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!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
The hype about Malik Willis is based on a handful of games. I don’t see us spending what he’s probably looking for.
Exactly – It will be a short conversation. We’ll ask, he and his agent will answer, and then we’ll move on from that
Sully and Haf know what he is.
Thank you, Mike E.!
I believe we are starting over and we are not looking for FA QBs, imo. We are drafting our team of the future. And, I think that’s the best approach to cleaning up the mess/shit we’re in.
Yeah man, I still think we need an inexpensive vet QB for competition with Ewers and the QB we draft, but it won’t be a big signing by any means.
Thanks, Mike E. I agree that those 4 should be gone. IMO, outside of Patrick Paul and Achane, everyone should be on the trading block or released if possible.
Hey Rich – There are a few more guys I’d like to keep, and a bunch we have no choice but to keep, like Aaron Brewer on the good side, and Jonah Savaiinaea on the bad side. Jonah needs another chance to get better, and Brewer is a great player on this team. Austin Jackson could be a trade candidate, but I wouldn’t expect much of a return for a guy who barely played last season. I’d put James Daniels in the category of he needs a shot, but I’d have a short leash with him.
I would bring in Trey Lance to compete. He should be cheap and was in the Shanahan system for 2 years. Then add a rookie also to compete.
There’s slim pickins in FA, but there are some trade possibilities too, like Joe Milton III
You can’t blow up the entire roster in one season. Start with getting rid of big contracts and go from there.
^
more than half the team are free agents. Yes, the team is being blown up whether you want to admit it or not.
I know we’re going to add to the QB room but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ewers wins the job. The offense is going to be similar and he has a season under his belt.
Yeah, I don’t expect them to have 51 new players next year, which is why I added “if possible” at the end. It’s not possible to get rid of everyone, just as many as possible. None of these players were drafted by Sully, so there’s probably no emotional attachment to being his pick, and I know he loves draft picks. I would expect some trades, and they may include players you didn’t think we would trade.
I can see that.
We hired Bush Hamden as our QBs coach.
I guess it’s better than Ham Bushman at this point.
@)&*#&&”@(&’+%&)@&+% WORDPRESS!
I am genuinely excited going into this offseason. Do we have the right guys in place to build us a consistent competitor? I have no idea. But this is the first offseason in probably a decade where I have real hope we might see something different.
Same here. I think we will really have the OL addressed for once.
Indeed! I’m excited to see how it looks to do things the right way. We’ve been doing it so wrong for too long. That can be the slogan for the Miami Dolphins 2000-2025
“So wrong for too long”
lol this is the feeling with every new coach around here
Yeah, but it’s way more than just a new HC. New GM, new scouts, new coaching staff. To me, the GM was the biggest addition, and having faith in that GM to get things right trickles down to everything else.
Exactly MikeE, 3 of GB’s starting OL were drafted in the same draft. They went 3 for3 on their OL picks that draft. That gives some hope.
Not to mention they got LB Quay Walker, DT Devonte Wyatt, WR Christian Watson and WR Romeo Doubs that same draft. That gives a lot of hope.
Sure, there’s obviously renewed hope with every head coaching change.
It’s doubled up this time because for the first time in I can’t remember how long we’ve done a full reset instead of a half-assed partial reset. And maybe these guys will know how to build a damned team.
After 25 years of futility, deep down I can’t help but expect this to be an abysmal failure if I’m being honest, but on the surface I’m hopeful. I’m embracing that, lol.
NFL news roundup: Bills hire John Fox as senior assistant coach
John Fox formerly of the Carolina Panthers?
That’s who I believe it to be
The Dolphins announced they have completed Jeff Hafley’s coaching staff for the 2026 season.
The Giants have hired Dawn Aponte as senior vice president of football operations and strategy.
Remember when she was considered a cunt because she was tied to Jeff Ireland?
I always liked Dawn Aponte. I thought she did her job well
She did.
Indeed. GB has drafted pretty well. They were never big FA players until last year and even that was just going for the best defensive player in the league and that was a trade. They continued to be able to replace HOF QBs without having to be bottom feeders for years while looking for one. My hope is all the good ones came here and GB will start sucking! Lol
Overhaul of the scouting was much needed! They accomplished that and now we wait and hope because they have to nail the next 2 drafts.
