The Miami Dolphins have locked up Ryan Tannehill with a contract extension heading into the 2015 season and with OTAs and training camp coming up, Tannehill is ready for another big year and he has some new weapons in DeVante Parker and Jay Ajayi and those players could push to contribute alongside Jarvis Landry and Lamar Miller on offense.
According to the Miami Herald, the Dolphins signed Tannehill to a deal worth $96 million over six years and the contract has $45 million guaranteed. The details include a $21.5 million signing bonus and the rest of the guaranteed money comes as the years of the contract move along. According to Pro Football Talk, the deal is a "pay as you go" contract like the extensions that Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick signed and means the team can make decisions on Tannehill in the future.
The team clearly was happy with how he played last year, as he put up his best year in the pros, putting up career high numbers across the board. According to the Miami Herald, an extension for Tannehill was on the horizon all offseason and Mike Tannenbaum was quoted as saying that the team as looking to sign the quarterback to a long-term extension this offseason. Tannehill had his option for 2016 picked up, but that was just a placeholder before the team got a deal done.
Earlier in the offseason the Sun-Sentinel reported that his deal would be around $105 million over seven seasons. Tannehill has shown he can be a solid quarterback, as he has had at least 24 touchdowns and 3900 yards in back to back seasons while completing north of 60 percent of his passes. Last season he set career highs with 4045 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and a 66 percent completion rate while putting up a low of 12 interceptions.
The Dolphins only had six picks in the draft this year and while that may not be good for depth, the team made strong moves and got players that could contribute. Parker and Ajayi will be able to give Tannehill weapons, while other additions like Kenny Stills and Greg Jennings can help with depth. The Dolphins signed Ndamukong Suh and traded for Kenny Stills this offseason and they expect to be in the mix with the Patriots dealing with a Tom Brady suspension.
Pro Football Talk writes that the Dolphins considered moving up in the draft to get a player like Amari Cooper, but they ended up waiting for their pick instead and got Parker in the first round. Cooper came in ahead of parker by most scouts, as he had 124 catches for over 1700 yards and 16 touchdowns last season and Kevin White was next off the board after he had 109 catches and 10 touchdowns while playing for West Virginia.
The team is happy with how Parker looked in camp workouts and the team met with him early in the draft process and they feel he can fit in well with Tannehill. Tannehill is coming off of his best season with the Dolphins and after the team traded away Mike Wallace, they need some more depth at receiver. The team added Kenny Stills, but they also got rid of Brandon Gibson and Brian Hartline and now Jennings and Parker can help make up for that.
