3 Dolphins that won’t be back next year and best options to replace them

The Miami Dolphins made it back to the playoffs but fell short against the Bills. Now changes are surely coming this offseason with a few big names leaving.

In all honesty, it’s remarkable that the Miami Dolphins experienced the injury disasters the team did with Tua Tagovailoa and the quarterback position and were still able to get into the playoffs. Unfortunately, the season ended in the Wild Card Round with Skylar Thompson under center in a loss — albeit a much closer one than expected — to the rival Bills.

Now it’s onto the offseason and one that could be tricky. Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr. and basically the entire running back room is set to hit free agency. There will be questions about Tua and his long-term viability. And on top of all of that, the Dolphins don’t have a first-round pick thanks to the Tom Brady tampering and are projected right now to be over the salary cap for 2023.

That’s going to lead to some tough decisions and big departures. These three players are almost surely gone from the Dolphins next season, but let’s also look at who might be able to replace them in Miami.

Dolphins: 3 players who won’t be back in 2023 and best replacements for them

Melvin Ingram looks a bit expendable for the Dolphins defensive front

Coming into the season, the Dolphins needed a veteran edge presence and Melvin Ingram provided that. He wasn’t phenomenal by any stretch, but his strong run defense persisted and he was a nice compliment to the young and emerging Jaelan Phillips on the other edge.

Things changed for Ingram and Miami, however, at the trade deadline when the franchise was able to acquire Bradley Chubb from the Broncos. With Chubb’s big-time contract, they now have an elite 1-2 punch at outside linebacker in the 3-4 base alignment with him and Phillips. That relegated Ingram to a backup role.

While depth on the edge remains a key in any scenario, the truth of the matter is that they can likely find someone cheaper to play a lesser role behind Phillips and Chubb moving forward. Ingram wasn’t expensive with a $4 million salary but even that could hurt Miami given their cap constraints.

Dolphins best replacement options for Melvin Ingram

• Chase Winovich (Free Agency)
• Kerry Hyder (Free Agency)
• Laiatu Latu (NFL Draft)

Of this group of replacements, I probably prefer the upside of Latu in the draft. At the same time, it’s also more likely that the Dolphins don’t look to use one of their scarce picks in the 2023 draft to address depth here. As such, it would make much more sense to look at guys like Winovich or Hyder, experienced vets who rarely wow but can make an impact in limited roles.