Offseason. If it weren't for these threads, what else is there to talk about? TBF, a lot of life is discussions about the unknown. The stock market. Elections. Oscar winners. All part of life. Sadly, most of those discussions are a conflation of what people WANT and what is likely. My kingdom for a thread consisting of the 'likely' and not the unrealistic
Totally respect that point of view but I'm opposite.
>> The Dolphins are perpetually mediocre, thus we should not be constrained to discussions about what they are likely to do.
Look at all the shocking stuff which has yielded recent NFL success:
(a) The Eagles went to (and won) a Super Bowl only to fire their QB and HC shortly thereafter, yet they ended up right back in the Super Bowl a few years later and almost won. That's pretty unexpected to so quickly replace the two most critical pieces after they earned you a Lombardi...but clearly it worked for the Eagles.
(b) The 49ers got to the Super Bowl with QB1, then decide to go all-in for QB2 in the draft. When he turned out a bust they found their way back to the Super Bowl with QB3. Their surprising openness to change at such a critical position (or at least their ability to get through it) is noteworthy.
(c) The Bengals tanked in dramatic fashion only to end up in the Super Bowl 2 short years later >> with coaches we had employed just a few years prior. That shows how dramatic improvement
is possible and how great success
should be expected from players who truly change the course of a franchise.
(d) No one expected the Chiefs to trade a HoF-worthy weapon given their passing game was a core strength. But they did and got right back to (and won) the Super Bowl without any dip in the passing game performance--their QB actually got better statistically after the move. There's a huge lesson there involving what is most important in a passing game and in the NFL Playoffs.
(e) Houston traded away a highly-talented QB thought to be a "franchise guy" and ended up in the Playoffs where they beat the team who acquired said QB. By removing an impediment they appear much better than the team who went all-in on the supposedly
"proven" commodity.
(f) Seattle traded away another supposed franchise QB only for fans across the NFL to totally lose respect for that guy, viewing him now as an over-paid name who really can't change a culture or lead an elite offense by himself.
I think the NFL is about creating value and often times, that's not accomplished by simply doing what people expect you to do.
The Dolphins are likely to make the same moves that've repeatedly found them stuck in mediocrity:
>> Re-signing the wrong players
>> Falling in love with a QB who isn't worth that affection
>> Prioritizing their coaching hires around making prior draft picks look defensible
>> Signing splashy veterans to patch holes where draft picks aren't performing
>> Overlooking cultural & locker room issues in favor of blind optimism
>> Prioritizing the acquisition of splashy guys from FA over their own thus watering down the culture they might've built internally.
These things could've been said about Joe Philbin and Adam Gase just as easily as they're now brought up with Mike McDaniel.
So we constantly ask ourselves existential questions like the following:
>> Is the culture better today than it was?
>> Can we definitively say we've gotten beyond mediocrity?
>> Have we won Playoff games?
>> Are we on an upward trajectory?
>> Are our foundational pieces secure?
The answer to each of those is a resounding,
"no...but we're hoping to get lucky this offseason."
Well, that's what it's always been.
A lot of people are tired of talking about the "likely" moves because it hasn't worked for 2+ decades. Meanwhile, we're watching other teams do interesting things every year.
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Miami Dolphins! Miami Dolphins! Miami Dolphins are #1
