Kelly: Dolphins curbing pay raises, but is this the right time?

Miami Herald

3 days ago

Jonnu Smith is being paid like an NFL backup, and until that market correction gets addressed nobody should expect the tight end to grace the practice field until next week's mandatory minicamp.
And even then the 'Battle for The Benjamins' isn't over. It's just put on pause.
That's why we're hearing Smith's name being mentioned on the trading block, even if the Dolphins know this is a leverage play in negotiations.
No matter how you slice it — money being paid, two or three-year cash payout, actual value, guaranteed money — the Miami Dolphins' record-setting tight end doesn't even crack the top 30 highest-paid players at his position.
'Jonnu is a very important player and person to me, and the guys,' coach Mike McDaniel said before Tuesday's organized team activities session, the second of which Smith has skipped. 'The thing that we can stand on is his professionalism and how he goes about his business.
'There are times that business can play a part, for sure,' McDaniel added. 'And a team can make it as complicated as they like if they have a lot of time to focus on what's going on with Jonnu. I'd encourage them to focus on what's going on in their game.'
But that's just it, part of this game — the NFL — is to be paid as much as you can get in your prime, before an athlete turns 30, and every team wants to sign him at a discounted rate.
Imagine being Zach Sieler, who is ranked the 50th highest-paid defensive lineman in the NFL, earning an average salary of $10.2 million.
Sieler, who has delivered back-to-back 10-sack seasons, is one of the biggest bargains in the NFL. There are a couple of defensive tackles who come close to doubling Sieler's salary, and he has outperformed them in recent years.
That's why Sieler has even more of a reason than Smith hold out his hand when it comes to the Dolphins.
Sieler hasn't participated in the on-field work since the offense began lining up against the defense.
That's two weeks of absence, six practices before next week's three days of minicamp work Sieler and Smith have opted out of.
How much of it is going to throw off the team's offseason training, the overall development of these two top players?
Nobody knows, and truthfully, nobody should care because this is the time to get business matters handled in the NFL.
And history verifies that a squeaky wheel gets greased.
Sieler pulled the same approach in the 2024 offseason, sitting out OTAs before getting into the mix during training camp.
Coincidentally or not, he agreed to a contract three-year, $31 million extension the weekend after he sustained a knee injury that forced him to skip the next couple of days of work, and after Christian Wilkins ended his negotiations with the Dolphins on an extension.
The Dolphins were offering Wilkins a salary in the $18-million-a-season range. He ended up receiving $24 million a year for the first three seasons from the Las Vegas Raiders, and had to get it the hard way, by playing the entire season without financial guarantees and making it to free agency.
Sieler, who will turn 30 in August, is slated to earn $8.1 million in 2026. So he's not in the exact same situation as Wilkins, or Smith.
But he has just as much leverage as Jalen Ramsey, Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, Jaylen Waddle, Alec Ingold and McDaniel, who all got lucrative extensions before last season kicked off, during an era where the franchise was handing out new contracts like they were a part of Oprah's Favorite Things show.
'I'm not part of the negotiations. That's not my role. My role is to coach,' McDaniel said. 'It's really not that terribly complicated when I stay connected to what my purpose is and what people needs from me because anything else is time that could be best utilized elsewhere.'
Good front offices get ahead of contracts before they become a problem, especially when we're talking about players and people the organization respects.
That should be the category Sieler and Smith are in considering they are two of the Dolphins' top returners, and have a reputation as the hardest workers in the organization.
The Dolphins have signed Sieler to extensions twice before, but this time around hammering out a deal is even more complicated.
As for Smith, who is the 35th highest-paid tight end in the NFL when it comes to cash expected to be paid out, the contracts his peers have received is what's making his old two-year deal look bad.
Evan Engram signed a two-year, $23 million deal, which guaranteed him $16 million from the Broncos after he was released this offseason by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Mike Gesicki received a three-year, $25.5 million deal, which will pay him $12 million this season. Gesicki had to play on a pair of one-year deals for $6 million a season before
That's two seam threat tight ends who had comparable careers to Smith, and are making two and three times what the Dolphins tight end is slated to earn.
We'll soon learn if the Dolphins plan to correct that, or if they will play hardball with two of the team's biggest influencers.