Say this for Miami Dolphins bosses Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier.
They usually do what they say. The NFL trade deadline was one of those times.
McDaniel on Monday signaled that the Dolphins weren’t going to be sellers and didn’t have any deals close to making them buyers.
And that is exactly how it played out a day later, as the Dolphins stood pat as the 4 p.m. trade deadline passed.
Miami Dolphins Playoff Path
The Dolphins doubled down on their existing, expensive core despite losses in six of their last seven games, a one-in-nine chance at making the playoffs (per PFN’s Playoff Predictor), and a tight salary cap situation in 2025.
If there were ever a team primed to unload some contracts, it’s the 2024 Dolphins. They are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the NFL’s oldest roster (27.5) and are on track to not get much younger in 2025.
And yet, they didn’t even seriously consider moving off of big names like Terron Armstead and Calais Campbell, who are in the final acts of their excellent careers.
Why Mike McDaniel believes the Dolphins are better than their record pic.twitter.com/GfvtH9rfP5
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) November 4, 2024
“We’re not very far off,” Dolphins EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah said Tuesday. “We’ve just got to keep fighting. And like I said, it’s still a long season left to play, so we’ve just got to keep working and keep one foot forward and just keep putting in the work and not let stuff slow us down.
“Don’t let no distractions happen, like I said, it’s still a long season, and we just got to keep coming together and keep playing our best.”
Unfortunately, their best might not be good enough.
The Dolphins need at least seven and maybe eight wins over the final nine weeks to get into the playoffs — which is a monumental task, considering they’ve lost six of their first eight.
Headed for Another Mid-Round NFL Draft Selection?
At this point, the Dolphins are more likely to be drafting in the top 10 than playing in mid-January.
They’re tied with eight other teams for the fewest wins (two) on the season.
So even if they rebound and win five of their last nine, they’ll probably end up with roughly the 13th pick in the NFL Draft.
Players that fit their likely needs (offensive and defensive line, tight end, secondary, among others) expected to go in that range include EDGEs Nic Scourton (Texas A&M), James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee), and Mykel Williams (Georgia); offensive tackles Will Campbell (LSU) and Kelvin Banks Jr. (Texas); and Michigan defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
But the fact that we’re even discussing these names nearly six months out illustrates just how bad things have gone in Miami in the first two months of the season.