AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Dolphins GM Chris Grier said the opportunity to add a player of WR Tyreek Hill‘s caliber was simply too good for them to pass up. 

“As other moves were being made around the league and you start seeing the structures of those contracts, it was about adding a player with such a unique talent,” Grier said. “And for what Mike [McDaniel] and I were talking about for what we need in our offense. A dynamic catch and run [guy], with [Jaylen] Waddle and Cedrick Wilson. Arguably Tyreek is the best run-after-the-catch receiver in the league.

“So the opportunity to add to the offense, what he does, the skill set we were looking for, we couldn’t pass on [that]. When you do a deal like that you talk to ownership and [president] Tom [Garfinkel] and they were fantastic in terms of what we were looking for and [team executive/contract specialist Brandon Shore] did a great job of working through the deal.”

• Grier was asked about having just five picks to work with this year and none in the first 102 selections: “We’ve been building here for the past two years. The chance to get aggressive and add a talented top player at his position [Hill] is something we felt was too good to pass up [even though it came at the expenses of three picks in this draft and two next year]. We feel good about the players we’ve drafted. It’s been exciting to watch those guys all offseason working and they pop by the office. They’re young guys and they all want to keep working to get better.”

Jets

• Jets K Greg Zuerlein‘s one-year, $2 million deal includes a $250,000 signing bonus and $750,000 of his $1.5 million base salary guaranteed. (Rich Cimini)
• Jets DL Solomon Thomas‘ one-year, $2.25 million deal carries a max value of $3.75 million, including $1.91 million guaranteed and $1.5 million in incentives. (Mike Garafolo)
• Thomas got a $476,000 signing bonus, a guaranteed base salary of $1.434 million and has $20,000 roster bonuses for every game on the active roster. (Aaron Wilson)
• Duke LB Leonard Johnson met with the Jets before his pro day. (Wilson)

Patriots

The Patriots seem to have found a solid successor at quarterback following a strong season from 2021 first-rounder Mac Jones. Now the question becomes how good Jones can be, as that will determine New England’s ceiling going forward in a crowded AFC. 

“Time will tell,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said via the Athletic’s Jeff Howe. “Part of it, in fairness, is the chemistry of the people around him. I hope that some of the free agents who we brought in who didn’t perform as high as we would have liked last year will (produce) this year because they’ve adjusted to the system. And we’re making changes to take advantage of what they do best. We have a lot of talent that hasn’t been tapped into yet in my opinion.”

“This year will be very telling,” Kraft added. “To come into something as new as this, as established, I think he got beat up pretty bad, and he kept coming back and getting up and really doing some great stuff. Just the way he handles himself, he took some real beatings and hopped up. He has developed a good relationship with the whole cadre of receivers. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen. But this is a big year, the second year.”