MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In 2023, if Raheem Mostert wasn’t cooking, the Miami Dolphins weren’t winning.
Mostert this past season set the franchise record in rushing (18) and total touchdowns (21), and those weren’t empty stats. The Dolphins went 10-2 when Mostert reached the end zone in 2023 and 1-5 when he did not (including the playoffs).
He was one of six Dolphins Pro Bowlers — and there probably weren’t five players more important to Miami’s success.
So why is this franchise cornerstone set to be paid like a backup in 2024?
Mostert enters the final year of the contract he signed before last season knowing that he currently isn’t even the highest-paid running back on his own team.
Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert Needs a Raise
Despite coming off a career year, Mostert is set to earn just $2.4 million in base salary, plus an additional $365,000 in roster and workout bonuses. None of that is guaranteed.
That’s less than the Dolphins are currently obligated to pay Jeff Wilson Jr. ($2.6 million, $355,000), although Wilson is a prime cap casualty candidate.
If the Dolphins — as expected — do cut Wilson (or slash his salary), they should use some of the money freed up to pay Mostert, who despite being a no-doubt top-10 (and probably top-five) back in the league, is the 22nd-highest paid running back in football ($2.8 million AAV).
Mostert, a team captain and the 2023 Good Guy Award winner for his cooperation and helpfulness with the media, is not a guy who makes waves.
But he did subtly hint at a desire to earn more on Monday when asked by PFN about being under contract in 2024.
“It’s definitely nice,” Mostert said, before adding tellingly, “but we’ll see what’s going on with that.”
Translation: Time to get something done, Chris Grier.
Mostert’s Monster 2023 Season
The Dolphins’ general manager Grier sure hasn’t treated Mostert like a top-tier player in the last 12 months.
Mostert signed a prove-it, one-year deal with the Dolphins in free agency in 2022, and that made sense for all sides at the time.
Mostert was less than six months removed from major knee surgery with many wondering if he would ever be the same.
He wasn’t. He was better.
By Week 4, he became the team’s primary back over Chase Edmonds, whom the Dolphins had just signed to a two-year, $12.1 million contract with $6.1 million guaranteed.
In eight games, Edmonds averaged 2.9 yards per carry before the Dolphins dealt him to the Denver Broncos. Mostert, meanwhile, finished the season with a 4.9 yards-per-carry average and over 1,000 yards of total offense.
Based on that body of work, Mostert seemed poised for a significant income bump in the following offseason.
But like every other free agent running back in the 2023 cycle, Mostert’s market wasn’t what he expected. Did NFL franchises collude to suppress wages for running backs? Many in league circles believe yes, even if it hasn’t been proven.
So Mostert returned to the Dolphins on his current two-year deal, but it was far from a firm commitment. The Dolphins spent the next four months inquiring about basically every big-name running back in football.
Did Miami Dolphins Take Mostert for Granted?
Grier reportedly had conversations about Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor, and Dalvin Cook last offseason.
None of them ultimately joined the Dolphins — and that was a good thing for Miami.
Mostert had more yards and touchdowns in 2023 than Taylor and Cook combined, and both Barkley and Jacobs averaged less than four yards per carry.
MORE: The No. 1 Thing Separating the Miami Dolphins From the Elite 8
Mostert averaged 4.8 — seventh among running backs with at least 100 attempts.
And despite his age — 32 in April — there’s reason to believe that he has a few high-level years left in the tank.
Mostert logged the 10th-fastest recorded time by an NFL ball carrier (21.62 mph) in 2023 and ranks just 29th among active running backs in career carries (674).
That’s roughly half of the wear and tear experienced by Barkley (1,201 career carries), Jacobs (1,305), and Cook (1,349).
This is why the Dolphins should, at the very least, adjust his incentives or extend Mostert’s current deal and bring his average more in line with other top players at his position.
The market for top-10 running backs is $6 million a year. Mostert is set to earn half of that.
And the Dolphins could structure any raise in a way that it actually creates cap space in 2024, which is certainly needed.
So it would be not just the right thing to do but also good business.
And it would send a message to the rest of the locker room: Significantly overperform your contract, and we’ll take care of you.
KEEP READING: Should Dolphins Consider Breaking Up Tyreek Hill-Jaylen Waddle Duo?
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!