MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Six losses in seven games have wrecked the Miami Dolphins’ season. And yet, there’s no appetite in team HQ for a wholesale makeover midway through what increasingly looks like a lost season.
Presumably from owner Stephen Ross on down, there’s a belief that the Dolphins are better than their 2-6 record.
So instead of using Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline to unload some big contracts and start the much-needed process of getting younger, they’re likely going to roll through the rest of the season — and likely next — with the core they’ve assembled the last three offseasons.
Miami Dolphins’ NFL Trade Deadline Plan
That’s according to Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who met with reporters Monday to discuss the team’s latest loss, a 30-27 heartbreaker against the Buffalo Bills in Week 9.
Why Mike McDaniel believes the Dolphins are better than their record pic.twitter.com/GfvtH9rfP5
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) November 4, 2024
“I think there’s no real label on what we’re doing,” McDaniel said. “I know one thing that Chris Grier and I both share [is] a strong conviction and belief in this team and what it looks like if you can find a way to get over the hump, which we fully expect to.
“At the same time, you know, Chris Grier’s job is to field all business and listen and think both in the short and long-term of the best interest of the franchise. And then he comes to me with any and all business that’s real, and we discuss from there. He hasn’t brought anything that is real to me.
“I know first and foremost, we are absolutely convicted in this team being better than the win/loss column right now. And believe that it can make a turn, and that’s how we’re approaching each and every day.”
That’s entirely fair. The Dolphins’ last three losses have been by a combined 10 points. They very easily could be 5-3 — particularly if Tua Tagovailoa didn’t get hurt.
But he did.
And they’re not.
And as a result, they’re a very long shot to make the playoffs. This is why we have been among the many to advocate for the Dolphins to use the trade deadline to begin their transition into 2025.
Even if they aren’t interested in moving big names like Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey, a strong argument could be made that they shop players on expiring or low-risk contracts like Calais Campbell, Terron Armstead, Jevon Holland, and Raheem Mostert.
Mike McDaniel’s Case for Stability
That’s why we asked McDaniel to explain why it’s in the team’s best long-term interest to stand pat ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Here was his reply:
“You get no greater insight into who people are than times like these. And I think they have, each and every day to make the argument for themselves, as well as we do. That’s what you fight for in the National Football League.
“The only positive in a luster of adversity is that you get clarity into each and every person — who’s part of the solution, who’s part of the problem? And I think that that’s the ultimate accountability for the National Football League, that we all have to bear. And, you know, the argument for anybody’s existence is in their hands, to a degree, with all the football that’s left to be played.”
Certainly, everyone is being evaluated, and that includes McDaniel and Grier. And if the Dolphins offload their talent, the product will likely suffer even more — which would reflect poorly on those making the decisions.
But if Ross thought Grier was protecting his own job at the expense of doing what’s best for the organization, he could simply instruct Grier to make those trades — or find someone who would.
That’s why our sense is Ross is on board for at least one more year with this core.
“I think that we played our best version to this point of football, in a lot of ways,” McDaniel said. “… I think guys are really just trying to do right by their teammates and the organization for something they believe in.
McDaniel added: “We are much better than our record is, but our record is what it is. So you have one choice if you really feel that way. You have to dictate change, and closer only counts if it’s on the path to fixing it.”