Dolphins looking to sign LB David Harris or Mason Foster in free agency

With free agency less than two weeks away, rumors are flying everywhere and leaks are starting to come out as well. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins plan to make inside linebacker David Harris of the New York Jets one of their primary targets when the official signing period opens on March 10.

Earlier his off-season, I wrote a column about several options that would be an upgrade over Koa Misi at the inside linebacker position. Harris was one of those players. He will be 31 when the season begins so he only has a few good years left and already could be on the decline. However, he could be a good stop-gap for two years or so until the Dolphins find a stud in the draft. The devil will be in the details - how much money will he get and how long will the contract be? 

The problem the Dolphins face is there aren't a ton of good inside linebacker prospects in the draft and they want to move Misi back to the outside if possible. In addition, the free agent market for inside linebacker is incredibly thin, as I also mentioned in that column. 

If the Dolphins cannot land Harris, they plan to target Mason Foster of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to Jackson. Foster will be 26 when the 2015 season begins and hasn't exactly wrecked havoc in Tampa Bay. He had an overall PFF grade of -5.5 this past season with a -5.7 run defense grade and a -2.7 pass coverage grade. I don't see how he would be an upgrade over Misi so hopefully this is just one of those rumors flying around at this time.

Also according to Jackson, Philip Wheeler and Dannell Ellebere haven't been notified in what direction the team plans to go in but it's expected that Ellerbe will be cut with a strong possibility that Wheeler sees the door as well. In addition to those two, the Dolphins will not be re-signing Jason Trusnik and have already informed him of such.

More and more rumors will continue to pop up over the next week and a half so it's important to keep things in perspective and realize the time of the year we are in right now. For now, take this report as is along with the facts and details. We'll wait it out and see what the Dolphins do when the free agency period begins.

This story was written by Matthew Cannata. Follow him on Twitter: @PhinManiacs