The Dolphins finally signed one of their successful 1st RD draft picks from the last few years to an extension. We allowed two important trench players go earlier this offseason, one on the offensive side, RG Robert Hunt, and one on the defensive side, DT/DE Christian Wilkins. It seems their priority is the skill position, and now another of the WR corps is waiting for his extension, namely #10, WR Tyreek Hill. I’m glad we signed Waddle, we need to keep our own, and in my view, we sent an awful message to our current players letting Wilkins and Hunt go, so this will soften the blow of doling out big contracts to players we traded for and not rewarding the ones we drafted and developed.
I’m not convinced however, that we’re building this team right. Now that Waddle has his big extension, it’s been out there WR Tyreek Hill is also seeking a large extension. Make no mistake, Hill is our best WR, but he’s also 30 years old, and for a smaller WR who makes his money on speed, this is just about that time when he starts his decline. It’s my feeling that it wouldn’t be good for the team to be paying two WR’s a boatload of money. We have obviously made improvements on the offense. Signing TE Jonnu Smith was in my estimation the best FA signing of the offseason. He does all the things we’ve been missing here for too long. When Hill and Waddle are covered, someone on the offense needs to step up and make the defense pay, and I believe Jonnu Smith is the leading candidate for that role. Often Tua would check down to TE Durham Smythe, but Smythe is not gifted with run after catch ability, or instant acceleration after the catch.
Another important move in the offseason was drafting RB Jaylen Wright. McDaniel wanted him so badly he was willing to sacrifice next year’s 3rd RD pick, which is really the equivalent of a 4th RD pick this year, and exactly where Wright was selected, pick #120 RD 4. Wright is more durable package with very little wear on the treads. Wright at 5’11 210 has good size, and was the 2nd fastest RB in the ’24 draft, posting a 4.38 40 at the combine. He will be a nice guy to have in our RB stable along with Raheem Mostert, De’Von Achane and whoever else manages to stick on the roster, either Salvon Ahmed, Jeff Wilson Jr. or Chris Brooks. Mostert bulked up last season and it served him well, because Mostert has a lengthy injury history. We also found out De’Von Achane also has a penchant for missing time, so adding Wright will make the absence of either Mostert or Achane much more tolerable.
When I look at what we’ve done this season, I feel like we have improved this offense, especially at the skill positions, WR, TE and RB, but have we really improved the O-line? For all intents and purpose, we let one of our most consistent lineman go, and brought back many of the same question marks who missed lots of time, and added a new question mark at C, Aaron Brewer. We drafted an OT in RD 2, but the majority of opinions on OT Patrick Paul are that he’s not ready to take over for oft injured LT Terron Armstead, one of the biggest question marks. Not for his talent, but for his availability. It’s not if he’s going to miss time, it’s when, and for how long. At LG we have Isaiah Wynn who missed 10 games last season, but was promising while he was playing. RG Robert Jones played well in relief but was also injured last season. RT Austin Jackson missed only 1 game, and was the iron man of the line.
Then we look at the defense, and while the secondary has improved, mostly due to the FA signing of CB Kendall Fuller, who had a down year last season. Fuller should be a solid upgrade nonetheless, CB Xavien Howard had an awful season while still battling various leg injuries. FS Jevon Holland is another guy who wants to be paid, and we don’t have the luxury of the 5th year option as Holland was a 2nd RD pick, that only goes with first round picks. There are so many facets to the salary cap, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t understand all the loopholes and ways to minimize cap issues, but looking ahead, there are a lot of mouths to feed very soon. QB Tua Tagovailoa likely will be the next big domino to fall, and again, that’s on the offensive side of the ball. We’ve hodge podged together a defensive line rotation of castoffs from a few different teams, none of them standouts or bona fide starters. We got quantity, Gallimore, Tart, Hand, Jones, Harris, but not a lot of quality. DC Anthony Weaver is a rookie defensive coordinator, and he will be tested. I think we dropped the ball on the defensive side. I know some of you love the Jordan Poyer signing, I would too if it was 5 years ago. I just hope he makes it through the whole season and still has enough left in the tank to help us.
I think the offense, while improved, is really no better off to win in cold climates and dominate the trenches, we’ll still be attacking with speed, which we’ve seen gets neutralized in very cold weather. Our schedule this season is chock full of potentially frigid games, starting with a Thanksgiving matchup in Wisconsin against the Green Bay Packers, at night no less. Late December, (not back in ’63), we travel to Cleveland for a December 29th matchup with the Browns, once again at night, because it might not be cold enough during the day! Finally, the season finale will be in New Jersey against our division rival NY Jets. The time for this game has yet to be determined, but rest assured, it will be flexed to a night game. Actually, either we, or the Jets would have to be legit playoff contenders to be given such an honor, so hopefully it’s us!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
…and 10
Watching Canadien Open, McIlroy hit a tee shot someone yelled out light the candle, WTF
It’s not his birthday, anyone know what the crazy Canadien was referring to?
I think it is meant in reference to launching a rocket. Smoking the ball off the tee. I have heard it before.
Anyone who yells out something when a player is teeing off is probably a big asshole in their normal daily life.
It was when he was waiting for a really long time because the scientists were worried the rocket would explode but Shepard finally tells them to just go ahead and “light this candle”, meaning ignite the rocket despite the risk. (Light your candle is also a lyric for “Hard to Handle”.)
I’m a glutton for punishment, watching the Mets blow another 9th inning lead. It’s crazy, they’ve lost 5 games already where they were ahead after 8 innings, and now we’re down 5-4 after leading 4-3 after the 8th
The Mets are brutal.
yeah, I’ve all but stopped watching them this season. They are horrendous.
I expect a lot of selling to happen at some point this season. This team needs to be overhauled.
Agreed. It’s amazing to me that they still can’t hit consistently as a team. With all the talent and money invested there it’s unreal. It’s been like this for years
I feel the same exact way. The entire team slumps at the same time way too often. It’s mind boggling.
Nice write, Mike. One correction though, Weaver was a DC for Houston for one year.
