Jason Burgos
The Miami Dolphins have been very active this offseason, but executives from rival teams are not fans of what they have done so far.
Following a disappointing 7-10 season, change was expected for the Dolphins. However, Miami fans have gotten even more than they expected. First, they fired head coach Mike McDaniel and replaced him with Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Then they went to work on reimagining the roster.
The Dolphins took on a lot of dead cap to cut ties with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, linebacker Bradley Chubb, and receiver Tyreek Hill. Then they traded veterans Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jaylen Waddle. The most notable addition they have made thus far is signing former Packers backup and Tennessee Titans starter Malik Willis.
The overhaul of the roster could be framed in a way that it was addition by subtraction. However, executives from other teams are confused by the Dolphins’ various decisions over the first month and change of the offseason.
“To me, this is 2019 all over again. They should not have signed Malik Willis,” an exec told The Athletic’s Mike Sando. “They should have taken the full Tua cap charge in one season, have gone with Quinn Ewers, and just played out the season.”
Are the Dolphins setting Malik Willis up for failure?
While Willis showed a lot of potential during his time with the Packers and is still only 26, another executive suggested that unless Hafley builds the offense around the quarterback’s skillset, the move isn’t going to work out for Miami.
“You should know enough about Willis to know many of his throws were flareouts and simple stuff,” the exec said. “So, unless you plan on running an offense like that, what are you doing?”
That same NFL decision-maker also believes the Dolphins did not get a good enough return in the trade that sent Waddle to the Denver Broncos. “I don’t think they got enough for Waddle. They got the equivalent of the 25th pick in the draft. It should have been a lot more.”
Dolphins have problems that go beyond roster and coaching?
While this was expected to be a rough transition season, a third executive suggested that new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan may be doomed from the start because of the people above him in the Dolphins’ management structure.
“The problem there is that they have an absentee owner and some really empowered people in the front office, including the president. If you’re the GM, that’s a tough situation,” they said.
