This week, Mike Pouncey officially agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins on a 4-year contract extension. Under his extension, Pouncey is averaging $8.95 million per year in new salary. He has surpassed the Oakland Raiders’ newly signed center, Rodney Hudson, by $50,000 as the highest paid at the position.
Pouncey’s extension is guaranteed for $22 million, with half being fully guaranteed at signing. His guarantee is third amongst centers, behind Ryan Kalil on the Carolina Panthers and Alex Mack on the Cleveland Browns. Kalil and Mack however, signed their extensions after being designated with the franchise and transition tags. Mack signed an offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who fully guaranteed the first two years of the contract, in an attempt to prevent the Browns from matching the offer.
Pouncey was entering the final year of his contract after the Dolphins exercised his 5th year option for 2015 at a salary of $7.438 million; the average salary of players ranked 3rd-25th at his position. His extension gives him a pay raise of $3.562 this season, and guaranteed money through 2017. The Dolphins meanwhile, lowered Pouncey’s cap number this season, and have their best offensive lineman under contract through 2020.
The Dolphins’ offensive lineman has been their Achilles’ heel the past couple seasons. No quarterback has been sacked more than Ryan Tannehill the past two seasons. He has been sacked a combined 104 times, which has been largely due to poor blocking and injuries on the offensive line. The Dolphins however, have shown a commitment towards better protecting their franchise QB. In addition to extending Pouncey, they signed left tackle Brandon Albert to a $47 million contract last off-season, and drafted right tackle Ja’Wuan James in the 1st round in the 2014 Draft. Now, it’s time to reward the franchise’s best quarterback since Dan Marino with a new contract.