The Dolphins were perhaps the most aggressive team at the start of free agency: Within three days of free agency’s official opening, Miami had announced deals with 10 unrestricted free agents. A major part of the reason for that is that Miami had plenty of salary cap space. But another reason is head coach Brian Flores.
Several members of the Dolphins’ free agent class told ESPN that the opportunity to play with Flores was at or near the top of the reasons they chose Miami.
“I am fired up to play for Miami. This is a young team that’s going in the right direction,” said cornerback Byron Jones. "[Flores is] a young coach and I love that. He’s got young energy. I hear he’s intense and he likes to create competitive scenarios, competitive situations. That’s just something that I like and I wanted to be a part of. . . . That’s exciting for me, just to be on a team that he’s leading.”
New Dolphins linebacker Elandon Roberts played for Flores for three years in New England and also said Flores is a big draw.
“My number one reason is Coach Flores. He just made me feel so comfortable with coming down,” Roberts said. “Just knowing how good of a leader he is on and off the field, how much he cares about you as a player.”
Former Patriots Ted Karras and Kyle Van Noy also signed with the Dolphins and also cited a desire to play for Flores. After an ugly start to last season had some wondering whether the Dolphins would go 0-16, Flores’s team played well down the stretch, going 5-4 over the last nine games. Flores has already shown that he can rally players to play hard for him. Now he has a lot more good players on his team.