Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel reports that the Dolphins are attempting to trade RT Ja’Wuan James and have been in contact with teams in need of offensive line help.
A league source tells Kelly that it’s possible the Dolphins could have a trade agreement in place for James before free agency opens on Wednesday.
As of now, NFL teams are in a “holding pattern” as they wait for the legal tampering period to open at 4 pm on Monday. If one of the teams in need of offensive help isn’t interested in the available free agent options, it’s possible they could check with Miami and open trade negotiations for James, according to Kelly.
The Dolphins reportedly plan to re-sign Sam Young, who did a good job of filling in for James last year.
In the event that no trade surfaces for James, Kelly says that the Dolphins could release him to boost their available cap space.
James, 25, was taken with the No. 19 overall pick by the Dolphins back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $8.4 million contract and made a base salary of $1,569,327 for the 2017 season.
However, the Dolphins picked up James’ fifth-year option last year, which will cost Miami $9,341,000 for the 2018 season.
According to OverTheCap.com, trading or releasing James would free up $9,341,000 of available cap space while creating no dead money.
In 2017, James appeared in eight games for the Dolphins and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 17 offensive tackle out of 81 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding James as the news is available.
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