Generally, I ask for your opinion, but tonight, I’m going to share mine and see if you think I might be onto something or just out of my mind. This is a bit of what I expect and/or hope to happen with our Miami Dolphins. First, the team must do its due diligence this offseason before free agency and the draft. The offensive line needs attention at guard and in terms of overall depth. I’m not sure that free agency will be the best option for a starter at guard, as the team faces challenges with the salary cap, but I’ll return to the cap issues later. Therefore, the other option is through the draft. If they don’t mess it up or decide to spend another first-round pick on a “project,” they should be able to find a viable starter at guard with the 13th pick or even with a second. Just don’t screw it up (they very well may)!
Next, we have the backup quarterback. They need to find something better than what they had last season during free agency. I fully support drafting a long-term solution for a backup QB, but they won’t know if their pick is a viable long-term option as a backup QB until they bring him into camp and have him play in a couple of preseason games. They can always release their free-agent signing if they believe the draft pick is good enough. Of course, I’m uncertain if I can trust their judgment on this, but that’s what I’m hoping for. There are many other gaps to fill, but I hope they can find some bargains in free agency and perform REALLY well in the draft this year. I know that’s a lot to hope for, and as history suggests, it’s unlikely.
The salary cap is again a significant issue this offseason. Last year, they managed it by letting their previously drafted and developed players walk in free agency, creating more roster gaps and kicking other big-dollar contracts down the road. But, in a move that only made it worse, they gave Tua enough money to buy a small country while also giving more money to players like Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey. Most of those three deals big money is due later, but that’s not always a good idea, especially for Hill and Ramsey. The key thing they need to do is stop deferring money for older vets who won’t likely be here. For example, Xavian Howard is costing the team nearly 16 million dollars in dead cap space for 2025 after costing more than 11 million against the cap last season.
In my opinion, the way to succeed in the NFL is to develop your own draft picks, keep your own guys, and when you believe your roster is ready to make a run at the Super Bowl, you add a few key free agents. Sometimes you let a guy walk but a good front office should have anticipated it and drafted the replacement beforehand in most cases. Or if you want to be wise, when you have a guy who is about to hit free agency but is going to cost too much, do what the New England Patriots did successfully more than once: trade them away to another contender for more draft picks, thus giving you ammunition for the next round of players to develop and netting you more value than you would have received via comp picks. They can not continue this habit of developing their own drafted guys for other teams and then singing other teams’ free agents to giant deals or trading for and then giving giant deals to other teams’ players.
Do I think this will work and get us going in the right direction? No. I expect Grier and/or McDaniel will be gone if we struggle through another season or are one-and-done in the playoffs after barely making it in. Either way, the cap situation will hang over this team, but 2025 is not the year to dump deals. That will come in 2026, when they can move on from most of their giant deals and try and start anew, hopefully with a new general manager at the very least. The team should also pass on a new deal for Jevon Holland, as he has regressed over the last couple of seasons and seemingly has forgotten how to tackle, which seems like a horrible thing for a safety. For some reason, he is rumored to be due a big payday in free agency, so no, thank you. After this season, if they decide Tua is not the guy, they can also move on from him. As for Tyreek, I am over his drama. Let him go in 2026 when it makes more sense.
So it all comes down to whether I want to win now. Yes, of course I do, but I have lost all confidence in this front office and maybe even the coaching staff. Unfortunately, I think it’s time for a teardown and a rebuild, but part of that will require that we get out from under these massive contracts, some of which should have never been handed out in the first place. Get someone here who can reliably draft year in and year out, develop, and then hold onto our own guys. Stop giving away packages of draft picks to trade for players, for which you will then give an asinine amount of money. I just sat on my sofa last week and watched the championship games, and I thought that we couldn’t have possibly gotten past any of these four teams in the playoffs, and I don’t see how we can next offseason either.
So, am I out of my mind, or are we looking at our next rebuild yet again? Part of me sadly hopes so!