The Miami Dolphins made some subtle moves in free agency to begin the new league year, including the addition of some depth in the wide receiver room.
While Miami has one of the most electric wide receiver tandems in the NFL with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, general manager Chris Grier brought in some depth to compete with second-year talent Malik Washington by signing former Tennessee Titans wideout Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
The Dolphins hardly had to open up the checkbook for this deal as Westbrook-Ikhine signed a two-year, $5.9 million deal in free agency. But was Miami the best choice for the 28-year-old?
In the eyes of Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, there was a better opportunity on the table for the wideout to maximize his personal financial worth with the New England Patriots, especially coming off a career season.
“Free agency is an opportunity for a player to maximize his personal financial worth. When an individual is coming off a career-year, it’s a perfect time to to strike. In the case of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, he seemingly failed to do so,” Sobleski wrote. “Once the New England Patriots struck out on signing Chris Godwin and didn’t have a chance to make a run at Tee Higgins, the Patriots proved to not be as aggressive with the wide-receiver market. However, they could have easily invested more in Westbrook-Ikhine than the Dolphins did since New England had the league’s most salary-cap space entering the offseason.”
There is always a bevy of factors that go into where players sign during free agency. Maybe NWI could have gotten a better deal with New England, joining a coaching staff he previously had four years of experience with when Mike Vrabel was the head coach in Tennessee.
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But it also takes two to tango. There were no reports that the Patriots had interest in the veteran wideout so it may not have been an option for him even if that’s where he wanted to go. Meanwhile, there’s also the factor that Westbrook-Ikhine may have wanted to play closer to home. The Lake Mary native spent his collegiate years in Indiana and his entire NFL career in Tennessee.
It will be interesting to see what kind of role Westbrook-Ikhine has with Miami, but there’s certainly a world where he carves out a solid path to production as a deep threat.
