The Miami Dolphins have a lot of problems right now, and while Mike McDaniel may not be an immediate concern, the fallout from these issues will land on his coaching shoulders.

Miami is not undergoing a rebuild but by the time the 2025 season rolls around it very well may look like they did. Chris Grier has not done Stephen Ross, McDaniel, or himself any favors with the way he has handled the salary cap and the maintenance of the roster.

It’s pretty sad when the longest tenured draft pick on your team is a seventh-round kicker and that is only the small parts of the problem.

Grier has managed to push money from one year to the next and buy time and operating capital, but he may have finally pushed too far.

The release of Kendall Fuller surprised no one. Nor did the releases of Durham Smythe and Raheem Mostert. Those three moved the Dolphin’s cap needle, but not far enough. Miami entered the weekend $13 million over the cap and now sits at $5.4 million over. The NFL will release the new cap increase soon, but the Dolphins still have to make big moves, and they simply don’t have the roster to do it.

All three releases, while expected, created more holes on a roster that Grier will struggle to fix. For McDaniel, a critical season could put his back against the wall before it begins.

The Dolphins’ offense and defense need help and Mike McDaniel may not get enough to win with

The offensive key will still be Tua Tagovailao. If he stays healthy, the Dolphins will have a chance. McDaniel still needs to get something done with Tyreek Hill’s involvement as he has become nothing more than a high-priced decoy.

Miami needs to fix the offensive line and if they don’t, Tua will be under pressure and the running back will once again be an outside sprint to the corner and nothing more.

Defensively, it could be worse. Anthony Weaver won’t be held responsible for the personnel he has to work with but if the defense slumps, so will his head coaching chances next year. The Dolphins are thin along the defensive line, have two linebackers coming off major knee injuries, a secondary that is missing one starter with no one on the current roster ready to step in, and two starting safeties likely leaving in free agency.

Add the cap problems and Grier’s inability to consistently draft immediate contributors, and McDaniel’s team may look like it was pieced together from the scrapyard. That’s not a recipe for turning around a team and changing the culture.