Revisiting the Summer That Got Miami Into This Mess

The Miami Dolphins went south dramatically following what has become a disastrous offseason

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) celebrates his touchdown scored against the Los Angeles Chargers with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) during the first half at SoFi Stadium. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

It's quite the roster mess the Miami Dolphins have on their hands, and so much of it can be traced back to the offseason that followed the team's best season in 15 years.

The Dolphins are in a bad spot in the winter of 2026 and it's due in large part to some poor decisions in the summer of 2024.

The Dolphins got themselves convinced they were so close to accomplishing big things that they signed up for more when they didn't have to do it in many cases, and it turned out that 2023 season was as good as it would get for that group of players.

When he was released Monday, Tyreek Hill followed Jalen Ramsey and Mike McDaniel out the door, and all indications are that Tua Tagovailoa will be next.

All were key players in the team achieving an 11-6 record in 2023 that matched the highest victory total of the 2000s, but that 11-6 turned into 8-9 in 2024 and 7-10 in 2025 and the cap ramifications just got worse and worse.

And now the whole thing has blown up.

THE SAD SUMMER OF 2024

That 2024 summer also featured a contract extension for Jaylen Waddle, and he too isn't even guaranteed of being on the roster next season as the team undergoes a massive rebuilding project, but he was due for a new deal, so that one can be excused.

Tua getting his "market is the market" contract extension obviously backfired, but the Dolphins backed themselves into a corner early that offseason when they made it clear he was their guy and the team was built around him — even if it shouldn't have been.

But the other three moves were simply egregious because Jalen Ramsey already had been given a contract extension after being traded to the Dolphins in March of 2023, because Tyreek Hill no longer had any guarantees on his deal and still had two years left, and because Mike McDaniel has two years left on his contract, and giving a coach an extension at that point is rare to begin with, rarer still when that coach has yet to win a playoff game.

So now the Dolphins are left in 2026 with $28 million of dead cap space for Hill, $20.8 million for Ramsey after they sent him to the Steelers, and the figure could wind up being $45 million, $67 million or $99 million for Tagovailoa depending on whether the Dolphins trade him or release him, and then with or without a post-June 1 designation.

And even if the Dolphins decide to keep Tagovailoa, it's difficult to envision him remaining the starter after he was benched late last season, which would make him a very expensive backup at a $56 million cap number.

We suggested after the 2024 season that Ross might have been having buyer's remorse at that time, imagine what he must be thinking now.

What's worse than buyer's remorse? Buyer's regret? Buyer's repulsion?

It's been that bad.

The two seasons following the contract spree produced zero playoff appearances and an immediate future that can be described as grim at worst and uncertain at best.

HOW THE DOLPHINS GOT INTO THIS MESS

This was self-destruction at its finest (or its worst, depending on how you want to phrase it).

The Dolphins went for it big time in 2022 and 2023 when they made the trades for Hill, Bradley Chubb and Ramsey and signed big-name free agents like Terron Armstead, to name just one, and the strategy did produce something.

It produced the first back-to-back playoff appearances for the franchise in 20 years and an 11-win season in 2023 that was the Dolphins' first with Ross as owner.

But this never was a recipe for long-term success because the salary cap only allows you to pay a lot of players a lot of money for so long.

The real problem is the Dolphins saw the 2023 season as the start of something bigger rather than what it really was, a high mark.

Maybe Ross and those advising him were blinded by the 11 wins, or the 70-point outburst against Denver, or maybe the idea this was a team that could win the Super Bowl if only it could avoid the injury rash that derailed the team late in the season.

What also should have been obvious was that, injuries or not, that 2023 team never showed a consistent ability to beat good teams. There was one win that entire season against a team with a winning record, the 22-20 squeaker against the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium on Christmas Eve.

But in the other six games against winning teams, including the playoff game at Kansas City, the Dolphins came up short.

That should have been reason for pause.

At the very least, it should have been reason enough to not go crazy with the contracts, particularly when they weren't necessary.

The Ramsey and Hill contracts spoke for themselves, and with Tua, the Dolphins had the option of having him play on the fifth-year option and then using the franchise tag once or twice if the performance moving forward, starting in 2024, would have warranted staying with him at quarterback.

Instead, the Dolphins made all those commitments, and those came at a cost.

The Dolphins already have begun paying that cost, and we very well might not be done yet.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations