For the Miami Dolphins, the real core of the team’s rebuild came in 2020 when they entered the NFL Draft with three first-round draft picks and a ton of cap space.
It’s hard to believe it has been four years since the 2020 season. No one expected the Dolphins to become immediately good. The 2020 season was supposed to be a throwaway year, but Brian Flores got what he could out of the roster. The team was supposed to be heading in the right direction.
Tua Tagovailoa and Austin Jackson were both rookies. It was the year of empty stadiums and a draft with no venue to call home. Miami invested in Robert Hunt and Raekwon Davis and landed Brandon Jones in the third round.
Five full seasons later, sixth-round long snapper Blake Ferguson is the only other player to remain with Tua and Jackson. A year later, Grier had another seven draft picks and two first-round selections.
By the start of 2025, Jevon Holland and Liam Eichenberg should be gone, just like Hunter Long, Larnel Coleman, and Gerrid Doaks. Jaylen Waddle is getting paid a lot of money, and Jaelan Phillips has continued his college trend of being hurt.
What should have been a chance for the Dolphins to fix every problem they had was practically wasted. Bloated contracts, wasted draft picks, and a massive trade drained the Dolphins of needed draft capital. Throw in the Stephen Ross/Bruce Beal/Brian Flores drama, and you have the makings of an ESPN 30 for 30 episode.
The Miami Dolphins failed to rebuild their franchise into a winner
Dolphins fans have been excited for two playoff games. The expectations were lowered to the point that no one really cared, so long as the Dolphins beat up bad teams. They do that most of the time.
Miami isn’t going to make the playoffs this year. Sorry. While not mathematically out of the chase, they are not good enough, disciplined enough, or coached well enough to make it, and if they do, expect another embarrassing first-round exit.
What makes this all worse is needing the Broncos to lose enough games for the Dolphins to sneak in. It was only a year ago the Dolphins beat them by putting 70 points on the scoreboard. It sucks that the head coach was a guy the Dolphins were penalized for tampering with.
The Broncos don’t have great running backs on their team. They don’t have a league-leading quarterback, and they don’t have a duo of elite wide receivers. They are, however, well-coached, disciplined, and determined. All the things the Dolphins, after four seasons removed from a rebuild, are not.
Change for this organization will eventually be needed because the Dolphins are no closer to competing for a Super Bowl than they were four seasons ago.
