5 Miami Dolphins players likely playing their last season with the team

Will the 2024 season be the last for these Miami players?

When the calendar turns to 2025, several current Miami Dolphins players will not be coming back.

The Miami Dolphins will have to manipulate portions of their salary cap again next offseason, which will lead to player releases. Many players will hit free agency and may not return even on a one-year deal. Who might be playing their final campaign with the Dolphins in 2024?

It won’t be a surprise when the Dolphins opt to not re-sign players added on one-year deals, so for the purpose of this piece, only players that have played for the Dolphins the last two or three seasons are included in this list:

5. Terron Armstead

It’s hard to imagine Terron Armstead playing beyond the 2024 season. He contemplated retirement this year, and the Dolphins drafted a potential replacement in Round 2 of the NFL Draft in Patrick Paul.

The writing is clearly on the wall that Armstead is not part of the Dolphins’ future beyond 2024. In 2025, Armstead will count $22 million against the Dolphins cap and will carry an $18 million dead hit if released. Clearly, the Dolphins can’t trade him, but they can designate him as a June 1 release.

Releasing Armstead on June 1 will lower his cap hit for 2025 to $7.8 million and save the Dolphins $14.3 million. It is hard to see how the Dolphins will not take advantage of this unless the cap rises incredibly high, the Dolphins don’t need the money, Armstead opts to play another season, and Paul doesn’t look ready. Then, it would still be a maybe.

4. Jevon Holland

Could Jevon Holland be playing his final season with the Dolphins? Fans do not want an answer to this question, but until he signs an extension, he will be a free agent at the end of the 2024 season. Ideally, the Dolphins will lock up Holland this year and not have to watch the market go up a season from now.

Miami doesn’t have the money to complete a deal in 2024, but after June 1, $18 million will become available, and a Tua Tagovailoa extension could free up more cash to extend the Dolphins’ top secondary defender. Chris Grier has to make a big decision with Holland – pay him or let him walk. The Dolphins could tag Holland prior to the start of the 2025 season, and if they don’t extend him before that opening window, Grier would be wise to use the tag.

Even if Grier intended to tag and trade Holland, the tag makes sense. Miami may not want to carry the tag price into the season, so getting him under contract is imperative. Of course, the Dolphins could let him hit free agency and move on.

It wouldn’t be ideal to let Holland walk, and the good news for fans is that Miami didn’t draft a replacement for him this year, but they could have. Holland should be a Dolphins safety for another four years, but until he is signed, it isn’t done, and he is in the last year of his contract.

3. Liam Eichenberg

Liam Eichenberg will finish the 2024 season and become a free agent when the 2025 league year begins. Dolphins fans will be more upset if Grier gives him an extension. Honestly, he has value to the team.

Eichenberg may not be a Pro Bowl-caliber lineman and likely never will be. He isn’t as tough as many thought he was coming out of college, but he is consistently average or above. He isn’t going to make incredibly hard blocks, but he has a versatility that allows him to play several line positions, including center and guard.

Will that be enough to convince Grier to extend him? Grier has a habit of giving money to players who may not be the best at what they do. He also tends to give them low deals, and in that respect, Eichenberg might be worth a lower-end extension, given his depth value.

Regardless, this is a critical year for Eichenberg. If the price works, the Dolphins will likely keep him around if he plays well. If not, 2024 will be his last season.

2. Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson could compete for a job in training camp this year. Despite renegotiating his contract earlier this offseason, there is little guaranteed money keeping him tied to the Dolphins. Wilson will earn $2.3 million this year, but the Dolphins could save $1.2 million of that if he is released. That money, while small, could be used to keep another player or extend an impending free agent before 2025.

Wilson, however, is a player that Mike McDaniel truly enjoys working with. As a result, he is likely to play out in 2024, but beyond that, it is hard to see a path to him being here beyond this season.

1. Salvon Ahmed

Salvon Ahmed will find the path to Miami’s 53-man roster this year challenging. The drafting of Jaylen Wright in Round 4 of April’s draft is the writing on the wall. Miami could find a way to keep Ahmed this year, but it is unlikely, given the depth at the position now. If he does make it through 2024, he won’t be back in 2025 unless it is a one-year deal that ends after camp, much like Myles Gaskin.