With recurring injury issues rearing its ugly head, almost nothing went right for the Miami Dolphins in 2024. Following an 8-9 season that ended in the regular season, the Dolphins enter free agency in the 2025 NFL offseason with a lot of roster issues to address.
The Dolphins enter free agency with one of the worst cap situations in the league. They are projected to be roughly $5 million in the hole, the sixth-worst in the NFL. However, Miami will have 30 players hit unrestricted free agency in March with most expected to seek a new team.
Jevon Holland, Kendall Fuller, Duke Riley, Emmanuel Ogbah, Robert Jones and Braxton Berrios headline the Dolphins’ list of upcoming free agents. Many of them, most notably Holland, have all but confirmed they will sign elsewhere. General manager Chris Grier added to his growing list of needs by releasing veteran running back Raheem Mostert one month after the end of the season.
While Miami continues to aim for their first Super Bowl since 1974, they have not won a playoff game in over two decades. If the 2024 disaster was a true wake-up call, the Dolphins will be one of the busiest teams in free agency during the 2025 NFL offseason.
S Julian Blackmon
Once Holland hits free agency, so too will veteran Jordan Poyer. Holland and Poyer were two of the best players in defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s defense in 2024, leaving a gaping hole to fill in the offseason. Once free agency officially begins, the Dolphins will have just three safeties on their roster, none of whom received significant playing time.
After five years with the Indianapolis Colts, Julian Blackmon will hit unrestricted free agency in March. With the safety market as robust as it will be in 2024, Blackmon, who has never received a Pro Bowl nomination, is likely to get looked over. However, his skill set fits in with the direction Weaver wants to take his defense.
As a John Harbaugh and Mike Macdonald disciple, Weaver’s system emulates a lot of what the Baltimore Ravens — and now Seattle Seahawks — do on defense. Historically, those systems thrive with athletic and diverse safeties in the secondary. Kyle Hamilton currently occupies the role for the Ravens, one that Blackmon could fill for Weaver.
Blackmon is coming off consecutive strong outing with the Colts, racking up 174 total tackles and seven interceptions over the past two seasons. He is due for a pay raise, but in a free agency class that also includes Holland, Justin Simmons, Xavier Woods, Quandre Diggs and others, the Dolphins could sign him at a discounted price.
QB Taylor Heinicke
In Miami’s current Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa era, it has been no secret that they are constantly one injury away from a total collapse. When the oft-injured Tagovailoa can survive a full season, the Dolphins run one of the most dynamic offenses in the league, but when not, they can quickly become sitting ducks.
Tagovailoa’s concussion in 2024 exposed the dreadful liability the team’s roster had at quarterback behind him. No team ever wants to turn to a backup quarterback, but an offense as complex as McDaniel’s paired with Tagovailoa’s lack of durability require a high-end insurance option. Few veteran quarterbacks around the league are better in that reserve role than Taylor Heinicke, who is set to become a free agent after one year with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Heinicke has multiple seasons as a starter to his name but has completely settled into his life as a backup. He has gone on the record to state his satisfaction in that role, calling it “one of the best jobs in America.” Yet, his drive to continue improving and maintain the level of an offense when called upon has not dissolved.
Setting Tagovailoa’s injury concerns aside, McDaniel’s offense is evidently one that takes time to grow into. For that reason, he favored the consistency of Skylar Thompson as Tagovailoa’s backup in 2024 to pitiful results. Heinicke is inarguably one of the best backups in the league and one worth retaining behind the fragile southpaw for years to come.
DE Brent Urban
- played for Weaver in 2022-2023
- career-best year in 2023 (3 sacks)
- cheap and effective reserve DE
As a former defensive line coach, Weaver’s inclusion on McDaniel’s staff was expected to elevate the Dolphins’ pass rush in 2024. Unfortunately, due to injuries to Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, that did not go as planned. While the lack of edge pressure was alarming, Miami thrived at generating inside pressure with veteran tackles Zach Sieler, Emmanuel Ogbah and Calais Campbell.
Sieler, who led the team with 10 sacks, will return, but Campbell and Ogbah will hit free agency. Weaver will have at least one hole to fill on the interior of his 3-4 defense that could be given to 10-year veteran defensive end Brent Urban.
After three years with the Ravens — his second stint with the team — Urban will be one of the most affordable edge-rushers on the market with some of the most low-cost value. He has a familiarity with Weaver’s system, playing for him in 2022 and 2023. As a reserve edge-rusher, Urban had a career-high three sacks with Weaver in 2023.
Urban is not an every-down player, but the Dolphins do not need him to be. Chop Robinson’s encouraging rookie year calls for an increased role in 2025, coinciding with the expected returns of Phillips and Chubb. Instead, Urban is a valuable high-energy reserve who could add reliable leadership to a unit losing multiple veterans in free agency. It would not be a signing that makes headlines, but signing Urban would be a perfect move for the Dolphins to make in the 2025 NFL offseason.
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