Following Tuesday’s reported deal and Monday’s blockbuster trade, here are some observations regarding the Dolphins.
The Dolphins performed ok in Monday’s transaction that surrendered 2027 draft picks and Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to Pittsburgh in exchange for Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
My main conclusion is that the rebuild in 2026 is unavoidable.
According to reports, the Dolphins intend to trade for retiring tight end Darren Waller from the New York Giants. He will take Smith’s place as the receiving tight end. According to reports, Waller, who turns 33 in September, will sign a one-year contract worth up to $5 million.
The Dolphins are making a respectable, if not amazing, comeback. Clearly, it’s a desperate move. Additionally, it ages the team. And you’re concerned about getting a guy who claimed to be heretired because ” no longer loves the game. However, after losing Smith, it’s a respectable recovery all around.
These moves have led me to believe that the Dolphins’ 2026 makeover must include a total overhaul, which means that in order to give the team a new beginning, general manager Chris Grier, coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill must all leave. However, the reconstruction cannot start until after this season. Later, more on that.
Don’t only concentrate on the trades. Rather, concentrate on the significance of the trades. The Dolphins are more likely to miss out on a playoff victory in 2025 as a result of the moves than they were at the start of 2022.
With this core group of guys, we know the Dolphins’ window for the Super Bowl is closing. However, the playoff window is also closed following these trades. This club will never win a postseason game this year. It will be difficult just to qualify for the postseason.
If you’re a Dolphins fan, your main worry is that the trade or rebuild will prevent your club from winning a postseason game in 2025, 2026, or maybe even 2027.
Let’s examine why a complete rebuild is required: Why would anyone believe that Grier and McDaniel could win with fewer talented players if they couldn’t win with what many consider to be the best talent the team has had in the past 20 years?
This is a nine-win squad, I have argued. However, if everything goes their way, this team might win by 10, 11, or, with really excellent luck, 12.
The Dolphins’ strategy of winning with draft picks and young players is the problem. This is due to Plan A’s disastrous failure to win over veterans.
Plan A was created by Grier and McDaniel. Winning a Super Bowl was its aim. Not even a playoff game was won by them. They cannot oversee the reconstruction.
Since the 2025 Miami Dolphins are too large to fail, the renovation can’t possibly begin until 2026. Even without Smith, the offensive is strong.Of course, the defense is a different matter.
In any case, I don’t think the rebuild is complete until Tyreek or Tua, the two key figures from the Grier-McDaniel era, go.
According to conventional belief, Tyreek’s final season will be in 2025. In 2026, he will cost $51.8 million under the salary ceiling. The Dolphins probably won’t extend his contract because they aren’t paying him that much.
In 2026, the rebuild will begin.
Does Tyreek intend to remain with the Dolphins through the 2025 campaign? We shall see.Ramsey is needed by the Dolphins, according to Tyreek. They won’t have Ramsey, of course.
Does Tyreek pull another I’m out if the Dolphins start out poorly, or does the team trade him to a contender before the trade deadline?
Indeed, the Ramsey trade is a component of the urgently required shift in culture. One could argue that Grier and McDaniel shouldn’t be included in the rebuild because of the urgently needed cultural shift.
In their ongoing purge of 30-somethings, the Dolphins effectively sent off two of them in the Ramsey trade (Smith turns 30 next month, and Ramsey is 30). They got a 32-year-old in Waller, of course.However, older players are still being cut.
The Dolphins went into training camp last year depending on up to eight players in their 30s to start or play important positions: Terron Armstead, left tackle; Raheem Mostert, running back; Odell Beckham Jr., wide receiver; Shaq Barrett, edge rusher; Jordan Poyer, safety; Tyreek Hill, wide receiver; Marcus Maye, reserve safety; and Kendall Lamm, reserve offensive tackle.
Hill is the only member of the team going into training camp this year.
Like the Waller trade, I have mixed feelings about the Ramsey move. The Dolphins obtained the best they could after doing what they had to. As my colleague Dave Hyde accurately stated, the Dolphins are a poorer club today than they were on Sunday.
