3 surprise cuts the Dolphins could make this offseason

1. OLB Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy’s addition on a four-year, $51 million deal last offseason was as much about intangibles coming from New England as it was about what he can do on the field. And that’s not to dismiss what he produced last season (69 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, six sacks and 10 quarterback hits over 14 games).

Leave out Week 10 against the Chargers, when he went and was taken off the COVID-19 list within 48 hours, and Van Noy played more than 60 percent of the defensive snaps in each of his other 13 games. He played more than 90 percent of the snaps in 10 of those games (every snap six times, and 88 percent in another contest).

So moving on from Van Noy would not be a light move, on the field or presumably in the locker room. But the Dolphins (smartly) structured his contract as practically a year-to-year proposition. His $12.5 million 2021 base salary becomes fully guaranteed on March 20, so if there’s a decision to be made it will have to come by then. Miami can clear either $9.775 million (pre-June 1) or $12.525 million (post-June 1) of Van Noy’s $13.9 million cap hit by cutting him.