The Miami Dolphins were one of the most active teams in free agency this year.  The busy Dolphins emptied their wallet on several big name free agents.  General manager Jeff Ireland had an ichy trigger finger and wasted no time signing former Pittsburgh Steelers' wide receiver Mike Wallace and former Baltimore Ravens' linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.  The two players were considered to be the top free agents at their position by many NFL analysts, but the antsy Dolphins didn’t stop there.  Miami continued their spending spree by signing tight end Dustin Keller, linebacker Phillip Wheeler, wide receiver Brandon Gibson and guard Lance Louis.

Are the Dolphins trying to build a champion through free agency?  Miami is trying to pull a page out of the Daniel Snyder book, or so it seems.  Hasn’t anyone told owner Stephen Ross that you can’t build a championship team by throwing gobs of money at overrated free agents? Or can they?  The 2002 New England Patriots, yes the tuck rule team, were built in this very fashion.  Let’s take a look at the free agents from the Patriots championship team:

Guard Joe Andruzzi, guard Mike Compton, linebacker Bryan Cox, running back Antowain Smith, linebacker Mike Vrabel, linebacker Roman Phifer, corner back Terrell Buckley, tight end Jermaine Wiggins, corner back Otis Smith, linebacker Larry Izzo and wide receiver David Patten.

I am not comparing the 2013 Dolphins to the 2002 Patriots, I am simply saying it is possible to build a champion through free agency.  But are the Dolphins really trying to win a ring by building through free agency?  I don’t think so and I’ll explain why.

Ireland and company had been working hard for the last couple of years trying to clear up cap space and accumulating draft picks.  Entering the free agency period the Dolphins have a healthy looking cap number and a load of draft picks at their disposal, but this all came at a price.  Ireland was taking a lot of heat for his decisions from fans and ownership alike.  Trading away popular players and failing to resign key free agents made Ireland look bad in the eyes of the public. 

This year all the pieces are finally in place.  The Dolphins have both the cap space and the draft picks to find the pieces needed to close the gap on the New England Patriots.  Take a closer look at each of the Dolphins free agent signings and examine the thinking behind each move. 

Mike Wallace & Brandon Gibson:

Wide receiver was clearly a position the Dolphins had to address this offseason.  Ireland looked at the weak wide receiver draft class and easily decided to target free agency instead.  Ireland has transformed arguably the weakest wide receiver group in the AFC East into the strongest.

Dannell Ellerbe & Phillip Wheeler:

This move was a no-brainer.  The Dolphins were overpaying for two aging linebackers, Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett.  They basically traded two older, higher-paid linebackers for two younger, more dynamic and cheaper linebackers, enough said.

Dustin Keller:

After Anthony Fasano skipped town, the Dolphins were forced to find his replacement.  Keller was the Dolphins third choice, after failing to land Jared Cook and Martellus Bennett, the Dolphins signed Keller to a one-year deal.  The Dolphins could have found a tight end in the draft but signing Keller made too much sense.

The Dolphins appear to have filled every major position of need through free agency with the exception of left tackle and corner back.  This years' draft class happens to be deep at those positions.  Coincidence?  Don’t count on it.  Ireland and the Dolphins seem to have a plan in place.  Miami can now narrow the focus on those two positions in the draft where they will have 9 picks at their disposal.