Grading the Miami Dolphins offseason ahead of rookies reporting next week. What do the Dolphins need to achieve this season for Mike McDaniel to save his job?
00:00All right, I'll give you the ESPN story about Dolphins offseason.
00:06This is from Dolphins Wire.
00:07They're recapping it, but they say with the 2025 NFL season now less than 60 days away,
00:13the Miami Dolphins offseason moves will soon be put to the test.
00:16The coaching staff and fan base will get some idea even a little bit before
00:20when the Dolphins training camp begins Saturday, July 26th.
00:24By the way, rookies report next week, Tuesday.
00:28Rookies report on Tuesday.
00:30Like, we're here.
00:31Like, we're goofing around, but we're here.
00:34Rookies report on Tuesday.
00:37Based on the information available, just how good a job did Miami do navigating the offseason?
00:44ESPN shared its grades for every NFL team this offseason.
00:49The Miami Dolphins offseason earned a...
00:53Would you like to guess, Crowder?
00:54According to ESPN, Miami Dolphins offseason earned a...
00:58Oh, C plus.
01:02Solana?
01:04B minus.
01:06Jimmy?
01:08I'm going to give it a C plus.
01:12It's a B minus.
01:13Solana is correct.
01:15They say, while not exceptional, it's certainly not the worst in the league by any stretch.
01:20It's also ahead of division rival New England, who received a C plus offseason grade from ESPN.
01:28The Dolphins move that ESPN's Seth Walder liked was Miami's biggest offseason move.
01:35Walder recently handed out an A letter grade for the Dolphins trade for safety Minka Fitzpatrick and the 2027 pick swap with the Steelers.
01:45ESPN had been signing of quarterback Zach Wilson.
01:51They're kind of in the same camp that we are.
01:53Ramsey, this is what they write.
01:55Ramsey, this is what ESPN writes.
01:58Ramsey backed the Dolphins into a corner with more than $20 million remaining in guaranteed 2025 money.
02:04And the Dolphins weren't even pretending he was going to be on the team this season.
02:08I thought Miami would barely get any return in which the acquiring team paid the large bulk of Ramsey's outstanding money.
02:15The Dolphins did better than I thought.
02:18Fitzpatrick might not be as elite as he was in 2022, but he's a good safety on a favorable contract with two years left and no guaranteed money.
02:27And somehow the pick swap favored Miami too.
02:31Considering the cards, the Dolphins held, this was a win.
02:35Fitzpatrick also helps replace the loss of Javon Holland, who left in free agency.
02:42A couple other notes from Dolphins Wire at USA Today.
02:45Walder, that's the ESPN writer, and ESPN are still concerned with the Dolphins' cornerback situation.
02:51Miami is projected by ESPN to start Storm Duck, who has just three career starts under his belt,
02:58and rookie Jason Marshall Jr.
03:00But Walder wrote that he was a fan of Miami's free agency addition of guard James Daniels.
03:05Daniels inked a three-year, $24 million contract with the Dolphins and will slot into Miami's offensive interior.
03:13Miami invested heavily in the trenches during the 2025 NFL draft, selecting Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant in the first round
03:23and Arizona offensive guard, and I'm going to have trouble probably until week two.
03:27Jonah.
03:31Get him, Solana.
03:33Oh, it's been a while.
03:35Sava Ineya.
03:37Sava Ineya.
03:38I think you're correct.
03:39I think.
03:40It's just they are good football players at the end of the day.
03:45We had talked about a lot of things that Mike McDaniel wanted to do, and us working it through with the staff and the scouts that we were looking for.
03:53Both happened because they're big.
03:54They're powerful guys.
03:55So adding that to O-line and D-line, we felt that it was very important through this process that was Chris Greer after the draft.
04:04And they write here at Dolphins Wire, after an 8-9 finish in 2024, the Dolphins are hoping the combination of improved health for Tua Tonga-Vailoa
04:12and its offseason moves morph Miami back into a postseason player.
04:18I don't take much issue with anything that ESPN wrote there because I think the Fitzpatrick trade was really shocking because, again, I think we all said,
04:29oh, Jalen Ramsey, yeah, they'll probably get a six-round pick, maybe a fifth or fourth-round pick, and you'll be happy.
04:34And you end up turning it into it.
04:36Now, again, you had to give up your most productive tight end that you've had in a quarter century.
04:41But, you know, I mean, they got something in return, Minka Fitzpatrick, and I think we're both in agreement, too.
04:47The Zach Wilson signing was not exciting at all, so B-minus is probably a correct grade.
04:54Yeah, I'll go B-minus to one wild card, and nobody knows because of the fact that he was retired.
05:01Now he's not.
05:02If Darren Waller can get back to what he was in Vegas and what he was in his career, this offseason was amazing.
