It’s time for the Dolphins to get rid of Julius Thomas

The Miami Dolphins have a tight-end problem it may be time to cut Julius Thomas and eat the salary.

Dolphins fans were warned way back in March when they traded for tight-end Julius Thomas. The knocks were he was always hurt, he hasn’t been in Miami. The knocks were that he was not the same player he was in Denver, Miami fans cited Adam Gase’s knowledge of Thomas. That hasn’t worked either.

The trade that brought Thomas to Miami is a bust. Period. No other way around it. Forget his touchdown on Monday night, it was a shovel pass from the three yard line. Thomas is simply not a very good football player.

A liability for sure in the running game, Thomas can’t block. In the passing game Thomas was supposed to give the Dolphins a big redzone threat, he hasn’t. His route running is pathetic and while he may make the occasional great catch, the majority of the time he is an afterthought. Defenses don’t need to account for him or rather game plan for him. He is awful.

On the lone deep pass to him on Monday night, the ball was a bit outside but Thomas’ route would have enabled him to make the catch. He should have made the catch regardless of whether he was out of bounds. He was but the ball didn’t draw him out his inability to run the route did. Thomas angled to towards the sideline instead of running up the sideline. He was out of bounds before the ball got to him.

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Miami has $5.6 million tied up in him this year. If they cut him they would save $2.6 million and eat the other $3 million. They should eat it. Not having Thomas on the field won’t solve all of Miami’s issues but it would give them the rest of the season to evaluate MarQuies Gray. They should. Gray has potential but Adam Gase is rolling with a player he is more familiar with. It’s not working.

Thomas has two touchdowns on the season. His longest catch is for 27 yards and he has 25 receptions for 260 yards. Gase’s offense is designed to use the tight-end. They are not. Thomas is simply unreliable.

In 2018 all of the money of Thomas’ second year is not guaranteed. The Dolphins would save $6.6 million. This season Thomas is the 5th highest paid player on the team. In 2018 he will drop to the 11th highest paid player.

Overall it’s easy to say that Thomas has become a disadvantage to the Dolphins. Cutler targets him too often and nothing comes of it. He is not a game changing tight-end he is a tight-end who is past his prime but there is something else. Thomas isn’t showing effort.

On Monday night it seemed far more evident. His route running effort was shameful. It was as though he was just going through the motions. Not giving a full effort in the process. At least that was the perception of my wife who noticed it immediately and she isn’t a football fan.

It’s comical really that my wife’s comments on a game she never watches was directed at Thomas. As she went to bed just before half-time she said, “do the Dolphins always play this slow? They look they don’t want to be there compared to the Panthers”. I sighed. She was right.

Thomas isn’t the only problem for Miami but he is one of them. A 7th round draft pick is hardly worth getting upset over considering it could have turned out differently but again, it’s a wasted pick. Similar to the 5th round pick Miami traded for Stephone Anthony who has yet to get on the field.

It all needs to stop. This constant bargain hunting that the Dolphins have been doing for far too long. Adam Gase tried to make a statement with Jay Ajayi. He didn’t. He needs to make another one. He can start with Julius Thomas.