40 dollars plus which is 23 per I would
21:42 imagine after the season that he just
21:44 had do you get that done do you get that
21:47 done in Lou of Conor Williams and Robert
21:49 hunt I would say probably I would assume
21:52 if if Christian's back even with all
21:54 these other moves Connor and Robert hunt
21:57 are probably out the window and maybe
21:59 that's helpful for you like ideally you
22:01 find players that have uh experience in
22:04 the same system so there's not kind of
22:07 learning curve and growing pains I know
22:09 that was something that was talked about
22:10 from year one to year two is
22:13 system if that's what you're going to do
22:16 maybe you want to change your your body
22:18 types up front and I think Robert Hunt's
22:20 a universal body type but I mean if he's
22:22 in intent on getting $15 million per
22:24 when we did our our Robert hunt contract
22:26 offer the other day or the other week
22:28 I came in said I'd offer about 13 135
22:31 and if you start getting up higher over
22:33 that then I do ask myself the question
22:35 can I get 85% of the player for 60% of
22:39 cost is that the frame of mind of the
22:41 Dolphins I don't know but is it you know
22:44 retaining Christian
22:45 Wilkins and we do think we can find 85%
22:48 of the player at 60% of the
22:50 cost I think you can continue to
22:53 justify um this being a pathway that the
22:56 Dolphins take and that all comes back to
22:58 the core Central thought going all the
23:01 way back when when this team kind of
23:02 push ships in in 2023 and say hey we're
23:04 we're going for it is they're going to
23:06 be able to accomplish whatever primary
23:08 objectives they decide they get to
23:10 choose what the primary objectives are I
23:12 get sit here and put my lens on the team
23:13 as much as I want just like Travis win
23:16 can put his lens on the team as much as
23:18 he wants or Allan poar can put his lens
23:21 on the team as much as he wants or Adam
23:22 Beasley could put the lens on this team
23:24 as much as he wants or whatever else
23:27 they're the ones that are a decision so
23:29 all we can do is speculate as best as we
23:32 can but the thought has always been
23:34 whatever they choose to prioritize it
23:36 they're going to be able to do there's
23:37 going to be so nothing that's so
23:39 restrictive that you can't get something
23:41 done and what do you choose to be the
23:43 nuclear fallout from that whether you
23:45 choose to as I have tried to say
23:49 is uh an opportunity to to get realigned
23:52 in the what you determine are your
23:54 ancillary parts of your roster or the
23:56 other end the other end of that spect is
23:58 Omar has called it kind of a cap
24:04 apocalypse but if I know I restructure
24:07 my players that are here for the next
24:09 years I my quarterback contract
24:12 extension because they're going to want
24:15 one I trim some very easily avoidable
24:18 fat and notice I didn't even mention
24:20 xaven Howard because he's going to be a
24:23 post June 1st so you can't do anything
24:25 with that money in the here and now you
24:27 could find a trade partner and save like
24:29 million I don't think that's going to
24:31 happen if it does you're not getting
24:32 more than a five and if it does happen
24:34 great you get the $2 million your books
24:36 are clear for 2025 you have no dead cap
24:39 for for xaven in that regard and then
24:41 you just have to be a little bit more
24:42 tight lipped with what you're doing post
24:45 1st because there's not going to be a
24:47 lot of other levers to pull after Howard
24:51 but Howard's your big Trump play in my
24:52 mind right now post June 1st when you
24:56 open up 14 million $15 million in Cas
25:02 space but of the other remaining
25:04 expiring contracts I mean half these
25:07 guys I'm not particularly interested in
25:09 bringing Isaiah win back or Robbie
25:11 chosen back or Eli apple back or Justin
25:13 Houston or Nick needam or Melvin Ingram
25:17 Jones Bruce irvan or Tyler
25:20 Croft I think of Deshawn hand if if you
25:24 bring back Christian then you really can
25:26 just leave leave that spot on the
25:27 defensive line open and go find somebody
25:31 it I'm mildly interested in bringing
25:33 back rayon Davis I think Justin bethl is
25:35 a special teams guys a great option he's
25:37 gonna be $1.2 million
25:40 okay you need to find a
25:43 punter I mean they're they're at most1
25:47 dollars Kendall lamb I double his pay I
25:53 pay make sure that man's back on the
25:56 team this year uh Robert Jones is a
25:58 restrictive free agent I think is a a
