Keeping up with all the latest developments involving the Miami Dolphins as they pertain to free agency.

The official start of free agency was March 15, the day the new league year kicked off.

ROWE LEAVES FOR CAROLINA

Veteran defensive back Eric Rowe became the seventh Miami Dolphins player to sign with another team this offseason when he agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers.

That Rowe wouldn’t be back for the Dolphins in 2023 pretty much was sealed when the team signed veteran DeShon Elliott to add depth at safety and compete with 2020 third-round pick Brandon Jones for a starting job opposite Jevon Holland.

The Dolphins also have second-year player Verone McKinley III and Elijah Campbell who can play safety, and Keion Crossen is listed as a defensive back on the roster.

In reality, it wouldn’t have been a shocker had the Dolphins moved on from Rowe last offseason considering the potential cap savings and the fact he had lost his starting job in the secondary to Jones.

Instead, Rowe played out the final year of the three-year contract extension he signed in December 2019 toward the end of his first season with the Dolphins.

In reality, it wouldn’t have been a shocker had the Dolphins moved on from Rowe last offseason considering the potential cap savings and the fact he had lost his starting job in the secondary to Jones.

Instead, Rowe played out the final year of the three-year contract extension he signed in December 2019 toward the end of his first season with the Dolphins.

WR Braxton Berrios, N.Y. Jets

TE Eric Saubert, Denver

OL Dan Feeney, N.Y. Jets

LB David Long Jr., Tennessee

LB Malik Reed, Denver

S DeShon Elliott, Detroit

P Jake Bailey, New England

FREE AGENTS RE-SIGNED (12)

RB Myles Gaskin

RB Raheem Mostert

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.

RB Salvon Ahmed (RFA)

FB John Lovett

WR River Cracraft

T Kendall Lamm

FREE AGENTS RE-SIGNED (12)

RB Myles Gaskin

RB Raheem Mostert

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.

RB Salvon Ahmed (RFA)

FB John Lovett

WR River Cracraft

T Kendall Lamm

T Geron Christian

EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel

LB Duke Riley

CB Nik Needham

CB Justin Bethel

FREE AGENTS LOST (7)

WR Trent Sherfield, Buffalo

TE Mike Gesicki, New England

S Clayton Fejedelem

ALL QUIET ON THE SIGNING FRONT

It has now been a week since the Dolphins made a transaction, and that involved the re-signing of cornerback Justin Bethel.

In terms of a free agent acquired from another team, we have to go back to March 20 (11 days ago) when the team signed outside linebacker Malik Reed away from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And this is the part where we tell you that the quiet part following the initial free agency onslaught is common.

Last year, for example, there was a two-week gap between the signings of Terron Armstead (March 24) and Thomas Morstead (April 8). In 2021, the gap was 10 days between the signings of Duke Riley (March 22) and John Jenkins (April 2).

All this is to suggest that the inactivity this week was not out of place and it doesn’t mean there won’t be another signing before the draft.

Or maybe there won’t be, if we go by 2020 when 10 of the 11 signings of unrestricted free agents were done by March 21 and the last came April 27 on the last day of the draft (Kavon Frazier).

DOLPHINS UFAs STILL WAITING

On the flip side, no Dolphins UFA has signed with another since last weekend as well, which is when Jenkins joined the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Dolphins do have some high-profile free agents still on the market, namely QB Teddy Bridgewater, T Eric Fisher, and edge defenders Melvin Ingram and Trey Flowers.

At this point, it’s almost safe to suggest that those four players won’t be signed until after the draft.

This won’t be anything new for Ingram, who signed with the Dolphins last year in Miami after signing as a UFA with Pittsburgh in 2021 in July.

One thing for sure, Ingram still wants to play, as he recently indicated on Twitter.

As for Flowers, he visited with the New England Patriots on the same day they also entertained Andrew Van Ginkel before he re-signed with Miami, but Flowers remains a free agent.

JENKINS JOINS RAIDERS

Veteran defensive tackle John Jenkins found his way back to the Dolphins late in the free agency process the past two years, but he’s now moved on.

Jenkins signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday, ending his second stint with Miami.

After first joining the Dolphins just before the start of the 2019 season, Jenkins returned as a free agent in the first week of April 2021 after spending one season with the Chicago Bears, then re-signed as a free agent with the Dolphins in the first week of April 2022.

While he was a part-time player the past two years after starting five games for the rebooting Dolphins in 2019, Jenkins was a solid complementary player on the defensive line, particularly as a run stopper, and a good veteran presence in the locker room.

Jenkins, who will turn 34 in July, had 20 tackles and one quarterback hit in 16 games as a backup last season.

His departure will leave the Dolphins in the market for backup help at nose tackle behind Raekwon Davis.

BETHEL BACK WITH DOLPHINS

Recent history has proven that the Miami Dolphins can never have too many cornerbacks.

For more than a decade South Florida’s NFL franchise has had to rummage through the waiver wire and claim cornerbacks off NFL teams’ practice squads to make it through the regular season.

That’s likely the reason the Dolphins added a fourth defensive back during free agency and re-signed veteran cornerback Justin Bethel, a special teams standout who played in every game last season.

Bethel, an 11-year veteran, played in all 17 games for Miami last season, contributing 26 tackles, one interception, and breaking up four passes after signing with the team the week of the regular season opener against the New England Patriots.

He also played 377 snaps on special teams.