Dolphins’ underrated Zach Sieler will report to training camp but what he does once there will speak volumes in his bid for contract extension
There are only a dozen players in the NFL with more sacks since the start of the 2023 season than the Miami Dolphins’ Zach Sieler. Sieler has developed with Miami over the course of the last five years into one of the most underrated defenders in football. He’s a dual-threat defender capable of winning against both […]
There are only a dozen players in the NFL with more sacks since the start of the 2023 season than the Miami Dolphins’ Zach Sieler.
Sieler has developed with Miami over the course of the last five years into one of the most underrated defenders in football. He’s a dual-threat defender capable of winning against both offensive linemen as a pass rusher and also for the work that he does at the point of attack on defense. Sieler, who was legendary Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome’s final draft choice back in 2018 out of Ferris State, is still waiting for some recognition for his play, however.
He’s hoping to get some from the Miami Dolphins in the days or weeks ahead in the form of a new contract. He’ll be hoping to get it from the team’s facility, according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Zach Sieler will report to training camp on time with his teammates on Tuesday
Sieler has two years remaining on a contract extension he signed ahead of the 2023 season. He’s currently scheduled to earn just short of $8 million in 2025 — a far cry from some of the salaries of his contemporaries. It makes Sieler one of the best value contracts in football, although he and Rosenhaus would like to change that. How hard these two press Miami is currently unclear and Rosenhaus, during his weekly appearance on the WSVN-7, let it open-ended when asked about Sieler’s contract situation.
“(Sieler’s participation) is something that will be discussed between Zach and the Dolphins. That will be an internal discussion…We haven’t talked much (publicly) about his situation by design. That will be internal between myself and Zach and the Dolphins. Zach will be at training camp Tuesday.”— Agent Drew Rosenhaus on Zach Sieler’s status entering training camp
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Sieler was a selective participant at the Dolphins’ mandatory minicamp in the late spring. The first bit of clarity will come when the Dolphins step foot on the practice field come Wednesday — will Sieler be a full participant? Will he participate at all? Or will he pull a move similar to that of Tua Tagovailoa last offseason, where he’s willing to participate in individual periods but hold himself out of the team sessions?
These are the kinds of questions that Miami ideally would have liked to avoid this offseason, especially with the arrival of training camp. But the Dolphins are in need of extra cap room to work through the 2025 season and extending Sieler is one way that this team could potentially generate more space. He’s also earned a new deal with his play, as he’s firmly outperformed the pay rate of his current contract in each of the first two seasons he’s played on it.
If the Dolphins are going to concede in a negotiation in the same way that bit them so many times one year ago, Sieler is the perfect player to make the exception for. He’s been developed in-house, he’s a leader, he’s played multiple years on his current contract, and more. But we now know that Sieler won’t be sitting at home to try to make that contract extension come to life.
Whether or not operating in good faith is enough to get something done with a suddenly very stingy Dolphins team is yet to be determined. But time will tell.