Will Fuller knows he has plenty to prove in his pursuit to be paid like a No. 1 receiver.
This year’s free-agency market told him that loud and clear, as five days passed before he had an agreement with the Miami Dolphins on a one-year, $10.625 million deal with incentives up to $3 million.
He’s using that as motivation.
“I wanted to take a one-year just to prove my worth in the league,” Fuller said Tuesday. “I’ve had my fair share of injuries, and I’ve been working really hard. I just want to prove to the NFL, to the Dolphins for taking a chance on me, that I’m a player that they would love to have long term.”
Fuller entered free agency as one of the top receivers available, with rare speed and deep-threat ability that NFL teams covet. But when the contracts were signed, Kenny Golladay (4 years, $72 million with New York Giants) and Corey Davis (3 years, $37.5 million with New York Jets) and Curtis Samuel (3 years, $34.5 million with Washington) received lucrative multiyear deals while Fuller had just a one-year commitment.
Injuries might have hurt Fuller the most — he has played just 53 of 80 games and has eclipsed 11 games in a season only once — and his late-season suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy didn’t help, either.
Fuller assured the Dolphins that “it was a one-time thing, completely accidental, that’s never going to happen again.”
Fuller said he’s been working with Houston sports trainer Ben Fairchild on specialized training, with the goal of playing a complete season for the first time as a pro. His Dolphins debut will have to wait until Week 2, as he serves the final game of his PED suspension in Week 1.
Despite the one-year deal, Fuller didn’t express any disappointment over how his free-agency experience went; instead, he raved about the opportunity in Miami.
Fuller might be in the perfect spot for a breakout season: on a young, ascending team in need of offensive playmakers, with a second-year quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa who has plenty to prove, too.
Fuller said he has already talked to Tagovailoa — whom he called an “electric player” — on the phone and via texts about setting up Miami workouts very soon.