Thanks Tim, thanks for the correction
Nice write up MikeE. My biggest worry, as in past seasons, is the OL. Armstead is going to miss time. It’s a given. Paul won’t be ready to step in. We will need to keep both Lamm and Keon Smith, 5 total OT’s. That said, they will need to keep 10 OL. I know that won’t happen. Most likely they keep 9, then put a couple on PS.
My guess they keep OT’s Armstead, Jackson, Paul and Lamm. Smith might go to the PS again. Interior OC Brewer, OG Wynn, OG/OC Eichenberg, OG Jones, OG Driscoll.
My biggest concern about the OL is we can’t seem to stay healthy. Lots of teams have that issue but it seems like we had 10 different guys start last year.
While I agree, we didn’t do a lot to change that though, did we? The only guy that wasn’t here last season is Brewer, and he brings his own issues, health not being one of them.
Driscoll and Paul are new as well. I think we’ll be okay as long as we don’t have to start all backups. 🤪
It seems to me we targeted Brewer specifically so I’m not too concerned about him. I don’t think we would have drafted Paul in the 2nd round if we thought he couldn’t be effective this season. Driscoll is versatile.
It really comes down to not losing too many of top 5.
Baseball sucks! At least my team(s) do.
My team sucks more!!! lol
😂
Tim – Absolutely not trying to be difficult or bust balls, but our top 5 are very injury prone, especially last season. I know we have decent depth, but it’s a little scary to me, not gonna lie.
I understand, that’s my concern as well.
Nice write, Mike E!
Yessir, my only apprehentions are in the trenches… both sides of the ball. Can they stay healthy and can they adequately replace those who we’ve lost (Wilkins and Hunt)? We’re going to find out before too much longer.
We’ve got skill players galore, again, both sides of the ball. We need to spray for the injury bug this year like never before, and especially in the trenches, IMO.
Thanks M
IMO, if we didn’t lose Jaelen Phillips and/or Bradley Chubb for the season last year, we likely wouldn’t have targeted Chop Robinson in the 1st round this past Draft. But being every game on the schedule counts, we HAD to have Chop — after signing Shaq Barrett in FA — to contend until Phillips and Chubb come back.
INJURIES from last season drastically altered our FA and Draft approach this season. That really sucks, because we could have fortified both sides of the trenches with day 1 starters (for instance, Johnny Newton and Cooper Beebe).
I hope we’ve done enough to keep the trench-game in our favor.
No doubt that both injuries forced our hand in the draft.
I think they still would have drafted an edge. They have to part ways with Chubb next year due to cap. They have already restructured him once.
When looking at the cap now and down the road, I think you’re right, BB Mike.
I will MAINTAIN: we should have traded for Roquan Smith instead of Bradley Chubb. Just my $.02.
^
Here’s another thing…
Honestly, Jaelan Phillips stole ALL of our hearts when it came to Hard Knocks last season. Yet, before his heart-breaking injury? Most of us were expecting way more out of him. Yes… this is where the ‘pressure’ arguments came in. He was always ‘so close’ to being a sack-master, yet he always fell short.
Is he going to be even less a factor post-surgery?
Okay… I AM good that we drafted Chop.
It would have been NICE to have had a 3rd rounder this past Draft. DOH!
Thanks, Steve Ross.
Some players we could have gotten there:
OG Christian Haynes
OG Zak Zinter
S Kameron Kinchens
S Tekee Smith
DT Dewayne Carter
DT Mckinley Jackson
LB Payton Wilson
CB Jarrian Jones
Absolutely, my guy.
What we need to do is draft well and develop moving forward.
We had a sweet reseeding this year. I love our draft.
Agreed- but we have to hold on to those draft picks moving forward!
I want to trade for Evan Neal. I think Butch Barry could turn him into a STUD, as he was in his Alabama days. A day 3 pick in 2025 should do the trick, right?
Imagine him, reunited with Tua and Waddle… at RG.
Have the Giants given up on him? I haven’t heard.
I like the competition we have on the Oline I’m real curious about Matthew Jones when you watch him it’s hard to figure why he went undrafted maybe he’s the Zach Thomas type and just comes in and owns a position. Not that Zach went undrafted but that he sent Jack Del Rio into retirement in camp 👀💪🐬
I can’t wait to call him
Paul Maul !
https://x.com/TheMozKnowz/status/1797639471069900989
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-media-max-width=”560″><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Now that the Justin Jefferson deal is done, I spoke to Drew Rosenhaus about getting his client, Tyreek Hill, more money to put him back in line with the top-5 highest paid at his position. <a href=”https://twitter.com/DrewJRosenhaus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DrewJRosenhaus</a> saying, “ I have a fluid line of communication with Chris Grier and Brandon… <a href=”https://t.co/Gx53yj69Qv”>pic.twitter.com/Gx53yj69Qv</a></p>— Josh Moser (@TheMozKnowz) <a href=”https://twitter.com/TheMozKnowz/status/1797639471069900989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 3, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Yeah, good luck with that!
SMH
I don’t give a shit about Tyreek’s feelings….lmao!
ditto
If Wynn and the boys can stay mostly healthy our OL is pretty good
Achane didn’t Bronco Denver last year all on his own, the boys were blowing Donkies off the line
Most importantly we need our top 4 OL playing against the good teams
^
Wouldn’t it be great if miraculously Armstead could play in at least 15 games and be available late in the season?
Lamm can replace Armstead for a few games, it’s not so important how many games he plays it’s which ones
Son, I like our draft at least on paper as well. My friend who is also a Dolphins fan likes our draft too. He’s very high on Chop, Wright, Kamara and Malik Washington.
son of a son of a shula
says:
June 2, 2024 at 11:29 pm
Have the Giants given up on him? I haven’t heard.
————-
Seems the G-Men haven’t given up on Evan Neal just yet, but he’s got to be on a short leash. Here’s the latest…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/why-giants-new-offensive-line-coach-isn-t-ready-to-judge-struggling-evan-neal-just-yet/ar-BB1no62l?ocid=BingNewsSerp
https://x.com/AroundTheNFL/status/1797705309714063477
RIP, Larry Allen
Only 52 years old.
That’s really sad. Way too young but it seems we say that way too often.
Allen was one of the strongest players to ever play the game. The only player who ever really challenged him that I saw was Reggie White and he died young too.
