Miami Dolphins remove transition tag from Olivier Vernon

The Miami Dolphins have removed their transition tag from defensive end Olivier Vernon, allowing him to be a free agent and shop around immediately for a new team.

While NFL free agency won’t officially begin until 4 PM Wednesday afternoon, teams are already making moves and agreeing to deals with players that will become free agents at that time. One of those teams is the Miami Dolphins and now we know the price the team will pay for their dealings.

On Tuesday, the Dolphins announced they had agreed to a two-year deal with defensive end Mario Williams, who had recently been cut by the Buffalo Bills. With Williams now in South Florida, Miami was overloaded with quality defensive ends as both Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon were still on the roster. Earlier, the team had put their transition tag on Vernon, the fourth year starter who took over the lead role when Wake was sidelined with an injury in 2015.

Now, the Miami Dolphins are removing that tag and allowing Vernon to shop around:

There is a method behind the Miami Dolphins’ plan, as they will not get a draft pick in return as a result of Vernon’s expected signing with another team. It also means that Wake, a seven-year veteran who has totaled 70 sacks during his time with the Dolphins, will still be on the roster for the 2016 season, when he returns from a torn Achilles.

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