The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

None of us are bringing this up yet but what are your thoughts? I think this is the prime time and we should be looking at the options. There are a couple teams like Seattle looking for a RB. We still have him on a rookie contract and he is a stud so I expect we could get a pretty good deal to help with the rebuild. The offense isn't going to have many weapons next year so defenses will be focused on him hurting his numbers and his contract is coming up. I'm all about ripping the bandaid and I think this is our last option to build some picks. Sometimes you have to let the things you love go for the benefit of both parties.

Probably should.  But unless you get a good offer pre-draft there is no rush.  RBs are pretty much plug and play, so he might get traded during camp or right before the trade deadline.

The front office has said they are not trading him, despite multiple teams inquiring about his availability.   I agree with Hoodie.  Wait till the season starts and trade him to get extra picks for 2027 unless you get a mind blowing offer pre-draft.

There were reports yesterday that said they weren't even entertaining offers. Sounds like he is pretty safe ... or stuck here, depending on how you look at it.

Oh he is definitely safe, never in the history of the NFL has a team said that a player was absolutely not available for trade, to only trade said player 48 hours later.  /sarcasm off.

Some in the media are already saying this statement is more like "make a better offer" to interested teams, and are sure Achane will be at another team before draft day (when one offers a top-50 pick).

If we do trade Achane, then this team really is completely bottoming out to get the first pick of the 2027 draft. Well over half of our entire 2026 salary cap is dead money to players no longer on the squad, which would be then made up of zero impact players for Willis to work with before draft day.

Find a betting agency to give you the best odds on a 0-17 season, because we are going to give it a fair crack in 2026.  

This right here is the reason why Chris Grier should never work in an NFL front office ever again!!

I still believe neither Flores nor McDaniels were the problem. 

I think Flores was definitely a problem, like all the rest of the head coaches from the Belichick tree.
The only thing they seem to have "learned" from him is be a colossal dick and treat your players as completely disposable.

Were already there even with Achane. Make no mistake, this was done to sign Malik Willis. Most of what was done wasn't necessary if you don't sign Malik. The Dolphins are staring at a 4-13 season now because of what the front office has done. It was a better team before bringing in Willis. I'm convinced the Dolphins would have won more games with the roster we had then the one we have now, but that wasn't the roster the new front office wanted, I get that. They will now get to build the roster exactly like they want from the ground up. I guess that's fair, but just about every choice they make for the next 2 and a half years better pan out if they want to be anywhere near the top of the AFC East 3 years from now.

Latest NFL power rankings spell bad news for Miami Dolphins in 2026 (https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/miami-dolphins/news/latest-nfl-power-rankings-spell-bad-news-miami-dolphins-2026/f7feddc8d84fa9778add834b)

I suspect Achane is most definitely on the block.  The obvious strategy by the team right now is to stockpile draft picks by trading any players of value, cutting or trading players with high salaries, and building through the draft with cheap players who can offset all the dead money against the cap.

Achane is cheap and young.

He's probably still in his prime during what you perceive to be your window and it's presumable that you think you can re-sign him to a contract that is favorable.

That said, anyone is tradeable.  I would have been all-in for trading RBs because their life-span is so short but I don't think that's as true as it used to be.  They aren't pounding the ball 40 times a game and half their touches are as receivers, so I think it's less strain on the body, not to mention that they're usually splitting time with 2 other guys.

Talk now on the Joe Rose Show there are rumors that the Cowboys are after Jordyn Brooks, and we're considering it.

If he goes, there is no real leader on defense (and after last season, no I don't rate Sieler).

If you gut the whole team of any resemblance of a heart, then you gotta draft a whole lot of it from day one to get anywhere... or you get stuck in a world of going nowhere for years (like the Jets). 

Anyone in his final year should be extended or traded.  You don't have the money to extend him.  

Dolphins shouldn't have a fire sale, but moving 2026 talent into 2027 and beyond should be the goal. That means either extend or trade away for a future draft pick.

Outside of a few guys like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen ... I do agree.

Someone offers their first, second, and third round pick in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and they are gone.  Everyone is tradeable, just a matter of price.

Everything is for sale it is just a matter of price.

