Miami Dolphins and Odell Beckham, Jr. still talking; appears to be mutual interest

The Miami Dolphins spent plenty of facetime with free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. on Thursday, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. There appears to be mutual interest in making a marriage between the parties, but the deal has to made fiscal sense for both the well-traveled Pro Bowl receiver and the Dolphins.

The question is not whether the two sides are right for one another, as the Dolphins believe that Beckham, Jr, who lives in Miami, has the tools to be their third receiver. The only question remaining is how much money can the Dolphins afford to pay Beckham, Jr. now as they barely have much room under the salary cap until they can restructure and extend several more contracts.

Jackson intimated that another free agent receiver that the Dolphins coveted at some point, refused to sign with the Dolphins because Chris Grier and his staff did not want to throw a lot of money at the position. Coach Mike McDaniel would love to add Beckham, Jr. to his lineup, along with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Jonnu Smith, but the contract offer has to make fiscal sense to the Dolphins, who are looking to buy low and get a good return.

However, Beckham, Jr. is coming off of a solid year in Baltimore and merits more than the veteran minimum, but not quite the $13 million that the Ravens paid him last season. Discussions between the parties are to continue into the weekend and time will tell if an accord can be struck.

Miami is a few million under the cap, but is looking to restructure Hill's contract and extend quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, which could give them considerable room under the cap. The Dolphins will also have plenty of additional room after June 1 when $18 million of Xavien Howard's contract frees up. Howard was informed last month that his services were no longer needed, but his salary counts against the cap until June 1.

The Dolphins have options for their third receiver as Las Vegas released Hunter Renfroe last week and he has been rumored as clamoring to come to Miami and become part of McDaniel's high-octane offense.

Whoever the third receiver turns out to be would likely become part of a seven-man rotation which also includes newly resigned receivers such as Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft. The Dolphins also get former draft choice Erik Ezukanma back from injury and he showed flashes of brilliance in the preseason, before sustaining an injury.

The Dolphins are not ruling out drafting a receiver as McDaniel and the staff recently returned from the Texas Longhorn's pro day where they were apparently drooling over Xavier Worthy, who ran the fastest time ever at this season's combine in Indianapolis.

Worthy might still be on the board when the Dolphins exercise their second round pick at number 55, but they could also use their first round pick at 21 to draft a receiver such as Worthy or Brian Thomas of LSU. The question becomes whether Miami wants to invest another first round pick at the receiver position when they have a few other needs that their first pick could address.