Addition by subtraction will help the Miami Dolphins, but what about this season? Can the Dolphins still compete for the playoffs with a team that appears less talented on paper?
No matter how poor or successful a team’s season was, there are always major offseason questions on the front burner. The NFL turns over too much for even the best teams to advance a calendar year unscathed. Let’s continue the team-by-team overview with the Miami Dolphins.
It’s weird to say that the Dolphins got worse while also making smart moves, but that feels like the case. Addition by subtraction is what comes to mind, but how will it affect Miami’s playoff chances in 2018? Can a roster with less star talent still compete?
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Miami Dolphins in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Todd Salem:
Miami cut Ndamukong Suh because he was making money that non-quarterbacks shouldn’t. Suh was a Pro Bowl player being paid like a league MVP. The Dolphins then cut Mike Pouncey after he refused to take a pay cut. Jarvis Landry was also a logical jettison. The wide receiver was set to play under the franchise tag or, as he did with Cleveland, sign an extension. The Browns are now paying him $75 million over five years. He is good but isn’t a game-breaking receiver, and there is an argument as to whether any receiver should make that much anyway. But again, Landry was the best player at his position on Miami.
In his place, the Dolphins added Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson. Neither is as good as Landry, but monetary savings also allowed the team to trade for Robert Quinn and bring in Josh Sitton. Management seemed to make necessary moves while trying to capitalize on a window to compete for the playoffs.
The juxtapositions continue because, as it is weird that Miami got worse and made smart moves, the team also looks like it can compete after getting rid of three Pro Bowl players.
I like the weapons on offense, especially if Gavin Escobar — the newly signed tight end — can earn starter’s snaps. Kenyan Drake deserves more carries, and hopefully Frank Gore was only added to the backfield to spell him and help the locker room with his presence. Of course, the entire unit depends on the return of Ryan Tannehill, who now feels underrated after verging into being overrated for a while. That could just be my recency bias, though, or lack thereof. We haven’t seen Tannehill in a year, allowing his bad play to escape our memory and us to fixate on his athleticism in and outside of the pocket.
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The defense still needs work, but Quinn should help the pass rush across from Cameron Wake. And growth from young guys will be paramount. Three starters selected in the first three rounds of the 2016 and 2017 drafts are ready to start again in 2018: Raekwon McMillian, Cordrea Tankersley, and Xavien Howard. Throw in Charles Harris, and we could see a major bump on this side of the ball just through improvement from current players. That said, someone will have to eat up the space left by Suh. Roster construction and salary cap management are cruel mistresses.
Dan Salem:
The Miami Dolphins are certainly positioned to compete this coming season, predicated on a healthy Tannehill under center, but this team lost a ton of talent. Can we say that about any other AFC playoff team from a season ago? Nothing has pushed the Dolphins ahead of the crowd for Wild Card spots, so addition by subtraction may not change much of anything this year. Going forward is a very different story.
Miami made some critical moves that were necessary for the longterm health of their team. Saving money on players you can’t afford is always smart, even if your team is worse for it on the field. The New England Patriots have been great for over a decade operating with that exact mindset. They paid Tom Brady and practically no one else. Its the very reason Danny Amendola is now a member of the Dolphins. I’m not saying that Miami can draft like the Patriots, but elevating the talent of cheaper players via your system is a great way to build a winner.
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The Dolphins were bad last season. They looked much worse than their division rival New York Jets at times, but somehow also looked better than a few playoff teams in other weeks. Ultimately it was much of the same for Miami, even without Tannehill. Since he became their quarterback, the Dolphins have had exactly one winning season which came as a surprise to most. That was 2016, Adam Gase’s first year as coach. The bottom line is that Miami needs to rebuild in order to get better, so shedding payroll was a must. They will remain competitive since they have a solid quarterback, but its hard to see them winning four more games in 2018 than a year ago.