RIP Larry Allen
https://x.com/Larry_Csonka39/status/1797644153385607407
Nice!
por fador
Love these calls with guys living their dream regardless of where they’re drafted.
Me too, man! Me too! Love it!
Justin Jefferson 4yrs 140m, this shit is getting out of control, no one cares about winning any longer they just wanna get theirs
I’ve been saying this for a while. The cap and the market for what players are looking for are not aligned.
It’s going to be A’s meshed with the Yankees soon, so every team will have their top 5 guys making 50+m, while the rest of the players will be league minimum
In other words the middle class will be eliminated, sound familiar?
It does but not sure how one manipulates the free market. And a salary cap is not free market. That’s a regulation.
100% agreed, Steve.
Why would they not want to get paid?
if Tua signs for 200m per year there’s nothing left for any other good players
So the greedier they are the less chance they have to win, and why Brady routinely signed lesser contracts than he could’ve gotten
Make no mistakes Brady got paid. These guys have a small window to make their money. I never begrudge them for wanting to get paid. You think the team or the fans will care about them a few years down the road? Hell no.
If Hill was tradable, I’d trade him. I’d get a couple of picks for him, or maybe a player or two. I think it will be crazy to pay 2 WR’s more than $50M per season combined. I have his jersey, but IDGAF, he’s not worth $30M per season past this year
He’ll still be worth 30m, but I agree
The real problem with paying guys top $ comes from them not being close enough to the top at their position, Hill at least is, but…
Wilkins, Chubb, Hunt aren’t and will kill a teams cap
Seiler has outperformed his contract every year, those are the type of guys, that are great for the cap
Snowman wants to break the bank, I say sign Justin Simmons now, then let Snowman walk, when his contract expires
We’d have both this year while we make a run
I’m no fan of these players that haven’t sniffed a PB wanting to be the highest paid
https://phinphanatic.com/posts/dream-dolphins-safety-target-appears-to-hint-interested-miami-move-01hzhk3ayp5h
I wouldn’t be against that. Next draft has another good safety class also.
5 of 7 draft picks are now signed, Paul and Chop not
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/dolphins-sign-bulk-of-draft-class-01hzhsa7h37s
MikeE., Hill is very tradable after this year. A pre 6/1 release or trade would leave a dead cap hit of 22.6 million but clear 11.6 million in cap space in 2025. That’s a big dead cap hit but, it would then clear 56.3 million in cap space in 2026.
The team trading for Hill would have him for bargain of 21.8 million in 2025. None of his 43.9 million base salary in 2026 is guaranteed so the team trading for him can just release him after that or could do their own extension.
If they don’t do that and Hill wants to play hardball during the summer next year, a post 6/1 trade would split up the 22.6 million dead money and clear 22.9 million of 2025 cap and clear 45 million in 2026.
The owners usually cause this type of friction, but this is probably all Tyreek, I mean he’s the guy that chose to leave the Chiefs dynasty for more money
True.
IDK where owners came from, agents not owners
They have to replace Hill at some point. I think there is a high possibility we draft a WR in the 1st round next year. Players to keep an eye on are:
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State, 6’1 206, 4.30
Evan Stewart, Texas, A&M, 6′ 175, 4.33
Isaiah Bond, Texas (transfer from Alabama), 5’11 182, 4.28
Tre Harris, Ole Miss, 6’2 205, 4.40
Three good second round WR prospects to watch are:
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford, 6’2 210, 4.42 (best blocking WR in 2025 draft)
Barrion Brown, Kentucky, 6’1 168, 4.33
Tez Johnson, Troy, 5’10 168, 4.33
I would love to get WR Luther Burden, Missouri but he won’t last long enought for us to get him in the 1st round.
Bond reminds me of a faster Waddle but not as good of a route runner as Waddle. That can be fixed. Bond also think he can beat Xavier Worthy’s 40 time at the combine. I think that is just talk but the kid is fast as hell.
He has a low drop rate but needs to catch better with his hands.
Oh, and he wears #17. lol
I say pay them all!
What do you think reasonable compensation would be for Hill if we traded him?
Why don’t we keep Hill and try to win a SB?
If he wants more money, which he does, then how do we keep our other players and pay him top dollar too?
To be fair, I don’t think Hill is the reason we win a SB, we couldn’t even win the division or a playoff game with him.
You don’t he’s under contract, if he wants mo money it’ll have to wait, if he’s going to piss and moan trade him next year
Yeah Ken, keep him under the contract he signed. Not under a pay raise we already can’t afford.
He got paid. He just needs to shut up and catch the damn ball.
🍺
https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1798048798759117271
Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
#49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk has not reported to mandatory minicamp, as he seeks a new contract. He is subject to fines. The second holdout of the day, along with #Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb.
SMH
Greed is rampant in this league today.
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey once again has reset the RB market, signing a two-year extension with the 49ers, averaging $19 million per year, per sources. McCaffrey will receive an additional $8 million over what he was scheduled to make in the first two years while adding $24 million in guarantees. The deal was negotiated and confirmed by WME Football.
He is worth it IMO. Not many weapons like him.
Yup, I agree. The only thing is, CMC has reset the market for RBs.
Me football, that’s a good name for it
I’m watching the Rich Eisen Show, live. When he comes back, he’s going to talk about the ‘Reek situation (wanting more $$$) and Tua’s situation (new contract) vs the cap.
Tua: Market is the market (referring to Jared Goff’s new contract), and he does believe a deal gets done during the offseason.
Rich Eisen’s best case scenario for our Phins in ’24: win the AFC East, Tua is an MVP finalist, Phillips or Chubb win Comeback Player of the Year, end the Chefs* 3-peat opportunity, and win the Super Bowl.
By the way, Eisen never got to ‘Reek’s quest for more $$$.
Hill told reporters at OTAs on Tuesday that he’s not concerned about his contract because he doesn’t want to put the Dolphins in a financial hole.
“I want to be able to help the team as much as I can, and obviously we already know that being greedy ain’t gonna help the team, so whatever happens, happens,” he said
Tyreek said that if push comes to shove, ensuring he retires a Dolphin will trump maximizing his earnings.
