Dolphins to release veteran DE

The Dolphins intend to release Emmanuel Ogbah, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Although Ogbah was a regular presence before Vic Fangio‘s one-and-done season as Dolphins DC, the former starter’s demotion made him a release candidate.

Friday’s $255.4M salary-cap reveal brought good news for cap-strapped teams, but the Dolphins still have plenty of work to do. 

Before this Ogbah move is calculated, Miami sits more than $38M over the 2024 cap. Releasing Ogbah will create $13.7M in cap space for the Dolphins. 

Ogbah was attached to a four-year, $65.4M deal agreed to in 2022; he was set to carry a $14.93M base salary next season. Considering his Miami trajectory, that proved unrealistic for the team.

Ogbah, 30, had been a productive pass-rusher for the Dolphins on his previous contract. The Dolphins re-signed the former Browns second-round pick in free agency two years ago, but a torn triceps sustained midway through that season — a development that came shortly after the team traded a first-round pick for Chubb at the trade deadline — changed the previous starter’s trajectory.

Between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Ogbah cemented his case for a significant raise by registering nine sacks in each season. He totaled 45 quarterback hits in that span. 

After the Dolphins had Ogbah on a two-year, $15M deal, the raise did not go as planned. Ogbah will hit free agency on a downturn, and while he could still profile as a rotational rusher somewhere else, the veteran is unlikely to fetch much on the open market given his minimal production over the past two years.

The Chiefs used Ogbah primarily as a rotational player on their 2019 Super Bowl-winning team, but a torn pectoral muscle shelved him midway through that season. 

Ogbah did not play during that playoff game, and after missing Miami’s 2022 wild-card game due to injury as well, his only postseason contest came back at Arrowhead Stadium on a frigid night — a 26-7 Dolphins loss. 

Ogbah only started because of the injuries to Phillips, Chubb and Andrew Van Ginkel. The Dolphins had brought in veterans Melvin Ingram, Bruce Irvin and Justin Houston to help Ogbah in that emergency circumstance, but Chubb and Phillips will be expected to anchor their edge-rushing corps next season.

Miami has Chubb signed through 2026, and should the team pick up Phillips’ fifth-year option by May 2, he will be locked down through 2025. 

Van Ginkel is on track for free agency, seeing his contract expire shortly after an injury. Following Phillips’ Achilles tear and Chubb’s ACL setback, Van Ginkel suffered a foot injury in Miami’s final regular-season game.