Billionaire asks his secretary for ten million dollars would you go to Vagas with me for the weekend.  She says yes.  He then asks her if she would give him a blow job for $25 and she responds, "No, what kind of women do you think I am"  And he responds, "we have already established what kind of women you are, now we are just haggling over the price."     

This is the kind of logic that got Luka Doncic traded to the Lakers, but somehow worse.
What do you think you can do with those nine picks... win 3 Super Bowls in 5 years?  Make 7 straight AFC Championships?

There are some players that you would have to be a fool to trade, and Patrick Mahomes is one of them.

It's also the same logic that got Herschel Walker traded to the Vikings.

That would only be true if you believed Herschel Walker and Patrick Mahomes are equivalent players.

They don't have the cap space right now, but after June 1st they'll have the cap space because of Chubb. I expect he'll be extended after June 1st, unless he's traded before that. I do agree with Dave that Achane especially doesn't have the typical RB shelf life. He doesn't take a ton of hard hits, typically getting out of bounds or something before taking a hit. That coupled with the fact that I think the run game this year is going to be split between him and Willis, I think the Dolphins feel that he still has a lot of tread left on the tires and he's a huge impact to both the run game and the pass game. I think the front office considers him a bigger value to Willis than draft picks would be. Achane and Willis are going to be the offensive players that bridge the gap from where we are to where we want to be and hopefully beyond that.

They have quite a few draft picks to sign.  And there is also the question of if Achane wants a long term deal with the Dolphins without them making him a deal he can't refuse.  He might not be willing to extend and prefer to be able to pick a team in FA that gives him a better shot at a ring. 

They also still have 1 more player they can extend and lower his cap hit this year in Brooks. They have the cap space or more accurately they will have the cap space after June 1st. Whether or not they want to extend Brooks and get Achane a long term deal is a different question entirely.

Someone did that once.  Offered all of his picks to move up in 1999 and acquire Ricky Williams.   It cost him his job.   

My point wasn't it would be a good idea.  Just that every player (unless they have a no trade clause in their contract) is tradeable for a high enough offer.

Achane just got paid, and the way it's structured looks like we are really set on keeping him as a key piece of the rebuild.

https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/onsi/why-timing-was-right-for-achane-extension-01krhw04ea31

On the surface, it looks a decent deal for all parties. It makes him about the third highest paid RB in the league (for now) and it's about 50% guaranteed, so there's enough incentive for him to perform and a decent enough cushion if he doesn't.

Good. Since he is staying I was worried this might carry on and be an issue..

I'm glad he's staying, gonna be rough on him this year though.

Yeah it could be... but at least he will be paid for it.

Our offense has absolutely sucked apart from him the last two seasons. He has earned it, and he will be targeted first up all next year, unless Willis and his band of developing receivers become enough of a threat to take the heat off him.

He will have the target on his head from day one... but that's nothing new either.

Are we at the stage like Detroit with Barry Sanders when we invest in the stud and build players around him? Probably not to that extent. But it would be healthy to go at least part way into it. I think we already are with the OL and TE additions this draft.   

You just have to hope the new guys on the O-Line step up and perform as expected.  If that line gels, watch out for 2027 when the Dolphins come in with Achane and a franchise QB.

Hopefully that's the case.

The left side should be a massive impenetrable wall that Tua wouldn't have been be able to look over (and likely Willis won't either).

Savaiinaea moving over to his natural RG college (and with a right handed QB) should in theory get less pressure, with a hopefully fit (and hungry for a new contract) Jackson back at RT should give us a more than decent starting front...

... as long as it stays fit and together. In the right scheme, those big bodies should open holes and hide them long enough for an elusive back like Achane to zip through and hit the second level at top speed... and hit paydirt the way he does when he flies. 

I am happy Achane got his contract because he really did earn it unlike Tua or Waddle. He has carried the whole offense the last two years despite his smaller physique, and has a target on his head day one this season. He knows it too. Tua was a one hit wonder. Waddle was a beneficiary of Tyreek and currently is a no hit wonder.

Achane is a very good RB.  But he is not Sanders level. 

Also building a team around the running back is unlikely to win a championship.  A running game is a great way to eat up clock when you are ahead, but you aren't going to win many come from behind games without a strong passing game. 

Achane has not led the league in rushing yardage or been voted a Pro Bowl starter.

