The 2018 NFL league year is upon us and with that, the hustle and bustle that was the legal tampering period is over and teams can make their reported free agency signings official. With the dust settling from a few hectic days of reports, we at Pro Football Focus take an in depth look at some of free agency's biggest deals in our exclusive 2018 Free Agency Deal Grader.
Taken into our deal grades here are many contributing factors, including but not limited to scheme fit for the player signed, contract value and salary cap hit, PFF's overall grades for both player and team, and several other facets.
For more in depth insight all the league’s free agents, check out the 2018 PFF Free Agent Guide, a part of your PFF Edge or Elite subscription.
Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson sign with the Miami Dolphins
Deal Grade: B
Contracts: Amendola at two-years, $12-million | Wilson at three-years, $24-million
What it means for Amendola & Wilson:
Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson will compete for touches in what has quickly become a crowded Miami Dolphins wide receiver room, whether it be along the boundary or in the slot.
Dolphins wide receivers DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills should maintain starting roles in 2018, forcing the team’s two newcomers to compete for third and fourth wide receiver snaps. If either of the two incumbents were to take a backseat to Wilson/Amendola, Stills would be the first to go, as he was tied for 39th among the 45 wide receivers with 82-plus targets in yards per route run (1.36) in 2017.
What it means for Miami:
In shipping Jarvis Landry to the Cleveland Browns earlier this month, Miami also shipped 40.5 percent of the team’s 2017 wide receiver targets, forcing the Dolphins to fill Landry’s shoes with not one, but two capable slot receivers in Amendola and Wilson.
Amendola will see a higher percentage of his offensive snaps lined up in the slot compared to Wilson, but the two will still see a lot of targets inside of outside receivers Stills and Parker. Amendola averaged 2.03 yards per route from the slot (includes postseason) to rank sixth among qualifying slot receivers in 2017 while Wilson ranked 31st at 1.45 YPRR.
Though it’ll hard to replace Landry’s overall impact, Amendola and Wilson should do a good enough job to smooth out the transition at a much cheaper cost, collectively.
Bottom Line:
Though both deals are a bit steep when looking at Amendola and Wilson’s career production, Miami deserves credit for working quickly to fill Landry’s shoes before scrambling later in free agency and the 2018 NFL Draft.
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