Foxsports.com is reporting that the Dolphins are not expected to resign impending free agent left guard Richie Incognito. We were all well aware that the front office would have their hands full this offseason remodeling the interior offensive line, but their mysterious plans for Richie Incognito hindered how we perceived they would go about addressing the issue.
There was the possibility that the Dolphins would resign Incognito to move him over to center, where he showed some flashes of potential in the couple games he saw time there. They could have also brought him back and kept him put at left guard, where he was only decent and was a lackluster puller, but often times the only positive contributor on an otherwise putrid interior. Instead, though, if these reports are accurate, the Dolphins will have a little more work on their hands than we originally thought.
A couple other in house solutions to the interior mess include right guard John Jerry and the ever so versatile Nate Garner. Jerry didn’t show much promise as a rookie, but the fact that he was only a rookie leaves the door open for drastic improvement down the road. Garner was sidelined for the entire season with a foot injury, but he looked like starting material in 2009 when he was forced to play tackle, guard, and center due to a plague of injuries. It wouldn’t be shocking if one could fill one of the three voids inside, but to bank on both would be foolish.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Dolphins allowing Jerry and Garner to battle it out on the right side in training camp, but that still leaves two gaping holes that need to be filled. But with Incognito supposedly soon to be out of the picture, we now know that center will be one of the biggest needs on the roster this offseason, with guard, either left or right, or potentially both being not far behind. Keep in mind, though, this is all still speculation at this point. These Incognito rumors come from Fox Sports, not one of the usually reliable South Florida media outlets. Until we hear consensus from the Dolphins’ beat writers or a statement from the team itself, let’s not rule out the possibility of Incognito returning.
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