05:10I wouldn't say A-plus, but B-plus, A-minus, if Darren Waller can do that to bring him out of retirement.
05:15But, yeah, the fat guys are never going to be sexy.
05:18Grant, Savlin, Nunu, whatever, I don't know why I say his name.
05:21Those fat guys will never be sexy.
05:23They're never going to move needles like that because they're interior linemen.
05:27But I really do believe Darren Waller goes out here and gets you 60, 70 catches, 10 touchdowns, something like that.
05:34This offseason was successful.
05:36Sava Inaya, by the way.
05:38I just looked at my notes.
05:39I had it written down.
05:40Sava Inaya.
05:41My whole thing about the drafts, y'all heard it 100 times, they got 1,000 pounds of human being in their first three picks.
05:51That's what they needed.
05:52They need nasty, fat dudes.
05:54If you took a disgruntled Jalen Ramsey and a disgruntled Jonu Smith, two guys who wanted out and you were just going to kind of, all right, whatever we can get.
06:09And if you turn those two guys into Minka Fitzpatrick and Darren Waller, and again, I understand Darren Waller wasn't part of the trade, but if you replace those two guys and Darren Waller is what he was, because he was one of the best tight ends you ever saw, then you did all right.
06:31Yep.
06:31Like, you can't complain about that.
06:33Now, those are big ifs.
06:35They're big ifs.
06:35But if it does work out, like, you are taking a gamble getting rid of the productivity that Jonu Smith gave you.
06:42Like, that's a huge gamble to say that we're going to be able to pick and play.
06:47But Darren Waller is not exactly, well, I wonder what he can do.
06:52He is because he's been gone a season, but you know that if he is up to snuff, he's one of the best tight ends in the game.
06:59Did you see the interview with him and John Gruden?
07:03No.
07:04Oh, I did.
07:05That's where he mentions talking, where he talks about maybe playing for Frank Smith, like one of the only guys that he would.
07:10Yeah, and he was like, man, they got some Corvettes in Miami.
07:14And John Gruden told him, he's like, but you're a Corvette as well.
07:17If he's still a Corvette and not a Honda Accord, it could be amazing what they could do, because he's not going to get double teams.
07:24He's going to be on a linebacker of safety every play.
07:26So it could, it's, I think, it's crazy to say one guy, Darren Waller will decide if we are a prolific offense or not.
07:35But you're paying for an Acura, so he doesn't have to be a Corvette.
07:40If he's an Acura, you're paying him $5 million, like that's good.
07:44You know, the problem with John Smith is that you were going to have to pay him Corvette money, and maybe he produced like a Corvette last year.
07:51He didn't have to, though.
07:52He wanted Corvette money.
07:53You didn't have to, and they chose not to.
07:55That's what I'm saying.
07:56Like, if Waller, he doesn't have to be a Corvette.
07:59You're paying him $5 million.
08:01Produce for what a $5 million tight end should be producing.
08:06And I think that's a steal, because you were going to have to overpay a guy that you knew probably didn't really deserve $12 million.
08:14Oh, no.
08:15So now I'm 100% with you.
08:17Is it a show-me contract?
08:20It's a one-year five.
08:21That's the definition of a show-me contract in this day and age.
08:25But if he can play to a level of a George Kittle or a Bowers or something like that, that's why I'm saying, like, this offense is – they're going to score points.
08:34They'll be in the high team's low 20s because Tua's Tua, and they have dogs in the receiver.
08:40Well, to get into that mid-20, high 20 range, I think Waller has to push them there.
08:46And this damn – I watched the highlight of this damn running back they drafted.
08:51He looks good, too.
08:52That big-ass boy from wherever the hell he is, he was toting that little biscuit.
08:55Ollie Gordon, the guy –
08:57Yeah, he's a – bro, he's like 230.
08:59He's a big human being.
09:00He's just straight power, bro.
09:02Yes.
09:03Straight power.
09:03Now you got the thunder lightning.
09:05You got the – you know, I just – I'm high on the offense.
09:11To what you keep saying, Hawk, I'm not trying to say they're going to be 1-16.
09:15I think the offense can score in the 20s every game.
09:18If we have Storm Duck and Cater Kohu on the edges, we're in trouble.
09:23We're in trouble.
09:24Score 30 again.
09:26We're going to – it's going to be – it's going to be a race to 30.
09:30It's funny you say that.
09:31If our secondary stays status quo like it is right now, it's going to be a race to 30 to win these games.
09:38Hey, Hawk, I thought OD summed it up perfectly yesterday.
09:41He's like, I don't think they're going to be very good, but I don't think they're going to be very bad.
09:46He was saying essentially a 9-8 team, which you can't be in the fourth year of Mike McDaniel.
