What do you guys think? Is this tank unethical?

[Teenwolf]

Whichever way you view the tank, one thing is for sure; It's an embarrassment.

 

[Gonzofinfan]

I honestly never imagined the draft compensation we accrued on top of the number 1 pick most likely. We have honestly robbed the texans and steelers.. Those are moves you have to take in my view, Yeah minkah had potential but never really put it on tape and frankly. Tunsil yeah he was good but not great and i don't think he is ever gonna get there.. I've seen him get beat in houston multiple times and don't give me its a new system crap.. As a LT his job is to take care of the RE he just gets beat from time to time.

As for tanking being unethical, I call STRAIGHT BS..

1. Danger-- These young kids and UDFA's who wouldn't be given a shot to play and would be hovering on other teams practice squads or out the NFL.. They are professional athletes getting the shot of their lives and i don't doubt we will end up finding a few gems out of all this. I can understand for the QB absolutely, Every other player absolutely not, If playing in a starting lineup is dangerous to them well they shouldn't be in the NFL frankly.. I've said if I were Ryan fitzpatrick I woulda pulled an Andrew Luck, he already made his money.. but for guys like Rosen, Rudock, and whomever else its a shot no other team was going to give them and its up to them to make the most of it.

2. Fans-- I mean every rational dolphin fan could see the writing on the wall, This is the only year in the past 27 i avoided watching preseason, Regular Season, and more because i know exactly what this season is gonna look like to get where we NEED to get to.. Go play Golf, Sports, Whatever on sundays but i wouldn't watch the fins because if i did i'd probably be pissed every sunday this year.

3. Fairness--- Umm yeah, We aren't the creators or starters of the Tank, IN ALL ABSOLUTE HONESTY.. Alot of other teams in the NFL need to tank because the NFL has almost ZERO parity anymore.. The pats have been in half of the last 20 superbowls.. If your going to dethrone them you can't just do it one addition at a time you need a ton of talent, Youth, Potential, that you simply can't add with a 7 round draft.. Too many teams are like Cincy, Tennessee, Dolphins, jets,bills,jags, Bucs,49ers.. I could go on and on but teams get locked into an average QB, overpay talent, just to TRED water.. Its a waste year in year out. If you want to see the success of teams tanking and stockpiling draft picks watch Cleveland, Watch the 76ers who were kings of tanking.. It aint pretty for one year but it works...

 

[EJay]

It is unethical because they are charging regular ticket prices.

This is a really poor argument.

They charged regular ticket prices in 2007, when they went 1-15 and were one boneheaded decision by Brian Billick from going 0-16.
They charged regular ticket prices in 2004, when they went 4-12.
They charged regular ticket prices in 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2017, when they went 6-10.
They charged regular ticket prices in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018, when they went 7-9.

Were you on this board crying for Argentina during any or all of those seasons?

Is charging regular ticket prices somehow different and acceptable when the FO is trying really, really hard to field a competent team but just can't do it because they are really, really inept?

In each and every one of the seasons above, the players and coaches were trying as hard as they could to win. This season is no different.
The only difference this season is that the FO has realized that 6-10 and 7-9 records in 8 of the past 13 seasons isn't working for the fans or the franchise. So they are trying to do something different to change it.

Yet you call it "unethical". Give us all a small break, please.

FWIW, the Dolphins lost the first game they played against the Patriots last season by a score of 38-7. This past Sunday, they lost 43-0 -- which might easily have been 29-0 if not for 2 pick 6's one of which was a lucky carom.

I don't see much of a difference despite the fact the FO was trying to field the best roster possible last season and not so much this season. So how much does it really matter? Seriously??

And they are still expecting players like Xavien Howard and other good frontline players to risk injuries which could end their careers.

This is an equally poor argument.

Players are employed to play football. They all get paid quite handsomely to do it. If at any time they don't want to do it, they can retire and choose to do something else. Nobody is forcing them down any path.

Most players go an entire career w/o participating in a SB or even seriously competing for a championship. Many rarely, if ever, get to play in a playoff game.
Does any of that change the fact that they "risked injuries which could end their careers" ?

Yatil Green's career essentially ended in MIAMI the first day he ever set foot on a field for mini-camp. Never even played a single pre-season game in his career before it happened.
Injury can happen at any time and isn't usually fair or even in the realistic pursuit of championship glory.

Misfortune of playing on a bad team? Doesn't matter. Suit up and play. Or quit, forgo all that money and choose to do something else.

 

[roy_miami]

No offense but I think it’s a stupid question. Each organization is free to do whatever they want within the rules. The only rule that remotely pushes competitiveness is the salary cap floor.

