Miami Dolphins Building A Future
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are building their future. It’s hard to see because frankly, it’s been a long, long, very long time since they tried. The commitment that the management executives are making haven’t been seen in South Florida since the days of Don Shula and to a degree Dave Wannstedt. That’s something I thought I would never be saying.
More from Dolphins News
- 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
- Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
- 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
- Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
- The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft
Think about the history of this team after Shula’s departure. Jimmy Johnson tried to build a winner by standing on the shoulders of Dan Marino and whispering in his ear to change his game. While he found success on defense, Johnson never found a long term solution to the rest of the team. Wannstedt continued the defensive push but struggled to find consistency on offense. In those years the Dolphins extended players like Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, and yes sadly, Jay Fiedler. Yet they simply tried to build around those players.
During those years the turnover of draft picks left the team with very little to build on for the future. The last player drafted in round one that stayed with the team beyond his rookie deal was Vernon Carey who was drafted in 2004. The commitment to the team and it’s drafted players was either lacking or proof the Dolphins didn’t get it right.
Here we are in 2015 and while we don’t know what kind of team the Dolphins will have or whether Joe Philbin can actually coach the team he has been given, their is a far different line of thinking than we have seen through the last 10 to 15 years. Trust in the players.
More from Phin Phanatic
- 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
- Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
- 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
- Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
- The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft
Miami has signed center Mike Pouncey to an extension, the first player since Carey to get that deal. While they allowed Jared Odrick to walk, Odrick was let go not because of talent but because they wanted to get bigger along the line and opted to pay Ndamukong Suh the money to change the thinking on that line. The Dolphins have invested heavily in Branden Albert to hold the left tackle position and yesterday extended Ryan Tannehill for at least four years.
Next season the Dolphins will make decisions on Olivier Vernon and Lamar Miller among others. The Dolphins are making all the right moves but it’s the decisions to put their future in the hands of the players they drafted and the pieces they brought in from free agency that will determine which direction this team heads.
Free agency has always been hit or miss and this year may be the same. In years past we saw Miami take one of two approaches. They brought in several tertiary level free agents or overspent on talented free agents that didn’t fit their system. Mike Wallace, Phillip Wheeler, Dannell Ellerbe, the list could go on for the last 10 years. The point is that the Dolphins missed and missed badly. Most of those players are long gone and while it’s far too early to say that Suh, Albert, Greg Jennings, and so on will make this team better, it’s a more decisive decision with players that can help the team win by fitting into the systems they are running.
There is still work to do, especially along the offensive line but the Dolphins are making a commitment to their own players and that is finally a good sign that the team actually has a plan in place for the future.