Mike Pouncey wants to cash in on the new market for elite centers set by the offer sheet for the Browns' Alex Mack. According to the Miami Herald, Pouncey is seeking a contract extension from the Dolphins, where he is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Pouncey, however, might have a problem with leverage.
He made the Pro Bowl last season, his third season, and will make a reported $1.63 million in 2014. The Dolphins, the Herald reported, will exercise their 2015 option on him, but he believes he has earned a big raise even after that. He now has the Jaguars' offer sheet for Mack, which averages $9 million, as a gauge. At 24, Pouncey is four years younger than Mack with two fewer years in the NFL.
But even before Pouncey is allowed to play for the Dolphins this season, he has to be evaluated and approved by experts approved by the NFL and the players' union, commissioner Roger Goodell said last month. Pouncey was named in the Ted Wells report on the bullying of Jonathan Martin and others in the Dolphins' locker room. League discipline has not been ruled out for Pouncey and former teammates Richie Incognito (a free agent) and John Jerry (signed with the Giants).
Pouncey also was called away from the Dolphins in December to testify before a grand jury in Massachusetts in the Aaron Hernandez murder investigation; he had been served his subpoena outside of the locker room in Foxboro after a game against the Patriots in October. Pouncey, Hernandez's former college teammate, also had drawn unwanted attention over the summer when he and twin brother Maurkice were photographed wearing "Free Hernandez" caps.
All of that likely will come up in the discussion between him and the Dolphins on a contract extension. The team appears to want him back and are counting on him this season as they rebuild their offensive line—but all things considered, agreeing on a price could prove to be an adventure.