This is what I don’t understand about the “let Wilkins walk” crowd.
For the 2024 season, Terron Armstead is 32. Raheem Mostert is 31. Tyreek Hill is 30. Xavien Howard is 31. Jalen Ramsey is 29. Bradley Chubb and Zach Sieler are 28.
Tua is about to sign a $250 million contract.
Phillips, Holland, and Waddle will all be free agents after this year.
This is the window. We win now or we probably don’t win before our next rebuild. How does letting Wilkins walk make us a better team in 2024?
If you think we can better use the money, how? We can likely re-sign everyone that matters without letting Wilkins walk. If your answer is that it doesn’t make us better immediately, but you’re saving money for a future that doesn’t exist, you just don’t understand how the modern NFL works. Fiscal responsibility isn’t a virtue.
TBH, I don't think many want to run it back. A lot of fans seem to be considering the costs of getting to 11-6 and the inefficiency of things towards the end. Despite the roster being 'so good' the team really wasn't that great at all. The idea of running it back is pretty dubious at this stage.
You dose a fire with gasoline and there's going to be a quick flare-up which we saw early on. The Dolphins played in more big games this year than maybe anyone else in the NFL but they lost virtually all those games, several in embarrassing fashion. The only game they won was a squeaker based on 5 FGs.
You have a GM who can't produce much without Top-40 draft picks or big-money signings.
You have a HC with very little experience and a history of drawing a blank in the 2nd half of big games.
You have a small QB who doesn't seem to do the things that bail a team out when it's so needed.
You have a patchwork roster filled with veterans and soon-to-be expensive re-signings.
Success in the NFL is about creating value. Where exactly in all that are you creating value? Spending money--check. Making headlines--check. Getting the national media to pay attention--check. But where's the actual value?
After seeing the losses to the Bills, Eagles, Chiefs, Ravens, Bills and Chiefs where half those games weren't even competitive I'm sympathetic to the idea that any sort of "run it back" narrative is just missing the point.
I think a lot of people just want to avoid a disaster so costly it inflicts pain on the 2025 and 2026 seasons. There seem to be a number of people converging on the idea of 2024 being a sacrificial year that bridges a gap towards a future where the roster looks quite a bit different.
You can't have 2024 be a "run it back" and a "bridge" year simultaneously.