Linebacker Dont’a Hightower is one of the biggest names entering the free agency market this year. The 26-year old, who has spent the first five years of his professional football career with the New England Patriots, has reportedly drawn interest from multiple teams.
One of those teams – naturally – are the Patriots themselves, who would like to keep their defensive team captain in the fold. New England is joined in the Hightower sweepstakes by the Tennessee Titans, whose general manager Jon Robinson was the Patriots’ director of college scouting when the team selected the Alabama product in the first round of the 2012 draft.
The two teams have now been joined by a third one, according to Jeff Howe:
Dolphins are among the teams that are interested in Dont'a Hightower, per source.
The Patriots’ division rival faces Hightower twice a year, so it knows first-hand how good of a player he is. And while the Dolphins do not have the salary cap space the Patriots and Titans do, they still have the financial means to make a potential push for Hightower at around $34.0 million in free cap money.
This could change, however, if Miami succeeds in signing linebacker Kiko Alsonso to a long-term contract. The team just placed the first round tender on the restricted free agent, so it might just be doing its due diligence when it comes to Hightower.