Emmanuel Ogbah's roll of the dice has paid off.
The defensive end has agreed to a four-year, $65 million contract to remain with the Miami Dolphins, Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The new deal includes $32 million in fully guaranteed money, per Rapoport.
Miami also made a splash on offense, agreeing to terms with free-agent running back Chase Edmonds on a two-year deal worth $12.6 million (with $6.1 million guaranteed), Rapoport reported.
Ogbah's new contract is the culmination of a half-dozen years of perseverance in the NFL.
A second-round pick by the Browns in 2016, Ogbah was traded to Kansas City on the heels of Cleveland's blockbuster deal with the New York Giants, which included Odell Beckham and Olivier Vernon. Despite the disappointment of being traded, Ogbah kept his head down and worked, recording 5.5 sacks in his lone season with the Chiefs and winning Super Bowl LIV before signing a two-year, $15 million deal with Miami in 2020.
Since then, he's been as steady as they come. Ogbah has posted two practically identical seasons with the Dolphins, recording nine sacks in each campaign and tallying a combined 83 tackles between 2020 and 2021. With 2019 included, he's recorded three straight seasons of at least five sacks and has reached his prime in Miami, leading the Dolphins in sacks and quarterback pressures in 2021 while tying his career-high mark in the latter category (set in 2016 in Cleveland).
The edge rusher was a turnover-causing machine via pressure in his first season with the Dolphins, making at least one big play per week while working under Brian Flores, and he was largely the same effective player in 2021. Ogbah has tied for the fifth-most turnovers caused by pressure, with six, in the last two seasons combined. He stands among the likes of Chase Young, Randy Gregory, Preston Smith, T.J. Watt and Jason Pierre-Paul in this regard, and Ogbah has also appeared in every Dolphins game in each of the last two years.
Availability is an ability, and for Miami, Ogbah's availability is an asset. Ogbah has remained under the radar for much of his career, but his play deserves the attention this type of contract will attract. He landed on our unsung heroes list for 2021 and he's certainly earned this payday with a team that's happy to keep him, more than doubling his average annual salary ($7.5 million to $16.25 million) and moving into the top 20 highest-paid edge rushers.
Edmonds is finding another opportunity to be a productive runner with a team that could use one. Miami relied heavily on Myles Gaskin in 2021 and added local favorite Duke Johnson to the mix but ultimately finished 30th in rushing yards per game. There's a good reason why some folks have projected the Dolphins to select Iowa State running back Breece Hall in April's draft.
Edmonds hasn't proven to be a gamebreaker and is more of a tandem back to this point in his career, but he'll get an opportunity to prove he can be more than that with the Dolphins under new head coach Mike McDaniel, while his old running mate in Arizona, James Conner, agreed to an extension to stay with the Cardinals. You can't pay them all.