Tyreek gets it
Thank you for this post. Happy to hear!
Well, that is great to hear! Glad he put that out there.
Something will have to happen after this season.
If Tua’s cap hit next year is say 50 million, then 38.2% of our 2025 cap will be spent on Tua, Hill and Waddle.
Again, if Tua’s cap hit next year is 50 million, then 58.5% of our 2025 cap will be spent on Tua, Hill, Chubb, Ramsey and Waddle. That will leave 41.5% of the cap to be spent on 46 players to fill out the top 51.
Not any of that 58.5% is being spent on the OL or DL. We will always have an OL and DL filled with guys on Rookie contracts and vet backups. Seiler isn’t getting any younger either, he will be 31 next year.
Is this how to build a winner?
IMO, absolutely not.
Tua’s cap hit in 2025 will not be 50m, I can guarantee that
Posted 12 days ago from ‘Reek’s YouTube account. Tua, ‘Reek, and Da’ Penguin are putting in work…
For whatever it may be worth, Tua still looks thick in this video. If he’s trying to get leaner, he’s got more work to do… provided this video was posted right after their practice 12 days ago.
says:
June 4, 2024 at 1:42 pm (Edit)
If he wants more money, which he does, then how do we keep our other players and pay him top dollar too?
———————-
Isn’t this why we let guys like Wilkins and Hunt go so we can pay our skill players. We have cap space and the cap is expected to have a significant boost next year. Let’s keep it in perspective
You want to pay a WR over 30 years old $30M per season? I don’t want to pay ANY receiver that kind of money. It wasn’t my idea to let Wilkins and Hunt go, that was just mismanagement by Grier and Co.
Hill is a difference maker. Guy was legit MVP candidate until he got hurt late in year
We have to pay Holland, Phillips, probably extend Sieler, Austin Jackson and others
I thought we already extended Sieler and Jackson.
Ken – Was is the key word in your comment. He’s going to be on the wrong side of 30 this season, I wouldn’t pay a 5’9 speed WR a lot of money going into his thirties. It doesn’t make sense
Transcript | Mike McDaniel’s Media Availability – June 4
Jun 04, 2024 at 03:42 PM
Dolphins Staff
MiamiDolphins.com
Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s press conference on June 4, 2024.
(Update on QB Tua Tagovailoa – will he be here? Will he be participating today? Will he be participating fully for the three days of minicamp?) – “OK, which one?”
(Will QB Tua Tagovailoa be here?) – “I’ve seen him in the flesh today. We made great eye contact, had a nice little dap up in install. And then as far as everything else, as far as I know, we’re going to move forward in kind of a similar fashion that we had before where we’re going to have him out there and he’s going to be participating, but the depth and really across the board what he’s doing, that will be more up to him than anything. To me, the only way that I can do this job appropriately to everyone is honestly just worry about coaching people, and if they take these reps, they take these reps. If they don’t, somebody’s going to get better in that rep. So that stuff I haven’t really paid attention to, I’m not really too focused on. We’ve had a tremendous offseason with regard to developing certain things within our offense and Tua has done a great job with developing some stuff that we’ve asked him to do. So if there’s more development live-action today, awesome. If there’s not, I’ll adjust as well.”
(WR Tyreek Hill’s agent said that the club knows how Tyreek feels about his contract situation. How important do you think it is to have not just Tyreek Hill here but a happy Tyreek Hill on the Dolphins?) – “I saw a very happy Tyreek Hill just today face-to-face. I think it is so important. This offseason in particular has just presented the opportunity to kind of really stay fast and true to what you’re trying to do as a coach, and my relationship with the players as a head coach is to resource their game with ways to get better, put them in positions to succeed, all of those things. I’ve been very, very conscientious about our relationships staying healthy that way. So as far as all the things that remind me why, bless his heart, Chris Grier wants to be a GM, you can hang out over there. I’m just going to coach these guys and you let me know what I need to know. That’s basically how we’ve been operating with Tyreek. It’s important to me for all these players that I have a purpose in their life and that purpose can be adding value to their trade and that is better done if their listening isn’t altered because we’re going in different scopes that isn’t really my realm. So Tyreek Hill has been unbelievably valuable to my coaching career, this franchise. We set out to do some ambitious things from the onset, and on top of the fact that he wanted to take his game to another level but also be a leader, he’s tremendously important. We’ve always prioritized him that way so for him and I, we stay in our lane with our relationship and the organization will always do right by players and I let them handle that – let the experts be the experts.”
(A follow-up if I could. WR Tyreek Hill has said on multiple occasions that he wants to retire a Miami Dolphin. Is that a top priority for the organization to make sure that he’s here for the long haul?) – “He’s a big part of everything that we’re doing. I think that is something that I know as competitors, I think Tyreek (Hill) wants that, he’s made that explicit. I think me as a competitor, I want to make that happen. And I think in terms of the Miami Dolphins embracing Tyreek Hill, I think that is an understatement and we look forward to continuing to grow in our relationship, for sure.”
(Just talk about your initial impressions of WR Jaylen Waddle and maybe how he’s grown and maybe how your ceiling for him has changed over the last couple of years?) – “I think it’s been a really cool process with Jaylen (Waddle) just because I got involved in his career, got to start coaching him after he had a 100-reception rookie year. And it was early on that I could tell that this guy has unique skills to play at a high level really across the board – unique slot-route running, full-field speed, playmaking ability, all of that. But then you’re around him, you see the competitor. He’s such a great human being, but the drive for greatness is real for him. I know last year, I guess from a statistical standpoint measured against the year before may have been a dip in numbers; however I think his play had improved from the year before. I think he had an unbelievable offseason that there was a couple injury blips on the radar that kind of kept him from his game, but I think he’s continuing to develop which is great news for the Miami Dolphins, because I think he’s a big-time player that’s hungry and those are great things for fans to watch and organizations to have on their team.”
