Why the Dolphins Are Going for It and Why They Had No Choice

The Miami Dolphins made some big splash moves after shoring up their depth and re-signing their own players early in free agency as proof they're done with their rebuilding phase

The Miami Dolphins have a new head coach in Mike McDaniel, but they're far from starting over.

Their two big splash moves from last week — signing Terron Armstead as a free agent and giving up five draft picks to acquire Tyreek Hill — were clear signs of a team going for it ... and going for it now.

Those moves came after the Dolphins adding some nice complementary pieces through free agency while bringing back most of their own free agents to maintain continuity at tight end and throughout the defense.

CHRIS GRIER: 'THIS WAS NOT A REBUILD'

But it was the additions of Hill and Armstead that showed how serious the Dolphins were about taking that next step after coming close to the playoffs in both 2020 and 2021.

"This was not a rebuild," GM Chris Grier said Monday. "This was finding the right players, right pieces, right time and I think we’ve acquired a lot of young talent coming in but you can find good, veteran players that are not only good players but leaders as well. People talk about Tyreek’s (Hill) leadership there in Kansas City. The Saints have all raved, you hear GM Mickey Loomis stopped me again and said (Terron Armstead is) one of the best human beings you’ll ever be around.

"I think for our roster, if you can add however people – blue players, as people call those top players at positions in the league especially if they’re great leaders and veterans. For these guys, I think it’s a great opportunity for us so we just felt this was the right time to really be aggressive.”

Yes, it was the right time.

Just like the 2019 offseason was the time for a complete rebuild, which the Dolphins did by dumping a bunch of veterans to accumulate draft capital and create loads of cap space.

The 2020 offseason was about starting to build a foundation with the five picks in the first two rounds of the draft and then trying to find free agents who could be long-term answers — and the Dolphins landed two blue-chippers with Byron Jones and Emmanuel Ogbah.

The 2021 offseason was maybe less defined because maybe the Dolphins weren't really in win-now mode despite their surprising success of the previous year.

THE MANDATE FOR THE DOLPHINS 2022 OFFSEASON

But this offseason should have been clear cut in terms of what the goals were.

The Dolphins, simply stated, needed to do something big.

We discussed around Pro Bowl time the lack of elite players on the Dolphins roster, but in a span of two days they added a six-time selection (Hill) and a three-time selection (Armstead).

Those are elite players.

Teams these days take big swings to land those elite players and it happened in the AFC this offseason all over the place — Denver with Russell Wilson, Buffalo with Von Miller, the Chargers with Khalil Mack, Cleveland with Deshaun Watson, Las Vegas with Davante Adams.

The Dolphins basically needed to keep up, no matter how close they were the last two years.

This is what adding somebody like Hill means.

Sure, the most cost the Dolphins their first- and second-round picks in the draft this year and they're likely to get minimal impact from the draft in 2022 (barring another move), but so what?

The impact Hill could make will be way more significant than what the Dolphins could have gotten from two rookies.

MIKE McDANIEL AND HIS SUBTLE MESSAGE

In his exclusive one-on-one interview with All Dolphins prior to the 2022 scouting combine, McDaniel made it clear how he viewed his first season with Miami in terms of expectations after two playoff near-misses.

This is what he said when I asked him how close he thought the Dolphins were to being contenders: "I mean, it would be irresponsible if I answer that question before free agency and the draft in a concrete way, but abstractly, I mean, very close, as close as one game out. And we have a bunch of young talent. I have a coaching staff that is very, very talented and very invested in the players, and I expect all the players to be better. So my expectations is that we continue to progress with what has been started here because it's been one game out both years, essentially.

"All I know is the players that I've talked to in the locker room in the building, everybody's ready to take that next step. And that's all of our goals is to take that next step .... and close? They've already been close. I'd like to progress further. And so whatever that means ... I've been in the league long enough to stay away from stamped headlines. A lot of things can happen, but I can tell you that the expectations are to move forward. And when you're a game away, I'll let you fill in the dots."

It'll be another nine months or so before we know whether the Dolphins indeed move forward in 2022, but give them props at this time for putting themselves in a better position to accomplish that goal.