Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Fangio, Tua Contract, Sanders, and More

Part 2 of the latest SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From Doug Witten (@WittenDoug):

Which defenders currently on the roster benefit most from the addition of Coach Fangio and his defensive philosophy? Thanks for your thoughts!

Hey Doug, this has been a popular question and many people point to Bradley Chubb, in large part because he played for Fangio in Denver. But I’m going here with safety Jevon Holland, who really should thrive in a scheme that should feature less blitzing and more zone coverage.

From Jerry (@UFGatorJer):

Officially there are rules on the frequency you can tweak or make changes to a team’s logo or color scheme in the NFL . Are the Dolphins past that timeline or?

Hi Jerry, have to admit I’m always fascinated by how much interest there is in the Dolphins uniform. That aside, unless I’m mistaken, the last time the Dolphins did tweaked their uniforms was 20138 and there’s a so-called five-year rule for teams to make changes. So the Dolphins could make changes if they wanted, but I have heard nothing in that regard.

From Mario Gonzalez (@MarioGo76776156):

Which tight end in the upcoming draft resembles the tight end that we recently traded to the Rams?

Hey Mario, the tight end the Dolphins traded to the Rams as part of the Jalen Ramsey deal was Hunter Long, who was a third-round pick out of Boston College in 2021. In terms of prospects with similar traits, the one player who comes to mind pretty quickly for me is Sam LaPorta from Iowa. While LaPorta is slightly shorter than Long, the playing styles (more receiver than blocker) and scouting reports are similar.

From nick (@phinnick07):

In your view, was this an "all in offseason" or were these off-season moves more toward "sustained success" from a Dolphins perspective?

Hey Nick, this kind of was a continuation of a win-now blueprint and taking advantage of Tua Tagovailoa still being on his rookie contract, with the addition of Jalen Ramsey along with some depth moves that mostly involved one-year contracts. That’s more about being “all in” than going for “sustained success,” even more so when you consider the restructuring of the contracts of highly paid players like Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Terron Armstead and what it’s going to do to the cap next year and in 2025.

From Matthew Childress (@footballphinfan):

Is Miami looking for Tua to be able to play an entire season to make a final judgment on him? Seems like they’ve made a decision on his talent & only thing left to decide on is if he can be counted on long term.

Hey Matthew, it sure does appear you are correct there in the Dolphins making a final judgment on a long-term contract because it does appear they’ve decided he’s the guy based on talent.

From Ricardo Hernandez (@Ricardo96451182):

Hello, Alain. In his 2nd year, is Mike McDaniel more involved and have greater say in the off-season talent procurement process?

Hey Ricardo, the Dolphins always have been pretty tight-lipped about their decision-making process, but Chris Grier always has said that everything is a collaborative process and there’s no way the Dolphins would draft or acquire a player that McDaniel really didn’t want or not strongly consider a player he did really like. And I think McDaniel was allowed to have his voice heard from the start, even if he doesn’t have final say on the decisions.

From Phins Fan (@DonKearnsJr):

Is Jason Sanders safe? Are the Dolphins satisfied with their kicking game…or do they bring in legitimate competition to challenge the incumbent kicker?

Hey Don, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dolphins did bring in a kicker in camp to challenge Sanders, but I don’t think it’s a lock and I think the Dolphins would be comfortable going into the 2023 season with Sanders even if he was a bit inconsistent last season.

From Bob Curvelo (@curvelo13):

Do you really see Miami rolling it out on opening week with Eichenberg and Jackson starting or do you think they make some more moves? Always a pleasure reading.

Hey Bob, first off, thanks. The Eichenberg-Jackson thing sure is a question, isn’t it? I think I’d look at both of them as a boxing champion where somebody really would have to dominate them in a camp competition to take away their job. So, yes, it's entirely possible that Jackson and Eichenberg will be in the opening-day starting lineup.

From Mt.T 2D (@Mr_T2D):

Is there some more potential trades coming or other contract restructuring to gain extra cap space?

Hey there, yes, there could be more moves to create cap space, starting with the obvious move of signing Christian Wilkins to a long-term extension that would reduce his 2023 cap number. As for trades, sure, that could happen and the Dolphins, for example, gladly would trade Cedrick Wilson Jr. to lose his cap charge, but remember that it always takes two teams to make a trade.

From Kirk Marks (@CaptKirk609):

So you think the Dolphins will get a TE and O-lineman in the next wave of free Agency after June 1?

Hey Kirk, the next wave of free agency actually will start after the draft and, yes, the Dolphins will be shopping for an offensive lineman if they haven’t landed one before then. As for a tight end, the reality is there’s just not anybody out there at this time who looks like any kind of difference-maker or even contributor.

From Prince-Bishop Militantly Aardvark (@MilitantlyA):

What position do you think Fangio will most want to strengthen via the draft?

As I look at the roster, I think the position in most need of help on defense at this time is up front because there’s just not a lot of depth behind Wilkins, Sieler and Davis (if we’re counting Ogbah as an edge defender).

The Ogre (@theogre89):

Hey Alain, I heard that there is great rapport between Ross and McDaniel, is it true?

Hey there, I’m assuming you’re referring to the tweet from longtime Dolphins writer Adam Beasley, who’s now with Pro Football Network, and I’m further going to assume Adam made that tweet based on interaction he noticed between McDaniel and Ross at the owners’ meetings. I don’t know this for a fact, but I 100 percent trust Adam and it also makes sense that Ross would like McDaniel because McDaniel is good with people and he got the team to the playoffs last season.

From Rich Miller (@treetop70bg):

What Dolphins games do you hope are in prime time next year?

Hey Rich, that is a very good question. From a pure viewing standpoint, Tyreek Hill’s return to Kansas City would be cool in prime time, as would the Tua-Hurts matchup in Philadelphia and, of course, either game against Buffalo. But if we also factor in what’s best for the Dolphins, I’d rather face a powerhouse opponent in a road game in the daytime rather than prime time, so maybe the answer here is Buffalo at Miami first, followed maybe by Dallas at Miami, and then the juicy road games against KC, Philly and the L.A. Chargers.

From Jorge Fernandez (@jfdad):

If you are GM, who do you draft with top two picks and sign two free agents to solidify the offense -- no defensive player; we are set there.

Hey Jorge, man, you want names! OK, for the draft any combination of tight ends Tucker Kraft from South Dakota State or Luke Musgrave from Oregon State or Sam LaPorta from Iowa with offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron from Syracuse, Cody Mauch from North Dakota State or Jaelyn Duncan from Maryland. In free agency, I like Brandon Shell or Billy Turner at tackle, and there’s frankly no tight end available who even remotely excites me.

From CSC (@HawksSposFins):

Will Jason Sanders be the FG kicker come opening day?

I would say way more likely than not.

From Olive Grove Jon (@Owlizee):

The Dolphins don’t have many picks in the draft. There seems to be value in the later rounds. Is it prudent to trade down and acquire 2-3 more picks to fill some holes and provide competition for positions of weakness?

Hey OGJ, I’m with you in that it’s not only good to provide competition but having a lot of solid young players on rookie contracts is good to help deliver sustained success.

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