Finsmob Unleashed

The 4 players pictured above are most likely as good as gone. Whether they’re cut, or traded, the Dolphins need to create cap space just to get to back to being in the black as far as the cap is concerned. In the recent press conference with Sully, obviously he couldn’t just come out and say “Tua is gone”. To his credit, he came about as close as you can to saying it without actually saying it. The Dolphins would love to get some kind of return, and that’s still on the table at the moment, but they have to find the right team and the right situation where even if they have to pay a large amount of Tua’s salary, that they get at least a decent draft pick or player(s) in return. Draft compensation would be best because they will count less against the cap. The other question is if the Dolphins can’t find a trade partner, do they keep Tua on the roster? Do they give him an opportunity to compete for the starting job or maybe just keep him around for when a contending team loses their QB and there’s Tua Tagovailoa sitting right there to be had? That could happen too, and I wouldn’t be against that. Obviously, he would then not be playing, because no one here wants careful IDGAF Tua playing, and they don’t want him getting injured either, so Ewers and the drafted QB would compete to play while Tua hangs around looking pretty.

WR Tyreek Hill be the first to go, and he is almost certainly just going to be released. Tyreek has a $51M cap hit, but only (Only!!!) $28M dead cap hit. I can’t imagine any team trading for him with that salary, so figure Tyreek is cut ASAP. OLB/DE Bradley Chubb is a different story. He can immediately help a team, he’s a good player who is healthy and I expect there will be multiple teams interested in acquiring Chubb. Minkah Fitzpatrick is another player who is tradable. He had a nice season last year, and I once again point out the irony of the possibility that Minkah might actually want to stay and here and be a leader of this defense, but in a complete turnaround from when he was here in his 2nd season, the Dolphins would like to see Minkah go and get a decent return for him to save cap money. I think without a cap, the Dolphins would love to have Minkah back, but Grier really turned this situation into a total clusterfuck, so Minkah will be gone this season.

Once again, the easy QB connection of Malik Willis and former GB execs and coaches Sully and Haf are linked constantly to their former backup QB. Willis is an UFA in 2026, and he and his agent will be looking for the best deal, translated as the most money. The Dolphins are in no place to offer that, so you can probably scratch him off the list. Unless Malik is the rare player who may see a good situation, a legitimate opportunity to start immediately and grow with a young building team. Don’t bet on it, players run to the $$$ y’all! We see it every year, the supposed hometown discount is like the dodo bird or the dinosaurs, it’s extinct.

I hope we can secure a few draft picks for the players above, we need to get some kind of compensation for the players that will make an impact for other teams. I’d rate Chubb as the best chance, followed very closely by Minkah, and then if we get anything, and I mean anything for either Tua or Tyreek, take it and never look back. I think Tyreek is a physical specimen, and I wouldn’t put it past him that he actually contributes a good amount to some team this season. We saw Tyreek’s teammate Jaelan Phillips rehab from from two devastating injuries and Tyreek is at least at the same level or higher as a workout freak. Tyreek may not be available early in the season, but I do think he’ll be ready in time to help a team. I’m also totally intrigued to see where Tua lands if he’s either traded or cut outright, and how he does wherever he lands. Will Tua at any point decide to get really serious about his physical condition, get himself in excellent shape and find a renewed attitude where he’s just going to go out and ball and if he gets hurt doing so, so be it? We know he didn’t do it here the last 2 seasons, but maybe this will be a wakeup call for him. Whatever happens, I’ll be pleased if/when he’s gone because I don’t feel he gave us his best the last 2 years and I didn’t appreciate his stay healthy at any cost attitude which absolutely reflected not only in his play but the teams failures.

GO DOLPHINS!!!