I don't think Gase is in risk of losing his job this year. Unless he goes off the deep end with postgame rants, is a brooding HC in house and they keep losing. Talks would at least pop up of Gase's future. But the reality of the NFL is coaches are on tight leashes with short windows. Gase was Ross' top pick. He wanted him. He got him. Ross also loved Suh for several reasons. I would surmise that Suh was closer to Ross than he was Gase. And yet, Ross let Gase make the call and ship him out while he is still playing elite ball; along with several other big name stars on this team. We know Gase has final say on the roster, so Ross obviously is backing Gase on these calls. He's trusting him to make the right calls. Yes, he lost his starting QB before the season began. Ross would know that and you can't fault a coach too much for the drop in performance that follows. The way they lost some games was absolutely brutal though. That is concerning. The breakdown of team chemistry and players lashing out, that is concerning. The firesale going on with the roster and some of it's superstars, that is concerning. All red flags that pop up and make an owner uneasy. Clearly though, for the time being, Ross is behind Gase.
To me, Gase made these giant moves because he was reading the overall trajectory of the team. From what he was seeing, there were pieces that needed to go because they were not benefiting the team long term for different reasons: salary cap, age, injury history, and as he made abundantly clear in his post game pressers, lack of assignment football, lack of team chemistry, lack of leadership, increase in pissing matches, etc. If you were a player that fell into those categories in Gase's eyes, you were gone, big name or not. Why? Because long term, you are a detriment to Gase's job and the overall trajectory and direction Gase is trying to take the team. Now, people could make the argument that those stars were reflecting the attitude/culture set forth by their coach. Intentionally or not. I am a FIRM believer in that classic line from Remember the Titans, "attitude reflects leadership." Perhaps we are seeing the limits of Gase's HC abilities. He can dial up some offenses when he has the right pieces, and he flourishes in offenses when he has the right personalities, but perhaps he struggles in both areas if the pieces/personalities aren't just right. Some might view this as a major weakness in being a HC. And it's tough to argue against that. Lot of truth to it. We often hear Gase is a better coordinator than he is HC. However, Ross is banking on Gase's plan to right the ship, get his starting QB back, remove stars, bring in middle tier guys that fit what Gase needs (potentially), etc. If it works....then he is a great HC. Taking mid tier guys, plugging them and coaching them up to what he needs. If it doesn't....well.....we will be looking for another coach in a few years.
One thing that is abundantly clear for 2018...this is Gase's ship and he told us the crew would be changing.