No team wins a single game in March through August, but their teams are built for the upcoming season during those months. The Miami Dolphins, for better or worse, have made significant changes to the roster.
Fans have been using social media outlets to question whether or not Dolphins general manager Chris Grier did enough this offseason to fix the many holes on the roster. They are also questioning whether or not the pieces that have been added are enough for head coach Mike McDaniel to win with. Of course, none of those will be answered in mid-May.
Looking back over the roster, it is easy to see where quality moves were made, moves that made sense at the time, and moves that still make no sense at all. For Miami, there are good, and luckily they seem to outweigh the ones we are left scratching out heads about.
Miami Dolphins moves from the 2025 offseason that have been brilliant or brutal
Brilliant: Drafting Jonah Savaiinaea, who may be the best prospect Miami has selected in a long time
Whether you like that Miami moved up in round two to take Jonah Savaiinaea or not, the important thing to remember is that Miami needed to become a different offense, and this young kid could be the philosophical start to an entire offensive line makeover.
Miami has the rookie and 6-foot-7 Patrick Paul on the line; now it's up to Butch Barry to coach them up. Miami beefed up the line in the last two years, and the addition of James Daniels to the line is another indication that they may finally realize what fans have been yelling about for the last 10 years.
Brutal: Artie Burns is only going to make Dolphins fans miserable and frustrated
There are a bunch of "ifs" when it comes to Artie Burns, but no "if" is bigger than the question of whether he can stay healthy. Throughout his career, the answer has been clear: he can't. If the Dolphins are relying on him to compete for a starting job outside, they made a mistake.
Burns hasn't been healthy enough in his career to know what kind of player he actually can be on the field. In his eight NFL seasons, he has only 39 starts.
There is a much more glaring stat, however. Burns took 77 percent of the Steelers' defensive snaps in his rookie season. He took 99 percent of the snaps in his second year. That dropped in 2018 (year three), and since 2017, he has taken no more than 39 percent (once) of his team's defensive snaps.
Brilliant: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine may be the best Dolphins free-agent addition of 2025
In 2024, as a member of the Titans, Nick Wetbrook-Ikhine scored a touchdown in each of his final eight games. He has good hands, runs good routes, is consistent, and reliable. He is a big target at 6-foot-2 compared to the rest of the Dolphins' starting receivers.
Only Tarik Black is taller, by one inch. Erik Ezukanma is also 6-foot-2, but we have seen enough of what he can and, sadly, what he can't do. In this offense, Westbrook-Ikhine could be a major weapon for Tua Tagovailoa. McDaniel has to get him involved early and often.
Brutal: Jalen Ramsey is the biggest mistake the Dolphins made this offseason
The entire offseason was made worse by the fact that the Dolphins and Jalen Ramsey can't see eye-to-eye and that Ramsey and Mike McDaniel apparently can't get along. The moment it was reported Ramsey was on the trade block and that he didn't ask for it, the bridge was burned.
Ramsey is still on Miami's roster, but the mistake here was making this entire problem public. Potential trade partners know the Dolphins are in a self-created bind, which further hinders any trade. If Miami loses Ramsey, it will be a monumental mistake that will impact the season.
Brilliant: Health questions aside, James Daniels is the right guard for the Dolphins' offense
Signing James Daniels was the first step to fixing the offensive line, and while they countered that with re-signing Liam Eichenberg, Daniels should be an easy start at one of the two guard positions.
He is coming off an injury but should be ready to go by training camp. If he can return to the level of play prior to the injury, Miami's interior line, with Savaiinaea, will be vastly improved.