The Miami Dolphins have a new head coach in Adam Gase, a man known for his ability to get the most out of quarterbacks and tailor his offensive scheme to the talent already in place. That's good news for Dolphins fans because the team isn't going to be getting rid of Ryan Tannehill anytime soon and because the front office reportedly wants to keep another key offensive piece in running back Lamar Miller. The problem, as it always seems to be in the business that is the NFL, is how much it will cost to re-sign the impending free agent. Per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, "industry insiders" expect that any deal Miller signs will likely carry an annual average somewhere in the vicinity of $5 million per season.
That would slot Miller in somewhere between Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart, whose deal averages $7.3 million per season and Shane Vereen of the New York Giants, whose deal is worth a little more than $4.1 million on average per season. As Beasley notes, the Dolphins are likely to have plenty of cap space available to them this offseason. At this point they only have a little over $8 million available, per Over The Cap, but with more cuts expected to come and the cap expected to jump to "at least" $155 million, if not more, for next season, fitting $5 million per year and a signing bonus for Miller won't be difficult.
It all comes down to how Miller and his agent value him.
Miller had a promising 2015, collecting 872 yards and 8 touchdowns, which is right in line with his average over the past three seasons of 893 yards and 6 touchdowns per season. Miller may never be the kind of game-breaking back that gets a big contract extension, but obviously Miller and, presumably, the Dolphins believe he has more to offer - hopefully on a more consistent basis - than what he's shown through the first few seasons of his career.
Really, while the death of the running back position has been greatly exaggerated, the league is trending more toward a committee approach anyway. And with last year's draft pick Jay Ajayi looking good in his first professional season it wouldn't be surprising to see the Dolphins and Gase employee a two-headed approach with Miller slightly edging out Ajayi for touches, going forward.
