MIAMI — It was a nondescript training camp practice on an ordinary late August morning in 2023, one of the two sessions that led up to the final preseason game.

Training camp was about to conclude, which means the risk of daily injury was about to be drastically reduced for every player.

Zach Sieler’s buddy Christian Wilkins was already sitting out training camp practices as he engaged in an NFL hold-in, which is when a player seeking a new contract shows up to work daily, but doesn’t participate. And even though Sieler was in a similar situation, pushing for a new contract that would produce a substantial raise, the Miami Dolphins’ starting defensive lineman chose to work every day.

Then, on one indistinguishable trench play snap, Sieler learned the reason he shouldn’t have been on the field because he sustained a knee injury.

You could immediately see the panic on the face of his teammates, especially Wilkins, who ran from the sideline over to his closest friend on the team.

Sieler was down! The team was concerned. His future was in jeopardy since he was scheduled to become a free agent the next offseason.

For about five minutes Sieler was experiencing every NFL player’s worst nightmare.

Sieler eventually got off grass and walked off gingerly, clearly in pain. About an hour later he tried to return to the practice field, but his teammates and coaches kicked him out the huddle repeatedly.

That’s who Sieler is.

Three days later Sieler agreed to a three-year extension worth $30 million. The deal guaranteed him $20 million, and averaged $10.25 million a season. It was a substantial raise from the $4.3 million he was slated to make that season.

It’s not a coincidence Miami put that deal on the table days after Sieler had the injury scare, or after Wilkins turned the team down on its final offer for his extension.

Wilkins would play out that season in Miami and eventually leave as a free agent, signing a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders that guarantees him $24 million a season for the first three years of the contact.

Both defensive tackles did what was right for them and their family at the time.

Wilkins was a former first-round pick who had already made a substantial amount of money in his first four years. He was making $15 million in his fifth-year option that season. He had no wife or kids so he could afford to gamble on himself.

Sieler, a former seventh-round pick who was waived by the Baltimore Ravens in his second season, lived in a trailer his first two seasons with the Dolphins, which claimed him off the waiver wire in 2019.

He had a wife and a baby on the way, so a bird in the hand was better than two in the bush.

Fast forward two seasons and Sieler is still one of the biggest bargains in the NFL because he’s become one of the league’s most productive defensive tackles.

The former Ferris State standout has tallied 10 sacks a year during the previous two seasons.

He has also amassed 24 tackles for loss, 41 quarterback hits and 118 tackles.

He’s also responsible for six passes deflected, two forced fumbles and three recovered fumbles, along with pulling down two interceptions, including one that was turned into a pick-six touchdown.

The bottom line is that Sieler has established himself as a baller since getting his new deal, and proved he wasn’t a product of the talent around him last year when he did it without Wilkins, and with edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb sidelined most of the season, if not all.

Unfortunately for Seiler and his camp, the Dolphins hold most of the leverage in his push for a new deal because he’s under contract for another two seasons.

Sieler turns 30 this year, and that’s the number the ageist NFL usually starts looking for a discount from its workforce. The concern is that a 30-year-old’s body won’t hold up like a youngster, so the player should accept less money or find another employer.

That means this is likely Sieler’s last chance to secure a substantial payday, but Miami’s decision-makers and owner Steve Ross must feel he’s deserving, making an offer in good faith.

While the Dolphins paid Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Jalen Ramsey handsomely last offseason, giving them all lucrative extensions when they didn’t have to, it appears there has been a fiscally responsible shift within the organization.

Miami hasn’t given an extension all offseason, and they traded a Pro Bowler, tight end Jonnu Smith, when he held his hand out seeking a raise, shipping him and Ramsey to the Pittsburgh Steelers for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is likely seeking an extension, too.

The reputation about this franchise among NFL players is that the Dolphins would prefer to pay outsiders — free agents, players traded for — instead of their own, and there’s plenty of truth to that.

That’s part of the reason we’ve seen a ridiculous exodus of former Dolphins starters, who have signed elsewhere as free agents the past few years, if not the past decade.

Sieler needs to buck that trend.

Sieler will make $7.8 million this season if he plays all 17 games, and has another $1.25 million in complicated bonuses. He’s one of Miami’s 10 highest-paid players in 2025.

He’s scheduled to make another $8.1 million in 2026, so collectively Sieler will earn a little less than $16 million in the next two seasons.

There are currently 18 NFL defensive linemen who earn more than that $16 million in one season.

Are 18 defensive linemen better than Sieler?

The eighth-year veteran, who turns 30 in September, currently ranks 32nd at $10.25 million when it comes to average salary based on the contract’s value.

The NFL’s top-paid defensive tackle in 2025, by average annual contract value is Kansas City’s Chris Jones at $31.8 million. The No. 20 defensive tackle on that list is Arizona’s Dalvin Tomlinson at $14.5 million.

If the Dolphins were wise they would make a respectable offer, one that gets Sieler north of $16 million a year in salary average, and guarantees him another two years of salary.

That’s what would facilitate a better team culture, sending an important message the Miami’s locker room that culture matters, and those who personify what they want the team’s culture to. be are rewarded.

But unfortunately, we all know the Dolphins organization — mainly the decision-makers — don’t always practice what they preach.

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