Dolphins seem to be positioning themselves for big offseason move

The Miami Dolphins are restructuring deals and creating salary cap space, perhaps in an effort to position themselves for a major move this offseason.

Over the past 24 hour the Dolphins have created more than $44 million in salary cap space by restructuring the contracts for defensive end Bradly Chubb, offensive tackle Terron Armstead and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Armstead and Hill were the latest restructures on Friday, with Hill's being the most significant. 

On one hand, the Dolphins had no choice but to restructure some deals because they entered the offseason $17 million over the salary cap. But they have gone above and beyond that actually created a significant amount of cap space to work with going into the official start of the offseason next week.

What exactly are they positioning themselves for?

The easiest and most obvious answer is something at quarterback.

Even though the Dolphins keep committing to Tua Tagovailoa there are obvious questions about his health following the concussion issues he had this season, as well as his potential as a franchise quarterback.

Even though he retired from the NFL the Tom Brady connection to Miami continues to get made, while Lamar Jackson is also just sitting out there on the non-exclusive franchise tag. Since Miami does not have its own first-round pick this season the Dolphins would not be able to sign Jackson on the franchise tag until after the 2023 draft, but that does not mean the two sides could not work out a trade for different compensation assuming Jackson signed his franchise tender with Baltimore. That would then set the wheels in motion for a deal and the Dolphins to work out their own contract with Jackson.

If the Dolphins really are committed to Tagovailoa, they do still have a lot of pending free agents that could be moving on this offseason, including Mike Gesikci, Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson and several other depth players. 

The Dolphins were one of the most exciting teams in the first half of the season but badly faded down the stretch, barely sneaking into a Wild Card spot thanks to last minute Week 18 win over the New York Jets. They nearly pulled off a stunning upset over the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, but the injuries at quarterback and some questionable coaching decisions by head coach Mike McDaniel ultimately cost them.