09:53And to – like, this is – like, 9-8, unacceptable.
09:5910-7?
10:017?
10:03I'll give you 10-7.
10:05I'll give you, obviously, 11 wins, 12 wins.
10:07If you end the season with 9 wins, man.
10:11But what if – look, I mean, I think there's a bigger conversation about where they're at if they go 9-8 or 10-7.
10:18Like, there's a bigger conversation of all this to just be where you were before Chris Greer, right?
10:24But, you know, even me, a pessimistic Dolphins fan, I'm looking at some people's, you know, overreaction to this offseason saying the Dolphins are going to stink.
10:33They're going to be terrible.
10:33And I'm saying, no, no, they're going to be the same team we saw the last couple years.
10:37To me, it doesn't matter what they do in the regular season.
10:39Win a playoff game.
10:40If they go 9-8, sneak into the playoffs, win a playoff game, who cares if they went 9-8?
10:44They did something they never accomplished.
10:46It's postseason success that matters to me more than regular season.
10:51The only thing I would say, though, with NBA, you can kind of look at the regular season, toss it out, and say anything can happen in the playoffs.
10:58I think in the NFL, the regular season is a pretty decent harbinger of things to come.
11:03Not to say that doesn't happen.
11:05I mean, we remember the Giants wild card team beating the perfect season New England Patriots.
11:10So it can happen.
11:11But I kind of feel like the regular season, like you've got to show out a little bit to get a little taste of what you might see in the postseason.
11:19Not to say that it can't happen.
11:20Yeah.
11:21I think if they make the playoffs, McDaniels is still the coach.
11:25If they win a game, he's not on the hot seat anymore.
11:29What if they make the playoffs and lose in the first round?
11:32I got to argue him in both ways with that.
11:36I don't think they fire him.
11:37If they go 10 and 7, go to the playoffs, get beat by Kansas City in the first round, or, you know, Buffalo, the Ravens, Baltimore.
11:47But how do they look?
11:48I think he can still.
11:50I think if the offense is exciting and they make it to the playoffs and they still get beat in the first round, I don't think he gets fired.
11:58Right.
11:58If he does what he was brought here to do, which is be a creative offensive guru, then you can't blame him for defensive shortcomings, I don't think.
12:07If they get to the playoffs, right, they're on the road.
12:10They play Kansas City.
12:12But they go toe-to-toe with Kansas City.
12:14They look like they belong on the same field.
12:16They look like they belong on the same field with Buffalo in the regular season.
12:20Then I think there's an argument to be made of like, hey, you went toe-to-toe with these guys.
12:26Now go draft better guys.
12:28Go put more pieces.
12:29But if they look how they did two years ago in the playoffs after their quote-unquote best season, and they get just absolutely dominated by the upper echelon teams of the AFC, then, you know, that to me is the indicator.
12:43You're not close.
12:44You know what?
12:45I think I agree with Salon on this.
12:47We have two games against Buffalo because remember what was that two years ago when we went?
12:52They went overseas.
12:52They were in London or something and played the Chiefs.
12:55Yeah, two years ago.
12:56And they got what they could be 20, 21 to 7 or something like that.
13:0020 to 7.
13:01It was Germany, wasn't it?
13:01Well, that was the playoff game.
13:04They lost.
13:04I think they lost 27 to 7.
13:06And the only touchdown was like two or threw a prayer up to Tyreek, who just made an unbelievable play.
13:11But the Dolphins couldn't move the football.
13:13They could.
13:13But when they played in Germany, Tyreek had that bad fumble that was taken back to the house.
13:19And then Tua had an opportunity to get the Dolphins.
13:22I think it was to either tie the game or get them to within one score.
13:26Remember, he sailed the ball over Chosen Anderson or Robbie Chosen's head.
13:30Remember, he just sailed the pass.
13:32It was nowhere close.
13:33And that's it.
13:34The game was over.
13:35But in the playoffs, like, had they gone toe-to-toe with Kansas City?
13:41And look, KC ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.
13:44And they just got beat.
13:46Last drive, Mahomes goes, and he beats you.
13:49It is what it is, man.
13:50You tip your cap.
13:51But the Dolphins didn't belong on the same field with them that game.
13:54They just didn't.
13:55They were outclassed.
13:57That's what it is.
13:58For sure.
13:59I'm not certain they were outclassed.
14:01They were outcoached.
14:01Let's see if we're up there with, who is it, Buffalo, Baltimore, even Houston.
14:08Like, they reset after us with C.J. Stroud.
14:11They reset their whole team with D'Amico Ryans and them out there in Houston.
14:15And now they're winning playoff games.
14:17That's what we have to do.
14:18We have to show that we're in the upper echelon of the AFC.