(I guess how have you seen – sticking with two star wide receivers in Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. How have you seen that mentality shift in the league to where teams don’t just have one big guy, they are gravitating towards having as many stars as possible in that position?) – “I think the trends of the National Football League are very interesting. I do think our two guys have exemplified to a degree the issues that can be presented towards a defense with their skill sets and their threats. I’m not sure if that’s a necessarily a newfound thing to have two top tier receivers, but I do think that people have kind of started to recognize a little more of the ways you can use players in different ways. You can get them the ball, you can do some low cost offense where you can throw it short and run long, those types of things. And I think there is a probably higher priority for that position than probably when I came into the league. But is part of that just flag football and the development of the receiver position and that particular athletes are coming out? That’s for another conversation, but I do recognize that there’s a lot of strong wide receiver duos and teams are prioritizing that, for sure.”
(Just to confirm you’ve mention WR Tyreek Hill, you saw him very happy today. Are you expecting him to practice? I know he’s been working on his own.) – “Throughout the process and specifically – each individual we treat differently. Tyreek (Hill) has been one that we have to kind of measure and take the reins, so to speak, a lot of times on the field because he goes so full tilt and we have to kind of see the pros and cons. He’s been working in the building a ton. He’s going to do little stuff on the side. I wasn’t planning on him being out there for team stuff. But there’s always the caveat that he will jump in line and he’s one that you kind of have to fight out of the drill if he does that. But plan isn’t, but you never know when competition – the locker room is a funny place. All it takes is one guy to say, ‘Dude, you’ve lost it,’ and then he’ll just all of a sudden come up. Wouldn’t plan on it, but we’ll see.”
(Are all the guys who weren’t here for voluntary days here for this mandatory minicamp?) – “Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s a 100 percenter.”
(With the addition of TE Jonnu Smith and TE Jody Fortson Jr., was there a concerted effort to add a different element to that unit? Or do you feel like you had not maximized how you had not used that unit in past seasons?) – “You know – this is a category you’re probably outside of Omar – some people think that there’s just whatever it was, it will always be. I think much of NFL offense, you’re making best with the resources available and playing to people’s skill sets when you are afforded an opportunity to have people of different skill sets. I’ve been fortunate enough in my career to play within the same system (and) have all sorts of different attributes. There’s a time that I was on I was on a team that had the leading tight end in the NFL. So I think you’re always just finding ways to make your team better, and I think with the proven history of the attention that some of the other guys in our offense get, I think that for a defense to fully defend the entire field, those couple guys along with the whole group are really working to take advantage of that, because there’s opportunities there, for sure.”
(With TE Jonnu Smith, the run after catch, what does that allow you to create?) – “I think the biggest thing is that he’s a fast dynamic football player, but what I love that he provides is a tonality at the point of contact. He has become a master of YAC, not only because of speed, but because of a mindset that I think paired with his position coach Jon Embree – I think that’s a great working relationship, because Jon Embree coaches tight ends not to get tackled or that one player can’t tackle you, and that’s Jonnu’s life. I think it’s adding a mentality, adding a physical presence at the point of attack. A lot of times, if people want to really give up a bunch of space and sit back there, or drop seven with some depth, you can make them pay in a short amount of time, and then he can also stretch the field and do some cool stuff, too. So having all those guys work together has been awesome this offseason.”
(DT Brandon Pili seems to have an opportunity at defensive tackle, defensive line. What have you seen from him? What do you need to see from him?) – “I’ve seen a continued growth at the position and then what you’re really trying to find Year 2 is not just the flashes of good reps, but consistency and dependability so that you can turn the corner and make the NFL your home and make a career out of it. That’s what he’s working diligently day-in, day-out. I think it’s pretty much the only thing he has going too, because every time he plays his sister in basketball, she wins. So he better be a good 2-gap. (laughter)“
(When it comes to WR Tyreek Hill, the team was willing to restructure a lot of deals this offseason. Why is his not yet touched to this point?) – “Woah, woah, woah – I coach football. So again, that’s… (laughter). I’m egregiously obvious this offseason that it is very important for me to stay in that lane. We obviously value all of the players that we pay a lot of money to. The business and stuff, I’ll leave that to the agents and the front office so that we can try to go on the correct snap count today.”
(Another evolution question for you here. How have you seen the use of pre-snap motion evolve since you entered the league?) – “Woah, that’s… (laughter). You know what’s really funny is the history in the 20 years since I entered the league and how I can pull clips of my first full-time job in Houston, us orchestrating a two-minute drive under center and the amount of motion, something that I think we used to lead the league in in Houston at like 40 percent, maybe, so it’s grown a ton. I think it’s advantageous to have a receiver background a lot of times for motioning, because you’re trying to gain leverages on the defense and dictate the terms in that regard. Doing that for 20 years and having reduced splits, I think that there’s been more and more people that have latched on. Then those people that are maybe inspired by Houston’s offense motioning, then they invent a motion or create a different motion that kind of gives routes to ideas that we have. So it’s definitely completely evolved. I don’t think we installed timing at the snap motion until I want to say maybe 2017 or 2018, and we have almost half our plays that way. It’s been a cool process, that’s definitely become more of the norm. And those cycles, they will probably come back full cylinder in 20 years, and everybody will be stagnant.”
(Just a quick follow up. On the defensive side of the ball, what trends have you maybe seen of teams trying to combat that as more teams run the timing-based pre-snap motion?) – “I think that you’ve seen defenses kind of put into buckets, whether they travel or keep the alignment and bump stuff over. But what it does do is it kind of, because it’s initial – because it’s so sudden right before the snap, it kind of shows you the ins and outs of what defenses are doing. Because of that, you’re seeing more and more people have different sort of answers where they have auto triggers with pressures, or they have more consistent rules. From team to team, you can tell that there’s live problem solving going on. It changes a little bit each and every week from opponent to opponent, but the consistent thing you do see is that people are getting better and better at defending it. So just keeping leverage on the defense, making sure that the timed motion doesn’t beat up your flats, those types of things. That’s always the chess match in football that from a schematic standpoint is pretty cool, is you can surprise people for a little bit, then they have an answer for it. So then they’re overplaying one thing. What’s the next move? What’s the next direction you go? Because if you give defensive coaches and defensive players infinite amount of time to try to stop one thing, they’ll be able to stop that one thing. So you always have to evolve and so goes the chess match.”