We’re in a true reset and that’s what most fans wanted.
I was watching more of TE Eli Raridon. He’s like a less athletic and much slower Gesicki, can’t block very well. PFF has him a 5th round prospect which I think is about right. I would much rather have Joe Royer or Sam Roush in that area.
Also, Jack Endries is not a big TE, but he does a lot of things well, including blocking.
PICK: 11 RND: 1 (MIA)
Sonny STYLES
LB Ohio State
PICK: 43 RND: 2 (MIA)
Max IHEANACHOR
OT Arizona State
PICK: 75 RND: 3 (MIA)
Dillon THIENEMAN
S Oregon
PICK: 87 RND: 3 (MIA)
Malik MUHAMMAD
CB Texas
PICK: 90 RND: 3 (MIA)
Malachi LAWRENCE
DE-EDGE UCF
PICK: 111 RND: 4 (MIA)
Eli RARIDON
TE Notre Dame
PICK: 149 RND: 5 (MIA)
Taylen GREEN
QB Arkansas
PICK: 227 RND: 7 (MIA)
J. Michael STURDIVANT
WR Florida
Tim,
Dawn Aponte wasn’t considered a cunt because she was tied to Jeff Ireland. She was known as the cap guru until Armando wrote some hit piece about her, basically accusing her of trying to make a power grab to be GM by seducing Ross on business trips and saying she was the reason Ireland was fired.
That was during the time when Dennis Hickey was hired. Hickey who is now the Giants as Assistant director of player personnel.
I don’t recall Armando writing a hit-piece about Aponte. I DO recall the Dolphins organization releasing a ‘flow-chart’ regarding the power structure in the FO. It had too many chiefs, not enough Indians, and it had heads butting with equal power… with no one actually leading.
It was yet another “Stevie Blunder” (in the words of Old Dolfan) moment for everybody’s favorite owner, Steve Ross: it was a complete disaster on paper and in action.
Gotta be REAL, even if I’m in the vast minority: I can see us trading up from R1P11. I’m not calling the shot, anymore than I’m recommending as much… but I think if David Bailey or Mansoor Delane fall far enough, we might actually do what must be done to procure their services.
Rich had stated to me the other day that Delane might not even make it to us @ R1P11, and he’s absolutely correct. And y’all already know that Bailey is a very hot commodity right now.
Don’t know what the threshold may be in order for us to trade up (dunno, maybe the Redskins @ R1P7???), but I’d really not like losing out on BOTH before we get to R1P11.
Plenty of time between now and the Draft (Combine and pro days) for stocks to sink or rise, so who knows.
Just sayin’, we’ve got three 3rd-rounders this Draft by which to trade up for a potential franchise-changing player… and we REALLY need a stud EDGE or CB.
And we could also just as easily trade down to gain more picks to fill the many holes we have on our roster.
NO TRADING UP!!! AT ALL!!!
Trading up in the 1st would surprise me. I think it’s kind of the antithesis of what they want to be. They want to build the team through the draft and they are starting on the ground floor right now; they need all the picks they can get.
I definitely remember the Mando hit piece. It was actually more like a hit series.
he used to say Aponte was cozying up to Ross on planes. It was pretty bad and very unprofessional in my opinion.
this is a link to a dead spin article about what he was reporting
https://deadspin.com/report-the-dolphins-are-a-dysfunctional-mess-behind-th-1497770963/
I personally began to really second guess everything he reported after that. He really seem consumed with creating drama
I don’t remember Armando specifically, but I do remember the rumors about Aponte gunning to be GM and getting Ireland fired. Prior to that I recall her being called the cap guru quite a bit. She was respected on this board at least.
OK…Odds on when we first hear: “It just feels different this year.” and who says it? Lol
I swear I will fucking scream if we trade up. There’s no reason whatsoever to do that. The Chris Grier School is CLOSED, boarded up. We’re not operating on the assumption that we MUST have any one player. We’re going to be a T-E-A-M
MikeE,
Fuck that team shit. Go get me about 5 studs who will produce. I want some game changers. Then, we’ll take ‘em out to the sand….Can you dig it?
Wait, I just saw a headline on this…the Patriots caught cheating again with a Drake Maye injury coverup? I didn’t see it on a reputable source, so I didn’t read it.