Some of the NFL's biggest stars are requesting trades. Meanwhile, Zach Sieler just goes about his business with the Dolphins.
MIAMI GARDENS — If Zach Sieler already was the most valuable player on the Miami Dolphins and his value has gone up, what exactly does that make him? Do they have to create a new title? Take back the award and present him with a new trophy?
Sieler is out there every day with his Miami Dolphins teammates, battling each other and the South Florida summer sun in training camp.
“What I really care about is getting out there on the field with the guys,” he said.
Sounds simple.
As the past few days have made clear, it’s not.
The backdrop to Sieler’s participation is that he’s woefully underpaid. Sieler knows it. Agent Drew Rosenhaus knows it. The Dolphins know it.
Now look at some of the league’s biggest stars. Micah Parsons. Trey Hendrickson. Terry McLaurin. They also feel they’re underpaid. But frustrated at how negotiations are going, all three have requested trades.
Parsons, as decorated a linebacker as there is, even went on social media to throw a figurative grenade on his relationship with the Dallas Cowboys. He accused the Cowboys of tricking him into negotiations without his agent present, of creating narratives about him and of generally not negotiating in good faith.
“I no longer want to be here,” he wrote.
Burned bridges sometimes get repaired. Maybe Parsons’ comments will nudge Jerry Jones, maybe not. Meanwhile, McLaurin and Hendrickson ended holdouts to avoid $50,000 daily fines. McLaurin, a receiver, is in Washington’s camp and Hendrickson, a defensive end, is in Cincinnati’s. But only they know if they’re truly there in body and spirit.
Hendrickson, the FAU product who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season, told reporters, “What I’m not gonna do is, as best as I can, avoid being a distraction. I want to help the guys.” As for McLaurin, he’s on the physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury. In this era of players “holding in,” anytime a player goes on PUP while renegotiating, it triggers suspicion.
Mike McDaniel appreciates Zach Sieler's approach
This brings us back to Sieler.
No need reciting what he has accomplished since arriving off the waiver wire in 2019. Suffice it to say anytime an interior defensive lineman has back-to-back 10-sack seasons, he’s (here’s that word again) valuable. Coach Mike McDaniel knows it. While McDaniel wisely keeps football and business separate, he also appreciates Sieler going about his business as if a life-changing payday weren’t hanging over his head.
“I’m very aware that all players have a choice in what they do on a day-to-day basis, specifically with Zach,” McDaniel said. “And his actions speak and I think his teammates very much recognize how Zach Sieler plays football and contributes to the building every day. And I think Zach has a vision of a team that I share and he understands as a leader, he’s trying to show guys how he wants teammates to play football and I’m excited every time I see Zach Sieler.”
Sieler’s contract averages $10.25 million per year. When he signed that extension in 2023, he was both congratulated and delighted, having finally made it in this league as an undrafted free agent of Ferris State.
He repaid the Dolphins by becoming Zach Sieler.
Fast-forward to today. There are 30 defensive tackles making more, on an annual average.
You can’t name 30 defensive tackles better than Sieler. Nobody can.
Parsons, McLaurin and Hendrickson have to do what’s best for them. Unless you’re in the negotiating room with them, you don’t have much basis to criticize how they’re handling their business and a staggering amount of money. In that way, this isn’t about them. It’s about how Sieler is handling his business.
“I think everyone’s decision is their own path, their own journey,” Sieler said. “I have my path and my journey. I’ve prayed about it a bunch, talked to my wife, talked to my family, and at the end of the day, I’m going to be me.”
To his family, Sieler is a husband and a father. To the rest of us, he’s a Miami Dolphin — the most valuable Miami Dolphin.
Whose value keeps rising.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler is woefully underpaid
Category: Football
