Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler was under contract with the Dolphins through the 2026 season. Now, he will be linked to the Dolphins until 2029 after signing a three-year contract extension.
According to agent Drew Rosenhaus, it’s a three-year, $67.75 million deal that includes $44 million in guaranteed money.
The 29-year old Sieler was the MVP of the Dolphins in 2024, although that might not have been as tough as it sounds. Still, he had a great season, recording 10 sacks for the second straight year.
“He continues to find ways to elevate his game which is why he’s such an important part of what we do from a football team perspective and in particular, defensively,” head coach Mike McDaniel said.
Zack Sieler earned this extension the hard way
Sieler was hardly a pampered, highly touted first-round pick coming into the NFL. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Sieler was a seventh-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and he signed with the Dolphins as a free agent in 2019.
He did the hard, dirty work and slowly rose up the ranks to become a real difference maker on the defensive side of the ball.
“The heartbeat of our defense,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of Sieler.
From 2019-2022, the defensive tackle totaled 10 sacks with the Dolphins, which isn’t awful. DT is not a position that usually racks up a ton of sacks. But, the last two years he emerged as a force in the middle and dragged the quarterback down behind the line of scrimmage 20 times. For what it’s worth, no Dolphins defensive tackle has ever had more than 10 in a season.
Sieler provides some continuity on a defense in flux
The Dolphins’ defense has undergone some changes over the last year or two. They lost defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to the Las Vegas Raiders in March of 2024, so that was a big blow to the defense (even though things clearly did not work out well with the Raiders, who just cut him and it’s…umm…interesting). They also get Bradley Chubb back this year after he missed all of 2024, so that should help.
The Dolphins drafted Kenneth Grant with the 13th-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, so Sieler should have help on the way inside. If Grant can come in and play well, that could be quite a duo inside for the next few years.
But, there has been movement on other parts of the defense too. You may have heard that All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey is no longer employed in Miami. He was shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers along with tight end Jonnu Smith. That deal netted the Phins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, but it also left the cupboard bare at cornerback. There wasn’t much to speak of once Ramsey left, but the team is really thin at the position following the season-ending injury to Artie Burns.
It remains to be seen whether or not change is a good thing in Miami this year. They were the fourth-ranked defense in the entire NFL last year, so they can’t possibly want to tweak too much. Getting Sieler locked up should help stabilize things a bit, which is good because that back end is going to need some help.
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