A look back at the Miami Dolphins’ 2016

February 

If January came quick, February took its sweet time. The Dolphins officially began work on phase three of their stadium. After rough weather and a few minor setbacks, Stephen Ross would commit to 24 hour shifts seven days a week to ensure that the stadium would be completed before the 2016 season.

March

With a new head coach and a new general manager, the Miami Dolphins and Adam Gase began the task of rebuilding the team in free agency. The first obstacle was to decide who they planned to keep and who they planned to let go.

Miami made the decision to allow running back Lamar Miller to leave the team via free agency. They also opted to remove the transition tag they had placed on defensive end Olivier Vernon. Vernon would sign with the Giants and Miller with the Texans.

Miami’s approach to free agency was to stay calm. They added some veteran options at defensive tackle and at safety but largely stayed out of the higher end bidding that they had done in the past. That being said they made a trade that would shape their 2016 season.

On March 10th the Dolphins traded their 8th overall pick in April’s draft to the Philadelphia Eagles for cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Kiko Alonso, and the Eagles first round pick in April’s draft, number 13 overall.

April

The news in April was all about the draft where Miami sat with the 13th overall pick and watched as the consensus number one overall selection dropped pick after pick. Laremy Tunsil would land in Miami’s lap at 13 after a video of him smoking what was reported as marijuana was released to the media only minutes before the draft began. The Dolphins wasted little time making their selection for the left tackle.

The Dolphins would spend most of their draft picks on the offensive side of the ball but found a solid cornerback in round two when they drafted Xavien Howard.