The idea that Tua and Waddle didn't earn contract extensions but Achane did is bizarre to me.  What has Achane accomplished that Waddle hasn't?  To say that he "carried" the offense in years that the offense was average at best isn't really saying much; DeVante Parker carried the offense in 2019, for all that meant.

It is not hard to hold the opinion that Achane has done enough to be worth a contract worth $16 million per year, but think Waddle wasn't worth $28 million per year on a lower salary cap.   

Comparing RBs and WRs on a dollar-for-dollar basis, as if those positions get paid the same, is indeed a hard opinion to hold.  And the idea that any NFL franchise QB would or should sign a contract extension for $16M/yr in 2026 is outright laughable.

The more relevant comparison would be to say that the Dolphins made Achane the 3rd-highest paid player at his position, while they made Waddle the 7th-highest paid player at his position and Tua the 4th-highest paid player at his position (which became the 5th-highest before Tua played his next regular-season game).  And Achane has done less to earn that pay ranking than Waddle or Tua had when they signed their deals.

I don't get the Waddle bashing. He was a great Dolphin and I wish the situation was different where he could have been with the team longer.

Are you taking the piss?

Achane was selected as one of the three Pro Bowl RB starters last December, the only player in our squad earning a first team status. He wasn't voted as an alternate. Considering how shitty the rest of the offense was, that's quite an achievement.

https://www.miamidolphins.com/news/de-von-achane-named-to-afc-pro-bowl-games-roster

Achane was also voted Team MVP last season, and I'd argue he should have got it the season before as well.

Waddle hasn't been named to the Pro Bowl. Hell, the closest is being named as a third alternate. If you think he was seriously in contention in any MVP voting, you must be smoking something funky. He was a number two receiver with the contract of a number one receiver, which is why the new regime traded him out. He wasn't bad, but he underachieved compared to his draft position, and especially the heavily back-ended contract.  

Definitely not Barry Sanders level, but it was more of the philosophy of "feeding the stud" which is what I was getting at.

After three seasons, Achane is a known quantity. He's performed at an elite level every season, been very durable, and is a game changer. Right now there's really no one else on the offense that you can say that about, so it makes sense to make the most of what you have (at least until something else develops). It seems a smart way to go about it while the team is still developing.

The back end of Waddle's contract was closer to $50M per year, which is why the new regime couldn't wait to trade him... and thankfully Denver decided he was still worth it and offered a better deal than I thought was coming.

At least it wasn't fully guaranteed like the Tua contract (which basically made him un-tradeable - to quote a blogger, "we paid Tua $99M to fuck off")

It's been quoted that about half of Achane's contract is guaranteed, which is relatively team-friendly as well as being significantly cheaper. Value-wise, I think it's as good as we could reasonably expect. It also makes him a very attractive prospect for other teams, so they are going to have to cough up a damn good trade for us to even consider it.

I said "starter," not "alternate."  Achane was neither; he was a reserve, as Pro Bowl teams do not "start" 3 running backs.  (The starter at RB for the AFC was IND's Jonathan Taylor.)

"Starter" means you were voted in as the top player at that position for your conference (or top 2 if it's a position like WR or CB with 2 starters).
"Reserve" means you were voted in, but not as the top player; you didn't start the game.
"Alternate" means you were not voted in, but made it anyway because a player who was voted in elected not to participate.

Tua was voted the starter at QB for the 2024 Pro Bowl after he led the league in passing yards.

Waddle was voted team MVP after his rookie season!  I mean, if you count being voted team MVP as "contention for MVP voting," which you shouldn't.  Team MVP is not a serious award.

When Waddle was the focal point of Brian Flores' terrible offense, he set the NFL rookie record for receptions.  He followed that up by leading the league in yards/reception on a 1300+ yard season in 2022, and had a third straight 1000+ yard season in 2023.

There's also a contradiction in the premise: if Tua was a terrible, overpaid QB, how was Waddle expected to perform well?  Justin Jefferson didn't perform like a #1 receiver last year, either.

And just to be clear: Achane got a top 3 contract at his position, which is higher than Tua and a LOT higher than Waddle.  So we'll see if he outplays them post-signing, because - while he has played well - he hasn't played nearly as well as Tua or Waddle had when they received their extensions.