Phin Phanatic
FanSided

Miami Dolphins could eventually leave the AFC East

By Brian Miller

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: A general view of the stadium after the teams enter the pitch during the NFL International Series match between Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley Stadium on October 21, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: A general view of the stadium after the teams enter the pitch during the NFL International Series match between Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley Stadium on October 21, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

On Tuesday a rumor surfaced that the Los Angeles Chargers would move to London and that the Miami Dolphins would feel the impact.

The Miami Dolphins have been in the AFC East since they began playing in the NFL. They have watched former rivals, the Colts, leave for the AFC South but stuck it out in the East. Now there is talk that Miami may end up leaving the East for the South anyways.

There is growing talk that the NFL wants to put a franchise in England permanently. It has been discussed at the water cooler for a few years now with the league playing four games in London as it is. On Tuesday a writer for The Athletic said that the Chargers would be the team to go and that the Texans would move from the AFC South to the AFC West and the Chargers would take a spot in the East while the Dolphins moved to the South.

Got all that? Well if Charger owner Dean Spanos is to be believed, the Chargers are not only not going anywhere but he laid out a bleeped out statement describing the rumors as “bullshit”. Well, that is one of the words he used.

Despite the denial from Spanos, the reality is that a team will eventually be put over in London, which will be a huge mistake by the NFL. When this happens, it will bring changes to the NFL divisions, unless that team is from the East.

More from Phin Phanatic

The popular opinion is that the team will be from the AFC but there is no guarantee that will be true although the NFC teams are more stable than the AFC teams are currently. Previously the Jaguars were expected to move to London and it would not be surprising to see the NFL and Jaguars agree to a four-game split of home games making them both a Jacksonville and London team.

It is hard to say what the division realignment would look like and honestly I’m not opposed. The Dolphins should be in the AFC South but the NFL’s division makeup doesn’t make any sense at all so a total realignment would make more sense. How does the NFL justify the Cowboys being in the NFC East?

Rivalries often come into play with divisional changes but that doesn’t mean that the NFL can’t hold rivalry weekends each year. There is no question that the Dolphins vs. Jets yearly game is huge so why not keep it each year and alternate locations? That is of course if the Dolphins were eventually moved to another division.

At this point, it doesn’t really matter. The NFL is going to find a team to eventually move to the UK permanently and when they do, they will need to figure out what to do with the divisions as they stand today. With the 100th season culminating in Super Bowl LIV this year, maybe starting something new for the next 100 years might not be a bad idea.

Home/Dolphins News