TUESDAY, 3:41pm: The Dolphins have restructured Fields’ deal, so he’ll be staying in Miami, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald tweets.
MONDAY, 10:30am: The Dolphins plan to release punter Brandon Fields, according to Adam Beasley of The Miami Herald (on Twitter). The only way Fields won’t be cut loose, he adds, is if he agrees to a significant contract restructuring.
Fields appeared in all 16 games for Miami last season and the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) placed him as the 12 best qualified punter in the NFL. By releasing the 30-year-old (31 in May), the Dolphins would save $3.1MM in cap space. His existing deal calls for him to earn $7.18MM over 2015 and 2016.
Fields averaged 46.8 yards per punt in his eight seasons with the Dolphins. His current contract calls him to be one of the very highest paid punters in the league.