1. You can do all sorts of things that can be considered unethical but also are within the rules.

2. If Goodell had some hard evidence, like an email from Ross ordering the team to tank, or if we just went out and literally handed the ball to the other team, I'm pretty sure we'd be punished to the tune of multiple first round picks.

 

[Birdmond]

1. You can do all sorts of things that can be considered unethical but also are within the rules.

2. If Goodell had some hard evidence, like an email from Ross ordering the team to tank, or if we just went out and literally handed the ball to the other team, I'm pretty sure we'd be punished to the tune of multiple first round picks.

Not unless Ross was placing bets on the Dolphins to lose. There are no legally binding rules regulating competitiveness with the exception of the cap floor. C

 

[Good_Dylan]

Tanking is really just a symptom of a broken NFL and the fact that after all these years the league has not addressed dynasties that have sprung up creating imbalance and hopelessness in all but a few teams. Its not lost on me that Miami was one of the 1st to do it but NE has taken it to another level making even the Cowboys run blush.
If it takes a tank to right the ship then my only complaint will be that they didnt do it a decade ago so maybe the Pats would only have 1/2 of the wins they are currently sitting on. If tanking is the only way...Take it into the ground Ross and bury it so deep they will not know if you can pull it back out again.

 

[royalshank]

No. We are rebuilding. Not unethical. This season = unwatchable but not unethical.

 

[Adam Strange]

Tanking is really just a symptom of a broken NFL and the fact that after all these years the league has not addressed dynasties that have sprung up creating imbalance and hopelessness in all but a few teams. Its not lost on me that Miami was one of the 1st to do it but NE has taken it to another level making even the Cowboys run blush.
If it takes a tank to right the ship then my only complaint will be that they didnt do it a decade ago so maybe the Pats would only have 1/2 of the wins they are currently sitting on. If tanking is the only way...Take it into the ground Ross and bury it so deep they will not know if you can pull it back out again.

Having to tank now has nothing to do with the Patriots’ dominance. It has everything to do with the Dolphins’ incompetence in putting together a contending team in the last decade and a half. And the ridiculous “we’re only a player away” mentality that has infected both the fan base and the front office for about twenty years (or more cynically, it was the fan base’s delusion that was cultivated by the powers that be so as to keep selling tickets).

 

[PhxSunFan34]

It's unethical to charge fans NFL ticket prices to put out this XFL b*******

Don't buy em

 

[DisturbedShifty]

 

[Good_Dylan]

Having to tank now has nothing to do with the Patriots’ dominance. It has everything to do with the Dolphins’ incompetence in putting together a contending team in the last decade and a half. And the ridiculous “we’re only a player away” mentality that has infected both the fan base and the front office for about twenty years (or more cynically, it was the fan base’s delusion that was cultivated by the powers that be so as to keep selling tickets).

IMO...It has everything to do with that dominance. If the pats were not sucking so much talent away from the rest of the NFL then the league would be more balanced compete. To many expansions have decimated the availability of top talent also.... It's a watered down product

 

[randomname]

Unethical would be stringing out these years of terrible play we are forced to endure with a few showy signings just to sell some more tickets each year.

Unethical would be hiring Tannenbaum in the first place to come in and do exactly what most people knew he would come in here and do, destroy the team in the present and near future.

Tannenbaum is finally gone and now we're taking the shortest route available to get away from the mess he left us in. The tanking is just a result.

 

[Serik]

No-one talked smack about the Colts in the " Suck for Luck" sweepstakes.
They are all afraid we may become relevant again.

Damned if we do and damned if we don't.

 

[Serik]

All this talk about us being unethical and tarnishing the shield is hilarious. There are no rules against it so you know what we say to the everyone who calls us out on it...

"**** your ethics!!!!!!"

The shield protects accused rapists, cheaters and murderers- but frowns on a franchise that needs to start all over by rebuilding. lmao.
Maybe the NFL is really a satanic cult.

 

[Adam Strange]

IMO...It has everything to do with that dominance. If the pats were not sucking so much talent away from the rest of the NFL then the league would be more balanced compete. To many expansions have decimated the availability of top talent also.... It's a watered down product

The expansions have watered down the product, and that’s an issue in all the big sports leagues. But the Patriots aren’t some big vacuum of talent. They don’t even draft that well (although drafting a couple of all-time greats goes a long way). The Patriots get the most out of their players; they don’t overwhelm everyone else with talent. I bet they don’t even have the most all-pros over the last 15 years.