Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel on Wednesday did an excellent job explaining why his team punted on the NFL trade deadline.
We made this counterargument, which not surprisingly ruffled a few feathers within the fanbase Tuesday.
But McDaniel’s stance is certainly understandable, given the Dolphins record (6-2), their roster composition (a bunch of really good players are coming back from injury soon), and Miami’s 2024 salary cap and draft resources.
Miami Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel Talks NFL Trade Deadline
Here is McDaniel’s answer to the question about the Dolphins’ decision not to upgrade at the deadline — even though several of the other teams in contention for the Super Bowl made moves — in its entirety:
“Well, fortunately, my office is directly adjacent to [Dolphins general manager] Chris Grier’s here too. No knocks [on the door].
“Yeah, we actually have several of the best trades that exist in the works. Ok? You’re talking about getting players with no compensation, or no assets given, from injury. So, I mean, we’re in a great spot.
“I think Chris is always, and will always enter into, you know, whatever conversations that are sought out to him and, you know, that’s that’s a part of his job. He doesn’t labor my mind with, ‘Hey, you know, like NFL gossip, like, hey, I talked to this guy and this guy,’ you know, he, he, he brings it to my attention when we need to discuss it when it, when it’s to a serious platform.
“And he didn’t discuss anything. And that speaks to where we’re at with our football team. We’ve been playing some good football, and then we have some players that are very good players that are returning.
“You know, that means there’s a lot of people executing on all three phases at every position. So I feel pretty good about that.”
Again, a totally fair point of view. One rejoinder before the issue is put to bed:
The Dolphins aren’t the only contender to have players on track to return from injury. The San Francisco 49ers will soon get back Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams — and still swung a trade for Chase Young.
MORE: Miami Dolphins Injury Report — Xavien Howard, Connor Williams, Jevon Holland Back in Week 9?
Were the Dolphins right and the Niners wrong? It’s far too soon to say.
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