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March 4 (UPI) -- INDIANAPOLIS -- Wide receiver Kenny Stills remains a top priority for the Miami Dolphins, but the team isn't sure how likely it is that they will retain his services. "One day I feel good about it, one day I feel like crap about it," coach Adam Gase said. "I hate free agency.
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"You just want to get your guys back. Kenny and myself have a very close relationship. The worst thing about the NFL is sometimes that doesn't matter. Sometimes the money is what guys are looking for.
"Kenny, obviously, he'd love to stay here, but he's going to stay for the right price and what's comfortable for him, and I don't think anybody would blame him for that."
Some estimates have Stills getting as much as $12 million a year on the free agent market.
Stills recorded 42 receptions for 726 yards and nine touchdowns last season and his 17.3 yards per reception will surely tempt many teams to give him big bucks.
General manager Chris Grier said the team and Stills aren't far apart on money.
"We've been talking back and forth," Grief said. "I don't think there's any real numbers. We've talked back and forth. We kind of know what the agent wants, and what we think.
"With any negotiation, they're going to ask for the moon and the team is going to come in and try to lowball. But it's just the bartering back and forth."
Interestingly, if Stills, a fourth-year player from Oklahoma, does leave the Dolphins, Gase said they could adapt and don't necessarily need to replace him with a speedy receiver.
"It'd be more about us changing a little bit on offense, trying to find a different way to kind of create the same result," Gase said. "He did a great job with everything we asked him to do. He's the ultimate team player.
"I've got a lot of love and respect for that guy because he did everything he was asked to do. That's hard to replace. It's hard to replace a guy like that. Hopefully we can get him back, but at the end of the day there's a lot of teams that are looking for the same type of guy, the reason that we like him."
--Miami replaced defensive coordinator Vance Joseph with linebackers coach Matt Burke after Joseph was hired as Denver's head coach.
The Dolphins hired Frank Bush as their linebackers coach. Bush formerly coached linebackers for the Los Angeles Rams. Chris Kuper was promoted from offensive quality control coach to offensive line assistant.
--Coach Adam Gase and general manager Chris Grier said the days of Miami spending big in free agency probably are over. The Dolphins have spent big bucks on players such as wide receiver Mike Wallace and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in recent years, but that won't be the priority going forward.
In practical terms, perhaps that means the Dolphins probably won't bid on players such as New England linebacker Dont'a Hightower.
"I don't think anything is ever left off the table," Gase said. "I just know what our philosophy is going to be."
--Miami is hoping to extend the contract of linebacker Kiko Alonso, according to general manager Chris Grier.
The Dolphins are also in wait-and-see mode on linebacker Koa Misi (neck) and safety Isa Abdul-Quddus (shoulder/neck). Both had surgery and could be battling conditions that threaten their availability for the 2017 season and perhaps beyond.
