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The Miami Dolphins will not match the Buffalo Bills‘ offer sheet, meaning the inevitable end of the free agency courtship of Charles Clay has arrived. Buffalo offered the highly sought after tight end a five-year, $38 million deal, and while this is a painful loss for the Dolphins, it may be the best thing that could have happened to the team from a financial standpoint.
After signing Jordan Cameron, the Dolphins were absolutely stuck when it came to Clay. Would the tandem of Cameron and Clay have been terrifying to opposing defenses? Yes, but spending nearly $15 million a year on tight ends is beyond extravagant. In fact, it’s downright stupid. Just when it seemed that the Dolphins were going to be handcuffed in a very expensive situation, something amazing happened: the Bills came to the rescue by offering Charles Clay “Jimmy Graham money.”
Letting Clay walk frees up over $7 million in cap space that was tied up with the transition tag the team placed on him earlier this month, money that can be far better spent on other positions rather than on a second high-priced tight end. The money that it would have taken to keep Clay would have hamstrung the franchise for years to come, but instead, a divisional rival bailed the Dolphins out of a salary cap disaster by overpaying for him.
Consider what the Dolphins can do with the additional money. Michael Crabtree was entertained at Dolphins’ camp on Wednesday, and Miami is likely looking to add offensive firepower early in the draft, making it clear that the future of the franchise is with a collection of lower priced options on the outside rather than with two tight ends. Couple that with the likelihood that the Dolphins go after another piece at the guard position and at middle linebacker, and the benefit of Clay’s departure grows exponentially.
So while Dolphins fans are sad to see him go, Clay’s move to Buffalo may be the thing that vaults Miami into the playoffs in 2015.
