If you are heading to your local mall to visit Santa, you may be thinking about what you might want to ask for this holiday season. The playoffs might be nice; a win would be better.
Naturally, Miami Dolphins fans would love to see their team walk into the postseason and win their first playoff game since the early 2000s, but Santa will probably remind us that it most likely is out of his control as well.
The Dolphins managed to stay in the playoff hunt after their Week 16 victory. So, with that hope still in play, it becomes obvious that Miami fans will ask for two more losses by the Broncos or Chargers and at least one by the Colts. If Santa can't deliver that gift, there might be something else they ask for.
A contract extension for Calais Campbell
Campbell won't rule out asking for his release once the Dolphins are eliminated. Sorry...if they are eliminated. Campbell wants to chase a ring, and after 17 years in the NFL, he deserves it.
But as long as Miami is still alive, he isn't going anywhere. The Dolphins should reward him for sticking it out and give him another year with the team. If we are to assume that this season was just bad luck, then Campbell should want to stick around. He has been a leader on and off the field and is still playing at a high level.
For Mike McDaniel to learn some important lessons
McDaniel is far too trusting. For example, he trusts far too much in whoever calls down for challenges. After three seasons, he still can't figure out how to win a challenge. He also hasn't got rid of Danny Crossman. His offense is so bad that opposing coaches have figured out how to stop them.
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Miami does great against bad football teams, but when the other team is able to adjust quickly during the game, McDaniel can't. If he is going to stick around another season, he needs to do a better job of holding the players accountable and stop trying to be their friend. They don't need friends; they need a coach.
A backup quarterback who can actually play football and win games
A new quarterback isn't going to be delivered on Christmas Day, but maybe Santa can give the Dolphins a card with a name on it. Miami is chasing their tails for the postseason, but they shouldn't have been in this position.
Losing early in the season without Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback hurt their chances, and they are still trying to get over those four games. Having a capable backup quarterback is important, and right now, the Dolphins are dreaming if they think who they have on the roster can fill in should Tua go down again.
A guard who can start on the left or right side of the line
Liam Eichenberg swapped in and out with Isaiah Wynn in Week 16, but his future in Miami doesn't appear to extend beyond this season. Both Eicheberg and Wynn are set to be free agents after the season, and neither should be brought back even on a one-year deal. If the Dolphins want to be more than a seventh-seed wild-card team, they need to fix the interior of their line.
Dolphins to make a GM change
No one wishes ill will on someone else, but Grier has been with the Dolphins since the early 2000s, and the team has done nothing since he joined them. As the general manager, Grier has made impressive trades but hasn't done well with the draft picks he received.
The cap is a mess, and the roster is far from being competitive. This is a team that in 2019 started a massive rebuild, and now, six seasons later, it isn't much closer to being a Super Bowl team.