Dolphins place ‘exclusive-rights’ tender on Nik Needham, Calvin Munson, and Jamal Perry

We may not know what the official salary cap number is for the 2021 NFL season, but we now know that the Dolphins plan to use the Exclusive Rights Free Agent tender on three of their promising young players.

According to the team’s official website, the Miami Dolphins have placed the ERFA tender on LB Calvin Munson, CB Nik Needham, and CB Jamal Perry. Here’s the official statement.

The Miami Dolphins today announced that they had tendered the following exclusive rights free agents: linebacker Calvin Munson, cornerback Nik Needham, and cornerback Jamal Perry.

For those that need a refresher on what the ERFA tender is, here’s the definition from Overthecap.com.

This is usually the tender that is most active in late February or early March. The ERFA tender applies to any player whose contract is expiring and he has no more than two accrued seasons in the NFL (an accrued season is a season with at least six games on the 90 man roster or one game this year if they were on the teams opening week roster). The tender carries no guarantees and is for the minimum salary that the CBA allows a player to play for. Because the salaries are so cheap, for most teams it makes no impact on a team’s salary cap position if they already had 51 players under contract. Basically this is no different than a futures deal impact.

The most notable name on this list is defensive back Nik Needham. Needham appeared in 28 games with the Dolphins over the last two seasons, starting 17 of those games. In 2020, Needham recorded 58 total tackles, one sack, two interceptions, and 7 passes defended. He appeared in all 16 games with the team, primarily playing in the slot. This was an excellent move by the Dolphins, IMHO.

Miami also tendered cornerback Jamal Perry. Perry appeared in 27 games with the Dolphins over the last two years, recording 84 total tackles, 7 pass breakups, and one interception. Lastly, the Dolphins tendered LB Calvin Munson. Munson was signed off New England’s practice squad on December 18, 2019. He brings familiarity and depth to a position Miami hopes to upgrade in the offseason.

All three of these players entered the league as undrafted free agents.

How do you feel about the Dolphins tendering these three players? Let us know in the comments section below!