The Dolphins’ curious punter battle and updates on offensive line, running back

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday:

▪ The Dolphins have opted against bringing in competition for the kicker who has been here five years.

But they’re eager to bring in competition for the punter who has been in their building for just five weeks.

After signing former Patriots punter Jake Bailey in free agency, the Dolphins added undrafted Oklahoma punter Michael Turk immediately after the draft.

This should be an entertaining battle, if punter competitions are capable of being entertaining.

Turk, the nephew of former NFL punter Matt Turk, was a first-team all-Big 12 selection in 2022 and was third in FBS in gross punt average (46.8 on 63 punts), with 24 fair catches, 22 inside the 20 and 10 touchbacks.

Turk averaged 47.4 yards on 243 career punts, which is just 0.4 yards shy of the FBS record set by Colorado State‘s Ryan Stonehouse.

Turk began his college career at FCS Lafayette College in 2017, then spent three seasons at Arizona State (and was all-Pac 12 twice) and spent the past two seasons at Oklahoma.

Here’s how NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein asssessed Turk: “Like a home run hitter in baseball, Turk has tremendous power but is lacking ball control to plant opposing teams against their end zone instead of kicking for touchbacks. He has improved his hang-time and outkicked his coverage a little less frequently, which will matter for NFL evaluators. The pure power and talent could get him a Day 3 look.”

We hear that Turk had seven NFL offers after the draft.

Bailey’s one-year, $1.1 million deal with the Dolphins includes $940,000 in guaranteed money. So Turk likely would need to clearly outperform Bailey to win the job.

Here’s the background on Bailey, who was a Pro Bowl punter for the Patriots in 2020 and averaged 45.9 yards on 58 career punts over four years for New England.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins conveyed to some agents that they were considering bringing in competition for kicker Jason Sanders.

But to this point, they’ve decided against that. Sanders has a strong supporter in special teams coach Danny Crossman, among many others in the building.

▪ The Dolphins have been poking around in the veteran tackle market, and it’s expected they will add one in the weeks ahead.

Besides hosting veteran Cam Fleming on a visit earlier last month, we hear they also discreetly brought in a couple of other veterans whose identifies have not been revealed. Only players who were scheduled to become free agents this past March, such as Fleming, are required to be identified on the league wire.

The Dolphins also continue to canvass the landscape at tight end.

And while veterans likely be added on both the offensive line and tight end, we’re told the Dolphins aren’t waiting for a specific player to be released June 1.

▪ New Dolphins cornerback Cam Smith’s 10 penalties last season were a point of criticism when the network draft analysts offered instant reaction to Miami selecting his 51st overall in the draft.

But his other metrics were very, very good.

Per Pro Football Focus, Smith allowed an excellent 71.3 passer rating in his coverage area: just 18 completions in 38 targets for 211 yards (11.7 per catch), two touchdowns and one interception.

▪ Smith played 356 snaps on the boundary and 196 snaps in the slot.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said the team will train him on the boundary initially and then might use him in the slot.

Though he was very good last year, PFF’s Ryan Smith noted he was even better in 2021, when he played an even greater percentage of his snaps on the boundary.

His coverage grade in 2021 led all Power 5 cornerbacks. In 2021, he allowed only 15 receptions in 32 targets for 184 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. That’s an exceptional 36.5 passer rating in his coverage area.

So over the past two seasons, his NFL passer rating against is 55.4, which is elite defensively.

Of his 70 targets in the past two seasons, 15 were broken up and four were intercepted.

Smith can certainly jump; per Next Gen Stats, he recorded a 11-foot-2 broad jump at the Combine, ranking in the top five percent of all cornerbacks since 2003.

▪ Stephen Ross attended Michigan and has made large donations to the school, but the team owner has never pressured Dolphins management to draft Wolverines players.

Seventh-round offensive lineman Ryan Hayes is Miami’s first draft pick from Michigan since they selected both Jake Long (first overall) and Chad Henne (57th overall) in 2008. The Dolphins have selected only nine Michigan players in the draft, beginning with Jim Mandich in 1970.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to get a Michigan guy on this team,” Ross told Hayes on draft day.

▪ The Minnesota Vikings haven’t given running back Dalvin Cook clarity on whether they will keep him this season with his current $10.4 million salary and $14 million cap hit.

But the Vikings haven’t given him permission to negotiate with other teams and seek a trade partner.

The Dolphins — who have spoken to the Vikings about Cook — will remain a possibility for him until his status is clarified.

But a team trading for him likely would want to renegotiate his salary.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said recently that Cook’s status remains very much up in the air.