Shame of the game - SF

[CF DolFan]

Let's be clear on who made the decision to reset the team and eat over $180 million of dead cap in one year: Jon-Eric Sullivan, not Chris Grier.

MIA didn't have to get rid of Chubb and Minkah and Waddle.  Those were choices by JES.  And at some point, people will need to ask why most of the best players on the team needed to be shipped out simultaneously.  If it's a naked tank job, then the front office should accept responsibility for the team being this bad on purpose.

Wow ... that's the first I've heard anyone say that. They literally had two options ... drag the rebuild out over several years or take the hit and hopefully move on much faster. Either way, we were in horrible shape when they took over. Winning 4 games playing guys who won't be here in the near future wouldn't have helped us become better at all.

[Spider-Dan]

They literally had two options ... drag the rebuild out over several years or take the hit and hopefully move on much faster.

"Drag the rebuild out over several years" = "continue to field a team that is plausibly competitive"
JES chose the other option: field a completely uncompetitive team, on purpose.  So if this is the intended outcome, they should own this outcome.

As I have mentioned before: DEN cut Russell Wilson, took an enormous cap hit, and still fielded a team that made the playoffs.  Now, is "a playoff appearance" a reasonable expectation for the 2026 Dolphins (if they don't gut the team)?  Likely not.  But you can be an unexceptionally bad team - say, the 2025 Saints - without falling all the way down to "in the running for one of the worst NFL teams of all-time," which is the team's current trajectory.

It is also worth pointing out that - as we have seen from the 0-16 Lions and Browns - fielding an atrociously bad team does not meaningfully increase your chances of future success.  None of the SB winners of the past decade got there by completely bottoming out.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Let's be clear on who made the decision to reset the team and eat over $180 million of dead cap in one year: Jon-Eric Sullivan, not Chris Grier.

MIA didn't have to get rid of Chubb and Minkah and Waddle.  Those were choices by JES.  And at some point, people will need to ask why most of the best players on the team needed to be shipped out simultaneously.  If it's a naked tank job, then the front office should accept responsibility for the team being this bad on purpose.

Choosing to cut Tua for this season was the biggest choice they made in this regard, and that's nearly half of that dead cap. They were on the hook to pay him this season or not, but keeping him basically got us out of the majority of the rest of the massive hit. Sure, there's the argument about him being a distraction, etc, but I still think we would have been better having his ass on the bench this season and cutting him after that.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Austin Jackson hasn't been very good but he has also faced two of the toughest guys in the league to block.

I bet Richmond Webb, Larry Little, Dwight Stephenson, Jake Long, Vernon Carey, Bob Kuchenberg, ...(insert other great offensive lineman here) never used that excuse.

Jackson is the most experienced, highest paid offensive lineman on our list. He is effectively playing to extend his career here.

He's currently the second lowest rated OL player in the entire league the first two weeks (and dead last for pass blocking). He has got to be better than that.

[Pappy13]

I apologize for the late reply on this thread, but I don't normally check in on the Anti-fins chat board. Having said that...

The problem I had was not jettisoning all the talent, but that we spent $40M on this QB. Willis had a better week this week, but overall it's clear he's not the future of this team. They had to replace Tua, but they didn't have to bring in Willis. Hell they could have gotten Kyler Murray for nothing. Not that he would be any better than Willis on this team, but he wouldn't have been any worse either. Now they have another QB and paycheck they have to replace. That just wasn't smart.

[Spider-Dan]

The Dolphins absolutely could not "have gotten Kyler Murray for nothing."
Kyler Murray (and Tua, for that matter) had 100% control over which offer they chose to accept, and given that they definitely weren't getting any pay raise for the 2026 season, that choice was entirely based on the promise of the team offering.

Zero chance Murray chooses to play in MIA over MIN for the same money.  None.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The Dolphins absolutely could not "have gotten Kyler Murray for nothing."
Kyler Murray (and Tua, for that matter) had 100% control over which offer they chose to accept, and given that they definitely weren't getting any pay raise for the 2026 season, that choice was entirely based on the promise of the team offering.

Zero chance Murray chooses to play in MIA over MIN for the same money.  None.

Maybe, maybe not. 

I agree Murray had 100% control where he went.  And I agree that no team could offer him extra money to attract him. 

But it is possible that if the Dolphins had offered Murray a contract and a promise to at being the starting QB, he would have chosen that over competing with McCarthy and Wenz for the starting job in Minn.  Vikings offers him a better chance at winning and getting a ring.  Dolphins would have offered him a better chance at being on the field.  As it turns out Vikings gave him both, but no way he would have known that in the off-season. 

[Phishfan]

I think I could beat out McCarthy.

[Spider-Dan]

But it is possible that if the Dolphins had offered Murray a contract and a promise to at being the starting QB, he would have chosen that over competing with McCarthy and Wenz for the starting job in Minn.

Equally zero chance Murray thinks he's going to have a problem beating out JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz (which was true).

Keep in mind that the Dolphins are a team that went into week 1 as an underdog against last season's worst team in the league.  MIA was arguably the worst landing spot in the NFL this offseason.  They had no chance of getting Murray.

[Pappy13]

Keep in mind that the Dolphins are a team that went into week 1 as an underdog against last season's worst team in the league.  MIA was arguably the worst landing spot in the NFL this offseason.  They had no chance of getting Murray.

Fair enough, but they still didn't need to pay Willis $40M.

[Spider-Dan]

They got 1 win out of Willis, which is good enough for me.
Now that SF and KC have lost, I'm just waiting on MIN to lose and I can safely put this season in the books.