- 4:04 p.m. The Dolphins have reached a deal with Texans defensive tackle Earl Mitchell per ESPN. Mitchell will sign a 4-year deal worth $16 million. The Dolphins will not bring back Paul Soliai or Randy Starks.

– 4:01 p.m. Branden Albert will sign a 5-year deal with the Dolphins worth more than $9 million per year, ESPN reports. The deal includes $25 million guaranteed.

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedaily ... king-news/

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starts in the trenches.

just read this on nfl.com

On Tuesday, it finally happened. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Albert had agreed to a five-year, $47 million contract with the Dolphins. And that's not back loaded: He'll get $28 million in the first three years. The deal is set to happen Tuesday.

Sounds good to me. Especially if Soliai commands much more than 4 a year

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Albert is a major upgrade, but does anyone see the benefit of adding Mitchell over Soliai or Starks? Mitchell seems to be a downgrade to me in the run defense.

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So both Albert and Saffold got five-year deals, Albert got $46 mil and Saffold got $42.5 mil. For some reason, that makes me feel a lot better about Albert.

One would think Mitchell at $4 mil will be much cheaper than Soliai and Starks.

Veldheer got 5 years, $35 mill

According to something k-dash posted, the Texans allowed 3.1 ypc when Mitchell was in an 4.2 ypc when he wasn't.

Guess we'll find out soon. He only played 320 snaps for Houston last season.

This is a big risk going with this guy. I hope he isn't the only solution the Dolphins are looking at.

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Louis Nix in the draft or Tyson Jackson could be options I'd guess.

Scared for our run D.

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Mitchell is much younger and much cheaper than either Solai or Starks. I'm ok with it.

Will it be worth going younger and cheaper if he can't help the Dolphins stop the run?

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Mitchell's quickness and athleticism are assets that set him apart from other nose tackles and he wasn't fully a fit for Wade Phillips 3-4 scheme. Analysts feel he will be better suited for Miami's defense.

I live in Houston and my Texan friend fans all really liked this guy and he is a hard worker, no problems either and younger and cheaper to along with it.

Obviously, time will tell whether this is an upgrade or not. Glad he is with the Dolphins and I am eager to see who else they are targeting on defense.

Rich, if we couldn't stop the run last year, what's it going to hurt to save double digit millions to not stop the run this year?

Albert was a must, but at 30 W/ injury concerns does concern me.

I know little about Mitchell, but with losing both DT, he was also a must.

I just hope Miami does not get stupid in FA.

hopefully we draft Aaron Donald now that we aren't bringing Starks back.

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It was poor linebacker play not the NT's that caused the decline in Miami's run defense last year. Lets hope Mitchell is up to the job.

I agree! Solai and Starks are both on the downsides of their careers, this guy is four years younger than both of them.

As for Mitchell, I read somewhere that he was ranked as low as he was (by PFF) becauase they were trying to play him as a 3-4 NT when his skill set is much better suited to be a 4-3 DT. He's supposed to be quick and athletic and projects very well in our defense. Plus, he has the HUGE advantage of working with Kacy Rogers, our D-line coach who does an exceptional job of developing talent. I think this might work out very well, but time will tell.

the odds of us drafting a d-tackle first keep rising.

Louis Nix?

or Hageman

I'm starting to become a proponent of trading out of the #19 pick to add 2 more picks for depth. Maybe even drop down into round 2 and draft Carlos Hyde at the top of that round.

I like Hagerman, but I like Donal or Jernigan more if they are there at #19.

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Sounds like it is going to be a hard draft to trade down unless you have a team targeting a top 10 guy.

We could advertise our 19th pick to teams trying to come back up for Derek Carr. He's well worth it and his stock keeps rising. If say Oakland or Jacksonville pass on QB in top 5 then one will come back up for him.

If Starks comes back, forget DT in round 1. Probably RT will be more like it since the RT market is drying up.

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We could almost go BPA now since we keep spending money in free agency. I'm not even opposed to Kelvin Benjamin or Jace Amaro anymore.