Jackson and Sieler are signed through ’26
That’s what I thought.
OK, but Hill is also under contract through 26
Someone posted a video of Rick Spielman explaining why you restructure a contract like Tyreek’s. It made sense.
2026 year on Hill’s contract isn’t guaranteed and its massive, so he’s actually only signed thru 2025
Steve, that’s what Spielman was saying.
It’s a great thing to put huge, never to be paid out, cap number on the end of a contract, it allows the player to say he’s top 5 or whatever, also good for his agent to recruit
What it’s not good for is 5th year of a rookie contract where they take the avg of the top 5 or 10 at a position based on when in the 1st a player is drafted
Whatever happened to Tyreek won’t have good fantasy football numbers with Tua as his QB😂
This year I don’t want to see huge numbers from Hill and Waddle, I’d rather they wait until it matters more, 2nd halves, against better teams…less targets more yards per reception, don’t burn them out
I think MM wants to keep establishing the run game and have more receiving options. That’s what this offseason has looked like. I don’t think he wants to rely on Tyreek and Waddle as much. I think like you said he wants them to feast on more big plays not more volume.
I’m sorry, but Jevon Holland can’t hold a candle to Reshad Jones…
https://stathead.com/football/versus-finder.cgi?player_id2=JoneRe99&player_id1=HollJe02&request=1&utm_campaign=2023_01_wdgt_player_comparison&utm_source=pfr&utm_medium=sr_xsite&utm_id=HollJe02
This means that Holland is expendable.
NO WAY should he be needing to be a top-5 paid Safety. Maybe a top-12 Safety, nothing more.
This run-away BLIND-GREED is destroying the game we all love.
I can’t see us not restricting Tyreek’s contract and maybe extending him a year or two. They was it’s backloaded is not feasible.
That’s what Rick Spielman was talking about. All contracts are looked at a few years down the road when they implode.
It’s funny to me. You guys look at players demands as something new or different. This is the same old shit with a different cast of characters. I don’t get why you think anything has changed.
The numbers are becoming outrageous at every position under the current cap. 5 players can take over 53 positions. You have to draft well and pick your core guys to sign to big money.
I fundamentaly disagree, man. There is a ‘push’ today to get every single penny one can. Look no further than college athletes getting paid now, before they even enter their profession. I thought college was about ‘edumacation’, not to be some farming team for the NFL?
Right or wrong, the game has changed… and it’s all political.
There was a counter culture that started in the 60’s. We’re in a new one right now and it’s very political. Everyone sees it but not sure what to do.
^
And just wait until AI takes full hold. The world that WE know will be obsolete.
As much as I love technology AI concerns me. It’s even easier to lie.
Since college players are getting paid now, I think sports scholarships should go away. And they should be treated like employees – not allowed on campus except for practice and games unless they are enrolled and in good academic standing. No free gyms, trainers, services, dorms or free food. No medical except in season. They’re making money, let them pay their own way.
^^^
I like the idea. If you take the money then the rest is on you. Or take the scholarship but you can’t have both.
Tim Knight
says:
June 4, 2024 at 9:05 pm
As much as I love technology AI concerns me. It’s even easier to lie.
————
From your mouth to my ears, I 100% agree.
test
I’m having a lot of trouble logging on these days
🐽
I was having the same problem. My son fixed it for me. I suggest you get one of those. Oh wait a minute
Phelon – I like your thinking there. Very valid points. These kids get treated like royalty because they have a physical gift.
18 yo adults should be able to receive NIL compensation for your entertainment…why not? Everyone gets to profit except the players? Really? Not all athletes get NIL…it’s tricky and ill-managed.
Universities run sports, especially the bigs (football, basketball, baseball) like for-profit businesses. If they pay one, they should pay all. And if an athlete gets paid, they should pay their own way.
…part of the reason I said, it is “ill-managed.” I agree with you to some extent
imo…
lol
sure am glad they didn’t draft Micah Parsons. What an arrogant, entitled little prick.
Just like every other player, he wants to reset the market
Nothing to do with salary. He’s already saying he wants to do things his way, regardless of what the coach wants.
I agree that Holland overestimates himself.
He needs more picks to be considered that high.
PS IMHO
I still think we wasted Reshad’s last 2-3 years.
Holland’s INT for a TD against the Jets completely changed that game. We were kind of struggling there, but that took the air out of them
I didn’t like Parsons coming out for the same reason as Zeke Elliott … too pompous and spoiled.
@OmarKelly
While I agree, the market is the market. I’m not using Goff’s deal as a structure for Tua’s contract, and if that’s what he wants then enjoy playing on the 5th year option.
If I’m Miami, I’m offering him $170M in guaranteed money at my price. If he takes it….cool.
If not….
My guess is they haven’t been offering him what Goff got, and that’s part of the reason why he isn’t signed. Goff has done more than Tua has done, so it’s going to be tough for him to get that
Tua said in his last interview that the market is set. The problem is where is he compared to the market? That’s what’s completely debatable.
Holland had zero sacks and 1 INT in 2023.
How many sacks do you expect from your FS? I don’t believe he was asked to rush the passer, and he was injured last year, he hurt both knees
Right now I’m focused on the 2024 team and nothing more. Making the playoffs for the 3rd straight time would be an achievement. Just remember we’ve only made the playoffs since 2002 four times; 2008, 2016, 2022 and 2023. We’re finally back in the mix.
You have that beaten down fan syndrome where you’ll take any manner of success and be happy with it. Just making the playoffs doesn’t mean anything to me if we look like shit in the playoff game. Can we at least be competitive in a playoff game or even dare I say win a fucking playoff game before we get all happy? 🙂
You’re right. None of my sports teams win. I just want some crumbs once in a while. 🤪
Mike, I have a lot of Rangers fan friends and they fell just short of getting to the finals after being the #1 seed. It’s really hard to win a championship. Being in the mix gives you multiple chances.
naplesfan2010
says:
June 5, 2024 at 10:07 am
I agree that Holland overestimates himself.
He needs more picks to be considered that high.
PS IMHO
I still think we wasted Reshad’s last 2-3 years.
