Ndamukong Suh rumors continue to criculate around Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins need to shore up their run defense in 2015 after it feel apart down the stretch last season. It appears they are going to make a big swing at changing it with one free agent signing. Less than a week before the NFL free agency period opens, the Dolphins have been declared a "major player" for free-agent-to-be Ndamukong Suh.

Pro Football Talk wrote on Wednesday:

There’s talk that the Dolphins will emerge as the leaders for Suh, and that teams like the Raiders, Jaguars, and Buccaneers are being floated not as serious candidates but as leverage. Ultimately, it may come down to the Dolphins bidding against themselves as Suh and Sexton try to set the bar for defensive players as high as they can.

That is not to say it is a done deal. The Washington Redskins and New York Giants have both been linked to the Suh sweepstakes, and there are a lot of teams around the league that have to spend money this offseason. Suh is the type of player that hits free agency one in a generation, and the Dolphins, if they want to make a big splash in free agency this year, will have to fight off several other teams that want him as well.

If they are not bidding against themselves.

The Dolphins have done this previously, making a splash in the 2013 free agency period when they signed several big name free agents, headlined by wide receiver Mike Wallace. Several of those players, including wide receiver Brandon Gibson and linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler, have been, or are expected to be, released by the team this offseason.

Miami has not been shy when it comes to chasing big named free agents, and they likely will not be again this year. They do not have a lot of salary cap space, but the team can absolutely work the books to make sure Suh, or any other free agent, can fit under this year's cap, then worry about next year and down the road later. Signing Suh, while building the rest of the team around rookie contracts will help, and the Dolphins appear set to start doing exactly that. How it all works out in the end will be something to watch.

This is smokescreen season, and there are a lot of misdirections that will happen over the next few days. There does, however, seem to be a lot surrounding the Dolphins and Suh rumors, so we may be transitioning to the smoke here actually signaling something real.