3:10pm: Soliai has received interest from at least five teams, and two of those clubs “are quite serious” about trying to sign the veteran defensive tackle, says Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. For now, the Dolphins are the only club that can offer Soliai a contract, but the team has yet to make a proposal.
12:52pm: Defensive tackle Paul Soliai appears ready to test the open market, having already moved out of his South Florida home, reports Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. According to Beasley, the Dolphins will be “hard-pressed” to keep Soliai, who is set to hit free agency on March 11.
Soliai, 30, has started 58 of the Dolphins’ 64 total games over the last four seasons, earning a Pro Bowl berth in 2011 and ranking as a top-20 defensive tackle in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). Coming off a $7.375MM cap number in ’13, Soliai likely won’t come cheap, and Beasley suggests the run-stopping lineman has drawn a significant amount of “unofficial interest” at the combine this week.
The Dolphins will have plenty of cap room this offseason, but also have numerous positions and players to address — the club will have to remake its offensive line and retain standout cornerback Brent Grimes. A report earlier this month from Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com suggested that Miami would probably only be able to re-sign one of its two free agent defensive tackles. In addition to Soliai, Randy Starks is also eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Miami could free up some additional cap space by restructuring Mike Wallace‘s contract to reduce his $17.25MM cap hit for 2014, but there have been no discussions on that front yet, according to Beasley.