Dolphins position review: Can Miami keep its homegrown defensive linemen?

The Dolphins may have parted ways with Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator after one season, but his scheme got the most out of Miami’s top defensive linemen as pass rushers. Now, one of those players is looking to parlay a career year into a payday that could leave the Dolphins with a big hole in the middle of the defense.

In the sixth of a series of position reviews, the Miami Herald will examine the team’s defensive line situation. Next up is inside linebacker.

2023 in review

The Dolphins entered training camp with two of their top defensive linemen, Zach Sieler and Christian Wilkins, entering the final year of their contracts. Both have been bargains for Miami, anchoring the line of scrimmage for several years. Sieler got a new three-year deal just weeks before the start of the regular season, while Wilkins had to play out the final year of his rookie contract after watching many of his counterparts get new deals in the offseason.

Under Fangio’s scheme, Sieler and Wilkins’ run defense production dipped a bit but they had the best years of their careers as pass rushers. Sieler had 10 sacks and Wilkins recorded nine, both of which are career-high marks. For Wilkins, it couldn’t have come at a better time with him set to hit free agency.

Depth chart

Christian Wilkins

▪ Skinny: Aside from a multi-week hold-in during training camp — showing up to practice to avoid daily fines but not participating — Wilkins didn’t do much to show he was displeased by his lack of a new contract. He then had his most productive season as a pass rusher.

▪ Contract: Wilkins, who turns 29 in December, is an unrestricted free agent.

Zach Sieler

▪ Skinny: The Dolphins rewarded one of their best waiver wire finds in recent memory with a three-year, $30.75 million extension weeks before the start of the 2023 season. After a double-digit sack season, that new deal might still be a bargain.

▪ Contract: Sieler, who turns 29 in September, is entering the first year of a three-year extension he signed in 2023. He has a cap hit of $10,670,000, the ninth-largest on the team.

Raekwon Davis

▪ Skinny: Davis appeared in all 17 regular season games (seven starts), recording 28 tackles and a half-sack.

▪ Contract: Davis, who turns 27 in June, is an unrestricted free agent.

Emmanuel Ogbah

▪ Skinny: In Fangio’s scheme, Ogbah played more like a stand-up outside linebacker as opposed to a lineman with his hand in the ground and the role change never meshed. Despite a litany of injuries to edge defenders, Ogbah played a career-low 25 percent of the defensive snaps. He was effective as a pass rusher, though, recording 5.5 sacks.

▪ Contract: Ogbah, who turns 31 in November, is entering the third year of a four-year deal he signed in 2022. He has a cap hit of $17,708,824, the seventh-largest on the team, but none of his $14,925,000 base salary is guaranteed.

Da’Shawn Hand

▪ Skinny: Hand appeared in 16 games, recording 17 tackles and one sack.

▪ Contract: Hand, who turns 29 in November, is an unrestricted free agent.

Offseason questions

1. Can the Dolphins keep Wilkins in Miami?

As many of his defensive line peers got lucrative extensions last offseason, Wilkins showed up to spring workouts and training camp in the final year of his rookie deal without complaints. Wilkins did conduct a hold-in but when the regular season arrived, he was a professional and then answered the final question people had about his standing as a top interior lineman, setting a career-high in sacks.

General manager Chris Grier said the two sides were close to striking a deal before the season started but once they couldn’t bridge the gap, they decided to shelve talks until the offseason. Now, Wilkins is set to get a payday one way or another. Spotrac estimates that Wilkins will sign a deal that averages $20.2 million, which would place him in the top 10 highest-paid players at his position. Miami is already projected to be $50 million over the cap and the front office will have to clear money to sign Wilkins to a long-term deal. The Dolphins could decide to place the franchise tag on Wilkins and buy time with extension talks but the projected one-year tag for defensive tackles is $19.7 million, all of which is fully guaranteed and counts toward the cap. This would require Miami to clear out even more space than for a typical extension.

Wilkins is one of the best players on the team and a leader that has served as a face of the team’s rebuild. He’s the type of player you don’t let walk out the door but the Dolphins’ financial situation could make things tough.

2. Is Ogbah a cap casualty?

The Dolphins will likely free a significant amount of cap space by restructuring contracts and converting base salaries to prorated signing bonuses that lower cap hits for the 2024 season. But Miami will also probably cut ties with players who aren’t owed any more guaranteed money and whose production hasn’t matched their deals.

Ogbah, who doesn’t have any more guaranteed money on the four-year deal he signed in 2022, is a possible cap casualty after missing most of the 2022 season with a triceps injury and then playing sparingly in 2023. The Dolphins could get $13.7 million in cap savings by releasing Ogbah. On locker room cleanout day, when asked if he wants to be in Miami next season, Ogbah said: “I always say I want to be in Miami but you never know what can happen.”

3. What is Anthony Weaver’s impact on the defensive line?

During Weaver’s three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he helped shepherd the team’s young defensive linemen, most notably Justin Madubuike. The 2020 third-round pick went from an inconsistent player who would flash now and then to one of the top interior linemen in the NFL, leading his position with 13 sacks.

Now as defensive coordinator in Miami, Weaver could get the chance to coach two of the best defensive linemen in the league, Wilkins and Sieler. It would even be interesting to see how he could help a player such as Davis, who is a serviceable run stuffer but hasn’t progressed as much as a pass rusher.

Potential additions

Even if the Dolphins re-sign Wilkins and Davis, it would be smart to find some depth behind Wilkins and Sieler, who have logged significant snaps in the past two seasons. While some Dolphins fans have fantasized about Weaver bringing Madubuike with him, the Ravens’ Brent Urban is a more realistic option as a veteran who can provide quality snaps in limited action.

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller has Miami taking Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton in the first round of his latest mock draft. Miller notes that, like Wilkins, Newton can play in multiple defensive alignments.