It was a tale of two days for the Miami Dolphins this week as free agency began.  First, on Monday, a mass exodus of several key players in Christian Wilkins, Brandon Jones, Robert Hunt, and Andrew Van Ginkel to various eight and nine-figure deals.  

However, as it turns out, Dolphins general manager had a plan after all, making a number of signings for numbers far below what other teams have been shelling out as free agency gets into full swing. 

So just how good were those deals Grier worked out?  Here's a look at what the Dolphins have done since Monday.

Grading the Dolphins' new free agency class after the first wave

LB Jordyn Brooks
Contract details: 3 years, $30 million

Brooks is a solid player, but he had a bit of a drop off in 2023.  Poor tackling and run defense grades by Pro Football Focus backed up by a career worst 16.3% missed tackle percentage.  If he can clean up his tackling, perhaps get his missed tackle percentage back to the 7.4% rate from 2021, he certainly has the sideline-to-sideline range to become an impact player in Miami's defense.  

Grade: B

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S Jordan Poyer
Contract details: 1 year, $2 million

This is a shockingly good deal for Miami.  Miami just assembled one of the best and most diverse safety duos in the league in Poyer and Jevon Holland, and for peanuts at that.  Poyer reportedly wanted to play in South Florida, and boy, apparently did he ever.  A tremendous pickup under the circumstances. 

Grade: A+

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Anthony Walker, Jr. 
Contract details: 1 year (amount not reported as of March 13)

It's not yet disclosed what Walker will be making for 2024, but it's still a quality signing nonetheless.  With Brooks likely to pair with David Long, Jr. to form the Dolphins' starting LB duo, Walker provides a quality and experienced option as a first back up.  He has 75 starts in 85 career games, including 12 last year with the Cleveland Browns. That's the kind of experience you want to be able to plug in if someone goes down. 

Grade: A-

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Aaron Brewer
Contract details: 3 years, $21 million

Brewer is an interesting player.  Pro Football Focus talked about Mike McDaniel being able to mask his pass protection ability (Brewer had a PFF pass blocking grade of 52.5 compared to a 78.7 run blocking grade in 2023), which is a bit of a concern.  However, he certainly appears to be an agile and able run blocker who should fit in smoothly with Mike McDaniel's running game. 

Grade: B

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Shaquil Barrett
Contract details: 1 year, $9 million

Barrett's best years are probably behind him now, but his contract is not a long-term investment.  Barrett also likely won't be called upon to start all season with Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb working to get back on the field at some point.  A decent option to start the season with the hope he can recapture his double-digit sack output from 2022. 

Grade: B

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Final grade: B+

After the way things started on Monday, this is a pretty solid result for the Dolphins so far.  They've managed to address some serious needs with some intriguing players at prices that aren't breaking the bank.  

There are some questions about some, such as whether Barrett can regain his prior form, if Brewer's pass protection skills are subpar, and whether Brooks can become a surer tackler after a drop off in 2023.  

However, given where the Dolphins were at financially, this is an overall impressive early haul. 

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