————–
100% agree, my friend. Reshad Jones belongs on our ‘Mount Rushmore’ of Safeties, while Holland is asking to become a top-5 paid Safety today?
Looking at the %s (not career stats), Reshad absolutely deserved to be a top-5 paid Safety. Holland? Not so much… at least not yet (show me, Young Holland).
I recall when fans used to gripe about Reshad wanting to get paid as a top-5 Safety… he was deserving. Holland is just a young buck trying to cash in prematurely… he’s not deserving.
Tim – the Rangers were extremely competitive in that series though. I know a lot of Rangers fans and while they’re disappointed at the end result, they’re very happy at how they played the whole season and proud of the way they played in the playoffs. I’d love to feel that way about any of our teams, we like all the same teams
That’s what I mean. Even when it’s set up you still fall short.
When you personally have nothing to do with it you lose the air.
Frustrating!
They came up short, but not nearly as short as the Dolphins did
Not every situation is the same.
Miami Dolphins Practice Report: June 5
No Kader Kohou or Nik Needham in practice this week has meant a big-time audition for Cam Smith, the 2023 second-round pick who barely played from scrimmage as a rookie.
Things didn’t go super well for him on Wednesday.
Tasked with covering Jaylen Waddle for much of the day, Smith gave up a deep completion from Tagovailoa in 7-on-7s and then was part of a major coverage bust with Patrick McMorris and Siran Neal that led to a Waddle big gainer from Mike White in team drills.
A caveat, of course: It’s very early. But Dolphins coaches can’t be thrilled that some of the issues that kept Smith in the doghouse emerged again.
“What I’m really pumped about is I know in Year 2 that the relationships that he’s holding within his position and the coaches and the way he’s attacking this offseason is that he’s not satisfied with that by any stretch, nor is the organization,” head coach Mike McDaniel said earlier in the offseason. “So I’m excited for the competition and the development because that’s really what I get into and what we’re all in this for.”
After a lights-out day Tuesday, Tagovailoa came back to Earth a little Wednesday, having a couple of overthrows and short-armed passes in 7-on-7s. He again sat out team drills in protest of his contract situation.
The star of another toasty morning in South Florida? Pass rusher Shaq Barrett, who was all over the field. Barrett had a sack and at least two more pressures in 11-on-11s.
Among the Dolphins players who didn’t practice Wednesday: Needham and Kohou; Tyreek Hill, Beckham, and fellow wide receivers River Cracraft, Je’Quan Burton, and Tahj Washington; running backs Jaylen Wright and Salvon Ahmed; tight end Jonnu Smith; offensive lineman Terron Armstead; and linebackers Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, David Long Jr., and Cameron Goode.
Hill and Beckham were spectators for the entire practice, but they did join the quarterbacks for their target practice session during special teams. Beckham found the net in the back corner of the end zone at least once.
Defensive tackle Teair Tart was back on the field after not practicing Tuesday.
The Dolphins canceled their final minicamp practice of 2024, which was scheduled for Thursday. They will return to the field for training camp in late July.
@schadjoe
NEW: “The first wave of the tsunami does damage. But the second wave does the most damage.” – Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, who wants waves of Miami defensive players to wear down opponents. Players say Weaver has brought a ‘Baltimore’ mindset. | Schad
lol…well I won’t be disappointed with that mindset! Fuckin, Ayyy!
Wave after wave…I love it!
Bri – Sounds a lot like “Things you say when you know you didn’t address the D-line properly” for $500 please. lol
or playing Wilkins and Sieler 90 snaps a game doesn’t work, we’d rather keep guys fresh, so that when it’s winning time (2nd wave kicks in) we’ll be fresh while we close the deal
We’ll find out which one in a few months. If it were as easy as just getting 9 no name guys and just rotating them I think a lot of teams would be doing that
What does that have to do with what he said?
You sound like a dem strategist😆
I like Tua the person a lot. His disdain for reporters fits my same philosophy. In football terms, if he wants market prices for his salary, he needs to be in the champ game like Goff was last year. So, my floor for Tua this year is the AFC championship. Let’s see if he’s worth the money or wilts again. Goff almost won his game.
I like Weaver’s philosophy as well. I like swarming defenses. I still want to see if he can do more with less than our last DC. I really hope he can.
@OmarKelly
He’s nursing something. Not sure they’d label it an injury. He could be on a Terron Armstead program.
@LastKing24_
Is Odell nursing an injury or just wasn’t working yesterday?
https://x.com/i/status/1798499980199764203
2024 Miami Dolphins Orange Jersey Award
Practice Player
OTA 1 David Long Jr.
OTA 2 Kader Kohou
OTA 3 Austin Jackson
OTA 4 Jevon Holland
OTA 5 Liam Eichenberg
OTA 6 Duke Riley
Minicamp 1 Jeff Wilson
Minicamp 2 Jordan Poyer
Steve – You having trouble figuring out what I said? Sorry for you
Exactly the opposite was my point
Marcel Louis-Jacques
@Marcel_LJ
Talk about doing things with intent… Mike McDaniel said his staff schedules meeting at times that end in “24” (3:24, 5:24, 7:24, etc.) to represent the 24 years it’s been since the Dolphins have won a playoff game Miami hoping to snap that drought in 2024
One thing about Weaver that I like is he has coached DL quite a bit in his career so I’m pretty sure he’s going to get the best out of the bunch he has to work with.
Mike E.
says:
June 6, 2024 at 7:02 am
Bri – Sounds a lot like “Things you say when you know you didn’t address the D-line properly” for $500 please. lol
😂😂😂
bailbondmike
says:
June 6, 2024 at 10:06 am
@OmarKelly
He’s nursing something. Not sure they’d label it an injury. He could be on a Terron Armstead program.
@LastKing24_
Is Odell nursing an injury or just wasn’t working yesterday?
for some reason I can’t copy and paste it, but the article said they are saving him for the season , and giving him as much rest as possible .
OBJ
Saving him for the playoffs? I can understand that, as long as we don’t need to win games down the stretch to get in or get better seeding
Mike, I don’t think they’re saving him for the playoffs just not pushing him in OTAs.
correct
Gotcha – I think either way they’re going to try and keep him fresh as possible. All of them, including Hill. Tired, beat up Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle does us no good either
Yeah I think that’s why we targeted more WRs this year. Jonnu Smith and I expect Achane to get a bunch of targets too. Fortson might be a factor too.
