The Miami Dolphins‘ initial 53-man roster is set. Can the group assembled by Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier win a Super Bowl?
If the answer in February is ultimately no, it will likely be because of a series of debatable decisions made in the 12 months that preceded it.
Most Controversial Miami Dolphins Offseason Moves
Not Addressing IOL Early in the Draft
The Dolphins’ latest mess on the offensive line is an issue someone with even 20/200 vision could have seen coming.
They made a bunch of bad bets at guard, including bringing back Isaiah Wynn, who will start the season on the PUP. As a result, they will have a worse Week 1 O-line than they did a year ago.
Rookie Patrick Paul — taken by the Dolphins with the 55th overall pick — might someday be the team’s starting left tackle, but he’s not close to helping this team now.
They would have been better served trading up a few spots in R2 and securing Jackson Powers-Johnson or Zach Frazier.
Not Upgrading at Backup Quarterback
Credit Skylar Thompson for beating out Mike White for Dolphins QB2, but the truth is neither was particularly great this training camp.
And while the Dolphins certainly will benefit from having just $10.5 million in total salary cap allocations to the quarterback position, we certainly are a bit queasy to steal a line from Joe Philbin about Thompson having to play meaningful snaps if Tua Tagovailoa gets hurt.
Jimmy Garoppolo, who knows Mike McDaniel’s offense as well as any QB not named Tua, signed with the Rams for just $3.2 million.
UPDATE (9:36 p.m): White won’t be returning to the Dolphins’ locker room. He is reportedly joining the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.
Counting on Odell Beckham Jr.’s Health
It’s not a big surprise that Beckham is starting the season on PUP. But that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt.
There’s no way that this was the Dolphins’ vision for Beckham when they signed him to a one-year deal this offseason to serve as their WR3.
If there is a silver lining, it’s this: OBJ isn’t that expensive.
While Beckham can earn up to $8.3 million this year, all but $3 million of that is performance-based. So he has both a competitive and monetary incentive to both get and stay on the field.
Letting Andrew Van Ginkel Walk
Allowing AVG to sign with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason was a shaky proposition in the moment.
And it got even more dubious after Shaq Barrett retired, Bradley Chubb didn’t make enough progress to start the season on the active roster, and rookies Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara looked like, well, rookies in the preseason.
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Van Ginkel has a $3.4 million cap figure in 2024 — just a bit more than emergency signing Emmanuel Ogbah will earn this year.
Burning $2.4M on Neville Gallimore and Teair Tart
In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t that big of a deal. There are free agent misses every cycle.
But the Dolphins swung and missed pretty badly on two potential Christian Wilkins/Raekwon Davis replacements in Tart and Gallimore, cutting both in recent weeks.
Combined, they cost the Dolphins $2.4 million and didn’t play a snap for the team. Other free agent IDL options in that price range this cycle included Jerry Tillery, Leki Fotu, and Johnathan Hankins.