2024 should be a lesson for Chris Grier and the Miami Dolphins. It's a lesson they should learn not to repeat. Miami has enough problems heading into 2025, in some part due to what happened in 2024.
Miami has to trim the roster further to become cap compliant but they can't due to the number of free agents that are leaving holes on the roster and the fact any player released creates another hole. Considering the Dolphins currently don't have high-priced veterans, they can simply trade or cut to increase working capital. Not until June 1st at least.
A lot of these issues could have been avoided had the Dolphins been smarter with how they handled 2024.
Mistakes that doomed the 2024 season for the Miami Dolphins
1. Misappropriation of salary cap money
Jaylen Waddle and Tua Tagovailoa were both given big extensions last year and while we can debate whether or not either of them truly warranted the new deals, they were not the problem.
Grier decided to reward Tyreek Hill for an incredible 2023 season by giving him more money. He added nothing to his contract and did not restructure in a way that money would have been saved on last year's cap. He did the same with Jalen Ramsey who got more money on an existing contract without freeing up space.
That money could have been used to bring Andrew Van Ginkel back or another player. Instead, the Dolphins banked on Shaquil Barrett who was given a contract he never played on. Grier can't be accountable for Barrett quitting but he should have realized Barrett wasn't going to be the best option anyway regardless of whether he played.
2. Tua Tagovailoa
No, the contract was fine, but not finding a quality backup was a gross misjudgment. Grier and Mike McDaniel were so enamored with Tagovailoa staying healthy the entire 2023 season they forgot about 2022. In his end-of-the-year press conference, Grier said they tried to get better quality backups in free agency but couldn't get the economics right.
Maybe if they opted to pay more to a backup quarterback and less to Tyreek Hill they would have been able to make it work. Grier was more worried about the compensatory formula than what was best for his football team.
3. Relying on injured players to recover
Jaelan Phillips was coming off an Achilles injury and Bradley Chubb suffered a late-season ACL tear in 2023. Phillips impressed a lot of fans with his recovery workout videos but no one expected he or Chubb to be ready by the start of the season.
Yes, Phillips came back but the best Grier could come up with to give the team security in case they didn't was Chop Robinson and Shaq Barrett. At best, Barrett was a depth and rotational player but when Phillips went down, the Dolphins had no one to step in. This left the defense relatively depleted and after losing Van Ginkel and Christian Wilkins, there was a serious lack of continuity on the defensive front.
4. Offensive line issues
Grier and McDaniel snickered at the questions regarding the offensive line, but by the end of the season, it was the media and the fans who were laughing. Grier had to admit he was wrong without actually saying he was.
The Dolphins line was horrible and when quick-draw Tagovailoa went down, they couldn't protect the inexperienced quarterback. Defenses were able to focus on the run and Miami's offense sputtered.
Heading into 2025, the line is in need of fixing, there are backup quarterback issues, depth problems at linebacker and defensive end, the salary cap is a problem, and the Dolphins are shedding contracts just to operate. These are problems they will face in 2026 if they repeat the same mistakes.