I have high hopes for Malik Washington. I really have a good feeling about him. If Tyreek didn’t get an uncalled horse collar, he likely would have been pretty healthy at the end. He never could quite recover from that .
This kid already gets it and he’s got the skills to be very productive.
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/chop-chop-everyone-is-faster-in-the-national-football-league-01hzn2312c8v
yeah, I never get tired of hearing the star NCAA players marveling at how fast the NFL is. He’s got the tools for sure. Hopefully he can put it together quickly .
Miami Dolphins cornerback Kendall Fuller already impressing (palmbeachpost.com)
D-Day + 80 years
🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇧 🙏💪
There is a very good chance we’re not living and blogging like this without that day. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be.
🇺🇸🗽
Dolphins didn’t make his top 10 and Jets were only AFCE team in his top 10.
That’s his team…
Waves are fine, but if the waves are all 2 footers….they’re pretty easy to ride.
It’s like I’m a surfer dude. 🤙
…or like floaters…lol
80 years ago. God bless them.
81 years ago, the ‘Mad Crapper’ was born.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/ZtHi2cXXW5QimuVG/?mibextid=xfxF2i
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/nfl/2024/06/06/miami-dolphins-cornerback-kendall-fuller-already-impressing/74002295007/
Isn’t this what living to one’s potential is about?
“To you guys, it means nothing. That’s how many years it’s been since the organization has won a playoff game. We are going to hear about that come playoff time. You think? So to me, you do that to empower guys to know what’s coming. To understand it, to not run from it. Because if you’re going to achieve success where people are predicting failure, you’re going to have to go above and beyond.”
Meetings starting on the 24 minute mark…
I think Naplesfan brought up intention…absolutely!
Just read an article on why the Dolphins might trade Holland. They bring up Hunt and Wilkins as examples of guys who bet on themselves and won and got paid. WTF??? Are we going to “banish” the players we draft that become good NFL players and just let them go?
“Well Jevon, I see you want to get paid, but see kid, that’s not what we’re all about. You’re on the wrong side of the ball, and we drafted you, so that’s a knock right there. See Kendall Fuller over there, someone else drafted him, and now he’s in the twilight of his career, that’s what we want! We want to overpay someone else’s guy, not you. Sorry pal, this is how we do it”
Sometimes, that’s what you’re forced to do when you don’t manage the salary cap well.
You know what, that’s true, but fans of the team sitting back and cheering while this is going on sickens me. Don’t justify it, it’s all wrong, and these are the resultant issues that go along with the mismanagement. It’s not like Grier is some mastermind GM, he’s not. Every time we bring in a free agent and spend big money on them it makes it more difficult to pay our own. Some sit here and make excuses for him. It’s ridiculous!
correct. And couple that with the fact that some players were traded for valuable picks and THEN given monster contracts, and that’s why we are where we are today.
How is 2 yrs 15m over paying for Fuller?
Yeah Bri, then we blame Wilkins and Hunt for getting paid. It’s all backwards. I lament we didn’t keep our guys, and will be angry if we get rid of Holland too if that happens. Maybe this is the future of sports, but it doesn’t seem that way when I look around the NFL.
but at least we would receive something in return for Holland. It’s probably speculation, but they had better sign him shortly after Tua or you can tack another $10-$20 million into the contract next year.
I don’t believe you get any compensation if you trade a player.
He means draft picks or players in return with the trade
Oh right, duh! 😂
Mike, I don’t think anyone is blaming Wilkins and Hunt for getting paid. For me I just understand why we didn’t go that high for them. When you have a lot of good players it’s hard to pay them all.
They better be right about Tua, tell you that much. They’re gonna pay him a boatload, and if he doesn’t play well enough we’re going to lose more players we can’t re-sign, like Holland. If we also pay a lot of money to Hill, I’ll once again say the way we’re building the team is all wrong
Unless you have a Mahomes, you don’t get better by letting talent walk out the door. Especially when you replace it with backups and spend all your money on one position.
Yessir!
What’s the one position we spent all our money on?
I think he means we’ll be paying Tua very shortly
Every team pays their QB when they think he’s their guy.
Steve – Not necessarily Fuller, he’s just in the secondary so I mentioned him. Chubb, Tyreek Hill. We keep bringing in high priced vets and then in turn let our own guys go.
Tim,
WR
Make it two! WR and QB, once they give Tua that $200+M contract. If they give Hill another big extension, we will be all in offense, and giving up on the defense
That’s just two though. The cap is pretty spread out among different positions.
Yeah, especially on the D-line where we’re paying a bunch of nobodies, about 8 of them. But there will be tsunamis. lol
The cap is pretty spread out among different positions.
—————
Posted the other day that next year, Tua, Hill and Waddle will account for 38.2% of our cap.
Throw in Chubb and Ramsey and 58% of our 2025 cap will be going to our top 5 players.
That’s not really spreading it around. That 58% is not even going to anyone playing in the trenches. Throw in Jackson and Seiler contracts and our top 7 will take up about 67% of our cap.
THEN, throw in the dead cap they pushed down the road to next year which will take up about another 8% of the cap. Our top 7 players and dead cap, as it stands after Tua gets paid will take close to 75% of the cap.
That would leave roughly 25% of the cap to sign 44 other players to fill the top 51.
We have to resign or replace Holland, LB Long, we will have to fill both OG positions as all our OG’s on the current roster will be FA (except for the UDFA rookie Matthew Jones), all the DL FA we brought in will be FA again (except for the UDFA rookies).
That would leave roughly 25% of the cap to sign 44 other players to fill the top 51.
————
Actually, not sign. I should have added up all the other contracts in 2025 and subtracted that as well. But then it would show Zero percent as our 2025 cap is at -14.1 million. That’s without Tua’s extension, resigning Holland, filling hole at ILB, holes at OG, DL, and safety.
Mike saying all offseason that this is Dolphins fans when Dolphins make the playoffs just to get bounced in the 1st rd…
LOL
YESSSSS!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaha