Should The Dolphins Prioritize Re-Signing Andrew Van Ginkel?

By Tyler Ireland on February 13, 2024

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In my first article I wrote for The Noise back in early December, I explained why the Miami Dolphins should enjoy Andrew Van Ginkel while they still can. The implication being that Van Ginkel would leave in free agency for a bigger payday and a larger role elsewhere. Since then my stance has changed a little bit. Recently prominent NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents Van Ginkel, spoke with WSVN’s Josh Moser about the possibility of Andrew Van Ginkel re-signing with the Dolphins this offseason. Here’s what he had to say:

“The latest with Andrew is we feel good about the season that he had,” Rosenhaus said. “He’s going to be ready to go for the offseason. We’re excited about the possibility of him coming back to the Dolphins, although he’s a free agent, so anything’s a possibility. But, he’d like to come back and was a great fit in Vic Fangio’s scheme. We’ll just have to see as we get closer to March 13, which is the first day of free agency.”

Now, take this partially with a grain of salt. Rosenhaus said this before the Dolphins parted ways with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Plus, anything can happen between now and free agency, and there is no guarantee that Van Ginkel returns to Miami. That being said, I think you can read between the lines here and confidently say that Andrew is someone who loves playing in Miami. Last offseason, the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders had interest in signing Van Ginkel, but he opted to stay with the Dolphins. One could argue that loyalty is a big factor here.

The real question is, how much should the Dolphins prioritize re-signing Andrew Van Ginkel? Miami has a ton of pending free agents including Christian Wilkins, Connor Williams, Robert Hunt, DeShon Elliott, you get the point. Plus, they have a ton of extensions they need to hammer out, all while being $50 million above the salary cap. The biggest argument against re-signing Van Ginkel is that it may be too much of a luxury to be paying a good chunk of change to your third-best edge rusher who has been more of a rotational player than a starter. Andrew Van Ginkel also turns 29 years old this offseason, so he’s not exactly part of the team’s young core.

However, starting edge rusher Jaelan Philips suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and could very well miss the beginning of the 2024 regular season. The Dolphins need to be prepared in the event that happens, and one way to do that would be to re-sign Van Ginkel and have him be the team’s No. 2 edge rusher alongside Bradley Chubb, with Emmanuel Ogbah replacing Van Ginkel’s rotational role. Then there’s the fact that Miami is in win-now mode, and they can’t afford to lose quality talent if they want to remain competitive in the AFC South. The Buffalo Bills stole the division from the Dolphins, the New York Jets are getting Aaron Rodgers back next season, and the New England Patriots will have a brand new head coach, a new quarterback, and a boatload of cap space to play with.

Personally, I think the Dolphins should bring back Andrew Van Ginkel, but there’s a catch. The contract needs to be short. Even though Van Ginkel will be extremely important to the Dolphins in the short-term with Jaelan Phillips recovering from that injury, they cannot afford to rob Peter to pay Paul. a 29 year old rotational edge rusher with upside is not worth keeping over any of the Dolphins younger core players. One option for Chris Grier would be to restructure an existing contract to free up money to retain Van Ginkel. Emmanuel Ogbah and Xavien Howard are two names to keep an eye on in that regard.

If you’re the Dolphins, you don’t want to keep kicking the can down the road, but you also don’t want to see an exodus of talent leave in one offseason. It remains to be seen how Miami will address free agency this offseason, but they need to be very careful and ensure they balance the short-term with the long-term in order to maximize their Super Bowl window.

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