Yes, the Dolphins are fully expected to insist on the presence of offset language in the contract that eventually will be signed by defensive end Dion Jordan, the third overall pick in the draft.
No, the Dolphins will not be the only team in the top 10 to push for offsets.
Per multiple league sources, the Eagles are expected to push for offset language in the contract signed by tackle Lane Johnson (pictured), the fourth overall pick in the draft. Ditto for the Browns, who took defensive end Barkevious Mingo with the sixth pick.
As one source explained it, the Browns hope to delay signing Mingo until others in the top 10 are under contract, in order to see how many teams obtain offset language.
Last year, the Dolphins obtained offset language for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the eighth overall pick in the draft. No other players in the top nine signed contracts with offset language.
It continues to be a trivial issue, but still one of the few terms about which there can be negotiation given the new rookie wage scale. The contracts at the top of the draft are fully guaranteed. In the unlikely event that the player is cut before the end of the contract and pass through waivers unclaimed, the players hope to keep the full value of the contract plus whatever they get as free agents elsewhere. The teams want credit for whatever the player earns from a new team for the balance of the four-year deal.
This year, only one top-1o pick has signed. And defensive end Ziggy Ansah — arguably the biggest project in the upper reaches of the draft — was able to exclude offset language. That only will make the agents representing Jordan and Johnson push harder for the same treatment, since they were selected before Ansah.