26:00 roster B NFL offensive lineman you don't
26:02 usually let guys like that go especially
26:03 when they're 25 years
26:05 old baros less than what he made last
26:09 year as a primary special teams guy wide
26:15 gingle definitely interested deshun
26:17 Elliott definitely interested but if
26:19 you're going to let the two offensive
26:20 lineman Walker you're GNA say look we're
26:22 going to reset the money there I know
26:24 teams aren't fans aren't going to like
26:26 that but how do you choose to go can can
26:29 you find a starter in free agency and
26:31 then you have to hit on a draft pick you
26:34 have to hit on a draft pick it's an
26:36 uncomfortable spot to be in because they
26:38 haven't had great track record there and
26:39 the one track record success that they
26:41 did have before Austin Jackson turned
26:42 around is a guy who you're getting ready
26:44 to walk out the door and Robert
26:46 hunt but if you're choosing between the
26:48 two and you choose Christian Wilkins
26:50 over Robert hunt you say hey
26:52 look Connor and his aspirations not
26:55 where we're going to pay it's a great
26:57 great Center class in free agency it's a
27:00 great Center class in the draft it's a
27:02 great interior offensive line class in
27:05 agency it's a terrible offensive tackle
27:07 class so I'm glad we're not in that that
27:12 boat so I I would just say kind of
27:15 setting expectations if they maxed
27:17 everything else out to the best of their
27:18 ability and maybe they don't do it all
27:20 at once right maybe they do it just as
27:22 they need to to create space hey we want
27:24 to make a move hey this guy wants to
27:25 sign let's pull one lever boom we're
27:27 going to create just enough space boom
27:29 we'll fit the contract in the books two
27:32 days later hey so and so once a sign
27:34 boom do the next one now we can fit the
27:36 contract on the books build it all the
27:38 way through boom we can do a contract
27:40 extension here because we need space if
27:41 you have all this stuff that's kind of
27:43 building and ready to go you don't have
27:44 to Max yourself out unless you find
27:46 yourself in a position where we need
27:48 more space which would be what I think
27:51 is the admirable and respectable thing
27:53 to do don't empty the chamber all at
27:55 once and then get to the end of the road
27:57 and say man we didn't really need to do
27:59 those last three things we had enough
28:01 space with the guys that we wanted to
28:04 anyway you can take it as you
28:06 go they're going to be able to do what
28:08 they want to do now not without
28:10 repercussions not without consequences
28:12 and not without guys that they're going
28:13 to choose to prioritize finding more
28:18 for Dan Graziano seems to think
28:21 Christian Wilkins is priority 1A for
28:24 team even if it's on the franchise tag
28:26 which is not an attractive option but
28:29 the conversation beyond that is if you
28:31 get Christian under contract or on on
28:33 the franchise tag one of the other
28:35 leverage that you could then pull is you
28:38 have a oneyear 20 plus million do fully
28:40 guaranteed salary if you do iron out a
28:42 contract extension boom that shoe can
28:44 drop that's a lever and just like xaven
28:47 Howard magically now you can have more
28:48 cap space for post June 1st if you
28:50 figure out the contract
28:55 extension and then 2025 going to come
28:57 and you're going to post June 1st Tron
28:59 Armstead and know you can't touch the
29:00 money up front and have to restructure
29:03 some vets and probably do some player
29:04 extensions for vets like Jaylen Ramsey
29:06 will be in the last year of his deal
29:07 then and there and do it all over
29:10 again and um you may have to let one or
29:15 two of your pieces that are expiring
29:16 contracts then walk whether
29:20 that's David long or one of your big
29:24 three from that draft class I will say
29:28 now uh the 2025 class is not looking
29:32 particularly imposing when you consider
29:34 you have fifth year options for Jaylen
29:36 Phillips and Jaylen
29:38 Wad and so it's Javon Holland and David
29:41 long are your big dogs that are expiring
29:42 contracts next year but it's not as
29:44 imposing of a list as this
29:47 year food for thought it's going to do
29:50 it for us here on this episode of Locked
29:52 on dolphins it is your team every day
29:53 hope you guys enjoyed the show make it a
29:55 great rest of your day I will be back
29:57 again tomorrow for more Miami Dolphins
29:59 talk I hope to see you then Fins
