Why the Miami Dolphins Made Another Special Teams Change ... With Maybe More On the Way
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The Miami Dolphins clearly determined that their special teams problems last season were due to personnel issues rather than coaching.
While the Dolphins let go of several assistant coaches in the offseason, special teams coordinator Danny Crossman was retained, with head coach Mike McDaniel explaining at the scouting combine that the thought of not bringing back Crossman never crossed his mind.
McDaniel did acknowledge that the special teams did not produce the "desired results" in 2022, which is why it's not surprising to see the Dolphins shake up the status quo.
The Dolphins already addressed the return game — specifically punt returns — with the free agent signing of former New England Patriots and New York Jets wide receiver Braxton Berrios, and now there could be another significant change on the way.
The Dolphins then signed punter Jake Bailey as the team moved on from unrestricted free agent veteran Thomas Morstead.
WHY THE MIAMI DOLPHINS SWITCHED PUNTERS
By most measure, Morstead had a very solid first season with the Dolphins after being signed last offseason after a long and distinguished career (mostly with the New Orleans Saints).
Morstead had a 46.4 gross punting average, which was the team's best since 2015 when Matt Darr was at 47.6. Morstead also had a remarkable 28 punts inside the 20 against only two touchbacks, with the 14-to-1 ratio coming in fourth in the entire NFL.
But where Morstead came up a bit short was in net punting average, because his 40.6 figure ranked 22nd in the NFL.
And this is where maybe the Dolphins are thinking his punting contributed to their issues in punt coverage, where they ranked 25th in the league. The Dolphins didn't allow a punt return longer than 26 yards last season, but they gave up an average of more than 10 yards.
And even then this was about more than Morstead because the kickoff coverage — when Morstead isn't even on the field — was even worse, with Miami dead last after allowing a 27.8 average that included the opening touchdown in the Week 2 game at Baltimore.
After Bailey was a first-team All-Pro in 2020 and followed that with another good 2021 performance, the Patriots rewarded him by signing him to a four-year contract extension last year that made him one of the highest-paid punters in the NFL.
But his production dipped last season before he landed on IR with a back injury, setting in motion the chain of events that led to his release. The turning point came when the Patriots moved Bailey from the Reserve/Injured list to the Suspended/list over an apparent disagreement about his ability to return.
The move led to Bailey's agent, Doug Hendrickson, filing a grievance against the Patriots, who eventually reinstated him in January.
All of that, though, is between Bailey and the Patriots. What matters for Miami is that Bailey had a gross average of 46.7 yards his first three seasons after being a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft along with a net of 42.7, which is where you can see the appeal if the Dolphins are confident that last season was an aberration and/or due to his back problem.
NEW SPECIAL TEAMS CORE FOR DOLPHINS IN 2023?
And it's not just Morstead who won't back next season for the Dolphins special teams.
Five of the six leaders in special teams snaps for 2022 headed into the offseason as pending unrestricted free agents and linebacker Duke Riley is so far the only one who has been re-signed.
Still on the market are Justin Bethel, Andrew Van Ginkel, Sam Eguavoen and Clayton Fejedelem, and Van Ginkel reportedly has made free agents visits with the Patriots and next with the Las Vegas Raiders.
So it certainly does appear the Dolphins special teams will have a new look in 2023. It will be the same coordinator, but not the same cast of important characters.
