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Report: Mike Pouncey, Dolphins agree on contract extension

By Will Osgood

Nov 23, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Miami Dolphins guard Mike Pouncey (51) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Miami Dolphins guard Mike Pouncey (51) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Miami Dolphins and center Mike Pouncey agreed on Friday night to a contract extension. 

It took a while, but the Miami Dolphins and Mike Pouncey finally have agreed to a contract extension. The two-time Pro Bowl center is receiving a notable extension in what reportedly will make him the highest paid center in the NFL.

The report was initially that the deal was simply agreed to in principle, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Later, 120 Sports, among others, reported the terms of the deal.

The Dolphins had exercised their fifth-year team option on Pouncey last April–which would have cost them $7.438 million this season against the cap. Once the new league year began in about 11 months, Pouncey would have been a free agent.

The fifth-year option is a relatively new deal that teams can use. It was included in the latest CBA signed in the summer of 2011. The 2011 draft class was of course the first group of players for which the one-year options could be used.

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They are beautiful in that they allow both the team and the player to feel rewarded. The player gains a significant pay increase. For instance, Pouncey’s cap hit in 2014 was under $3 million. It was going to be about $7.5 million this year, before this extension.

But it is also team-friendly, as in this case it gave the Dolphins two freedoms: 1) an extra year of Pouncey if they so chose, at which point they could have let him walk via free agency or re-signed him; and 2) it gave them extra time to get the contract extension done.

That is so much different than the franchise tag, which, for instance, the Saints had to use on Jimmy Graham last offseason, at which point he basically decided he’d no longer give everything he had for the Saints.

The team option is a far less restrictive agreement, and far less threatening to the player. Plus, as we’ve now seen at least one team has used the option year to get started early on a contract extension.

The New Orleans Saints are expected to do the same with Cam Jordan, who they used the team option on last offseason as well.

Pouncey’s twin brother, Markuice, got a five-year $44 million from the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, which surpassed the five-year, $42 million deal belonging to Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack.

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