Look, Gase needs to do whatever is best for the Miami Dolphins ... and not just for this season, but for the long haul.
Sweeping this under the rug would send the wrong message. It would undermine everything that Gase has built, so IMHO, that was never an option. Cutting him would have sent a very strong message that this is not to be tolerated ... but it would have missed out on also sending another message, one that Gase is willing to work with players if they're willing to work with him and the team.
By clearly stating that there are steps that need to be taken, but not explicitly bullet pointing those steps, he gives himself room for subjectivity. Presumably, those steps will include apologizing to the team and staff, making a credible promise to both that he was wrong and will not do it again, and then working to prove that. In choosing this option, Gase has punished the player (docked 4 weeks pay), generated buy in from a player that might have been lost, re-established the team-first dynamic and acquired the pledge to put the team first from the player, re-established the team's respect within the other team members themselves, and allowed the staff to remain true to their requirements. The 2017 Dolphins will gain the performance of a competent LB at a position of need. The post-2017 Dolphins will have gained a stronger relationship and buy in from the entire team to Gase and his philosophy.
No player wants a teammate to quit on the team. But, no player wants the organization to utterly cut ties with a player for making one mistake, even if it's a big one. They all want there to be a path to re-acceptance. Competitively, they also realize that their chances for team success improve with him on the team. So, my guess is that the players will fully support this path forward, because it helps them this year, it validates their work ethic, it punishes deviation from the group goal, but it ultimately allows people to fix things when they mess them up. I also believe that they will gain even more faith in Gase through this process.
Personally, I'm finding it very hard to get over Timmons behavior. But, I think Gase is doing the right thing by letting him know there is a path to re-acceptance and not guaranteeing him re-acceptance before he proves it. But let's be clear. This cannot happen again. We don't care how loyal you were to some other team in some other state. You've only proved that you dissed us here, so now you need to prove that you've changed and we can rely on you to have our backs.
