Dolphins won't pick up option on PFF's 12th ranked 32 yo C Daniel Kilgore

[www.rotoworld.com]
DANIEL KILGORE
C, MIAMI DOLPHINS

ESPN's Cameron Wolfe reports the Dolphins won't pick up their team option on C Daniel Kilgore.
Kilgore will be a free agent at the start of the league year. The nine-year veteran has started 17 games for the Dolphins over the past two seasons. PFF graded Kilgore as the league's 12th-ranked center among 39 qualified players in 2019. Kilgore will be 32 in December.

SOURCE: Cameron Wolfe on Twitter
Mar 12, 2020, 9:03 AM ET

[www.sun-sentinel.com]
Dolphins won’t pick up option on Daniel Kilgore, making veteran center free agent
Omar Kelly
By OMAR KELLY
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL |
MAR 12, 2020 | 9:52 AM

The Miami Dolphins will not pick up the option in the final year of Daniel Kilgore’s contract, making the veteran center and team captain a free agent that can sign with any NFL team on March 18.

Kilgore, a team captain for the two seasons he spent in Miami after the Dolphins traded for him to replace Mike Pouncey in in 2018, was a stabilizing presence on Miami’s struggling offensive line in 2019.

He was slated to earn $3,875,000 in base salary, workout and per game roster bonuses, which is below the average salary for a starting offensive lineman.

All of Kilgore’s salary comes off Miami’s books because of the option in his contract, and his release bringing the team’s projected cap space to over $100 million because of Wednesday’s release of Pro Bowl safety Reshad Jones, who created $5.3 million in cap space.

The Dolphins could also create another $9.5 million in cap space by releasing receiver Albert Wilson, who got off to a slow start in 2019 because of a hip injury he suffered in 2018.

The Dolphins are expected to use a hefty portion of that cap space to supplement the roster when free agency starts on March 18. The legal tampering period, which allows teams to negotiate and make offers to free agents and their agents, begins on March 16.

Releasing Kilgore creates a massive void at center, and depletes one of the few leaders on the offensive side of the ball. Now Jesse Davis, who has served as a starter for three seasons, is the most veteran presence on Miami's offensive line.

Last season Kilgore was asked to hold the hand of numerous young offensive guards while they served as first-time starters on last year’s offensive line, which was one of the main reasons the Dolphins had the NFL’s fewest rushing yards and allowed 58 sacks.

Kilgore allowed 16 total pressures (12 hurries, 4 hits), and gave up three sacks in 13 games. He committed four penalties on 631 pass blocking snaps according to ProFootballFocus.com.

Kilgore has started 56 of the 91 games he’s played in his nine seasons. But he’s only played all 16 games three times in a season, and only did it as a starter in 2017 when he was playing for the San Francisco 49ers.

According to a league source, the Dolphins were concerned with Kilgore’s age (32), and the fact he’d struggled with injuries the past two seasons. Kilgore played four games last season because of shoulder injury he suffered in September, and last season he suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss three games.

Baltimore’s Matt Skura, New England’s Ted Karras, Lions interior lineman Graham Glasgow and Broncos center Connor McGovern are the best veteran centers expected to hit the free agency.

Glasgow hadn’t played right guard in his NFL career until this past season, and it was his best season yet. He didn’t allow a single sack in the move over from center. The fact he can play all three interior spots on the offensive line should make him a player in high demand as an unrestricted free agent.

Skura is a restricted free agent, so there would be conditions associated with signing him.

Karras, a sixth-round pick in 2016, is an unrestricted free agent, and one who has ties to Dolphins coach Brian Flores from their time together in New England. However, he’s only served as a starter for 20 games in his four-year career with the Patriots.

He became a full-time starter with the Patriots for the first time last season. Karras allowed 14 total pressures (11 hurries, one quarterback hit allowed) and two sacks last season. He committed three penalties.

McGovern has spent the past four seasons developing into a solid starter on the interior offensive line. He was an excellent pass blocker as the Broncos’ starting center last season, committing zero penalties and allowing just one sack in 16 games. He can play all three interior spots on the offensive line.

The Dolphins could also move Michael Deiter, the Wisconsin offensive lineman Miami selected in the third round of the 2019 draft, over to center, a position he played briefly in college. That move likely depends on what offensive linemen Miami adds in free agency.

The 2020 NFL draft features seven centers — Temple’s Matt Hennesy, Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz, LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry III, Washington’s Nick Harris, Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz, Texas’ Zach Shackelford, and Oregon’s Jake Hanson — who possibly have the talent to become immediate starters in the NFL. The Dolphins own 14 selections picks in April’s draft, and seven of them are in the draft’s first 70 picks.