Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Tyreek, Ramsey, Alexander, and More

Third and final part of the post-schedule release weekend Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Dave Campbell:

CB was a favorite position to play in my younger days. Unfortunately, I was too short (5'9), too slow & subterranean GPA to play in school. Fortunately, there's no rules/flags in backyard ball lol. Miami's approach to CB is perplexing at best. The two veterans they've brought in have bounced around the league like ping pong balls & everything else is a question mark. I know they're waiting until after June 1 to trade/cut Ramsey, Rasul Douglas visit was a no-go. If the season started this Sunday, my guess would be Jason Marshall Jr. & B.J. Adams as CB 1-2 with Duck & looking like bust Cam Smith behind them. How far off am I? Podcasts are great!

Hey Dave, thanks for the podcast comment. Definitely would encourage all Dolphins fans to check it out. I don’t disagree with anything you wrote here, including the two journeymen the Dolphins have signed at cornerback (Artie Burns and Kendall Sheffield), but IMO there’s no way in hell they would start Marshall and Adams even if the roster stays the same. I think Marshall would be in the mix, but Adams will be starting way behind Duck and Cam Smith. Never forget that as intriguing a prospect as Adams might be, he still went undrafted and there is a reason for that.

From Dan Ford:

Will we see a return of wind sprints at the end of practice?

Hey Dan, I haven’t heard any indication that those are coming back and I don’t have any expectation that they will.

From Rich Hulme:

Are there any free agents still out there can move the needle for expectations this season?

Hey Rich, let me start by listing the biggest names still without a team for 2025: Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, Von Miller, Za’Darius Smith, Brandon Scherff, Jadeveon Clowney, Justin Simmons, Stephon Gilmore, Rasul Douglas, Jedrick Wills, Mike Hilton. Based on the Dolphins roster, the one who would make sense to pursue are the secondary players, and this is where maybe a Justin Simmons or a Rasul Douglas could move the needle a bit.

From Dolfan72:

Who stood out the most during rookie minicamp? Any inkling on a Ramsey deal on the horizon?

On the first question, let me say that the media was allowed to view about 20-25 minutes of one practice, and 8 of those minutes involved stretching. Having said that, the one player I have said got my attention was rookie free agent WR Theo Wease Jr. for the way who got up and high-pointed the ball on a couple of throws. I’ll be keeping my eye on him during OTAs. As for Ramsey, nothing to report from here and I’m still of the belief part of the negotiations on a trade for the Dolphins will involve paying some of Ramsey’s salary in exchange for a better draft pick. But nothing will happen before June because of the cap ramifications.

From TJ:

Tyreek Hill had an outburst with Wes Welker on the sideline last year (I couldn’t find the video to post here but others may recall). Tyreek also had a lot of high praise for Zach Wilson. He explained that he likes Zach a lot and nearly joined the Jets instead of the Dolphins. Are these offseason moves of firing Wes Welker and signing Zach Wilson attempts by the Miami Dolphins to placate Tyreek Hill in hopes to keep him around longer?

Hey TJ, let me first start with the Jets thing and the reason Tyreek was interested in them is because they were one of the two teams willing to give him a big contract in 2022, the other being the Dolphins. I wouldn’t overstate (or state, period) Wilson as a factor there. Second, Hill is a highly emotional player, so him having an argument with a coach on the sideline isn’t a huge deal, per se. And to answer your question, no, I don’t believe anything was done to placate Hill to keep him around longer because I do believe the Dolphins will move on from him when it doesn’t hurt them on the cap (and on the field).

From Logan:

Is Xavien Howard an option? Or is that just an ex we’re circling back that we already know won’t work out?

Hey Logan, what I can tell you here is the Dolphins haven’t reached out to Howard this offseason, which suggests they’ve moved on and are not going back. I’m not sure I agree with not even kicking the tires on the dude to see how he looks physically and then seeing if both sides can find a deal that makes both happy. Bottom line, he'd immediately come in as the second-best cornerback on the roster and move to first once Jalen Ramsey is dealt.

From Seaman U.S.N.C. Albs:

Hi. in your opinion who are the best scheme fits at cornerback, either free agents or trade candidates?

The only trade candidate I’ve heard, really, is Jaire Alexander from the Packers and that’s a no for me because of injury and salary issues. Among the free agents, Mike Hilton would be a great fit as a slot corner, which would require moving Kader Kohou outside. Rasul Douglas is a good fit for the Dolphins scheme, which emphasizes zone coverage and the Dolphins already had him for a free agent visit.

From Thee Dolphins Dum Dum:

First of all, I don’t believe Ramsey has played at an elite level for Miami, but he has in his career. If you remove him from this secondary and don’t add a #1 corner, do the Dolphins have the worst secondary in football?

Hey Dana, first off, regarding your assessment of Ramsey’s play in Miami, I’d say he was very, very good in 2023 after coming back from the knee injury and he was very good more often than not last year, though there were some dips in his performance. He’s also easily the best DB on the roster, and without him the Dolphins absolutely would have an argument for worst secondary in the NFL — on paper, of course, because we’ll have to see how things play out.

From Jason Kirkland:

Hi Alain, it seems like the Dolphins pass rush is on Phillips, Chubb and Chop. Two of those guys are injured consistently. Combine that with no legitimate starting CB on the roster and I think it's trouble. Any idea why they haven't signed anyone decent at edge, just in case? I know they have Sieler on the inside, I'm speaking on edge rushers. Chop and anyone else at the position that's currently on the roster isn't gonna do it with that CB room.

Hey Jason, your question presumes that neither Phillips nor Chubb can be a factor in 2025, and the Dolphins clearly disagree. The issue then becomes exactly how many resources are you going to devote to the position, particularly if the high-profile player you bring in winds up being the fourth guy at the position behind Chop, Chubb and Phillips? The Dolphins also are looking for one of their young edge defenders to emerge, so that they don’t need outside help. Besides, there are bigger concerns in the secondary right now.

From Miami Dolphins Flag Guy Clay:

When will the practice schedule be released?

I do not have a definitive answer, but I can tell you as a point of reference that the training camp practice schedule last year was announced June 20.

From FJV:

Hi Alain, I’m afraid if the Dolphins go into the season without adding a quality CB or two they will have to score 40 a game in order to win games. Can a trade for Jaire Alexander work within the cap?

Because at his peak he was borderline elite, I get the fascination with Jaire Alexander, but also understand this is a player who missed seven games each of the past two seasons and 33 over the past four. His 2025 salary is $16.2 million, though none of it is guaranteed. The Dolphins wouldn’t pay that kind of money (I don’t think) for an injury-plagued veteran, so they’d want to talk about redoing his contract. But, again, the injury issue is just too hard to overlook, which is why this is a no for me.

From Chuck Guarnsey:

Has there been any indication that Mohamed Kamara plans to factor into our defense? Any chance he can earn a starting role?

Hey Chuck, the Dolphins will give Kamara another look this spring and summer, but there has been no specific talk about a role because he’s frankly down the line when it comes to edge defenders and it’ll stay that way unless he picks up his game. I would be shocked — pleasantly shocked, though — if he ended up being in the mix for a starting role. I don’t even think there’s a guarantee he’ll be part of the rotation at the edge defender spot.

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