Revisiting Some of the Key Offseason Decisions

Trying to find reasons why the Miami Dolphins have taken a step back in 2024

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) runs behind guard Robert Hunt (50) as he blocks Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (97) at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

It's real easy to point to Tua Tagovailoa's stint on injured reserve as the reason for the Miami Dolphins taking a disappointing step back in 2024, but there's clearly more involved.

Even with Tagovailoa in the starting lineup, the Dolphins are only 5-5 this season, which is the definition of average and a record that doesn't equate to the playoffs.

So clearly, something is at play here to explain how the Dolphins crashed from a team competing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs as late as Week 17 to a team on the verge of mathematical elimination as early as Week 16 this season.

Clearly, one issue has been players simply not performing as well as they usually have — and this list starts with Tyreek Hill — but yet there's still more.

Some of the issues are related to personnel, and it brings us back to the offseason and some of the key decisions the Dolphins made.

Some worked out very well, such as the signings of Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith. Some have not worked out, such as the changes as safety. Some were inconsequential in the final analysis.

Let's revisit some of those key decisions, understanding it's always easy to play the results.

THE DECISIONS NOT TO RE-SIGN WILKINS OR HUNT

These were the biggest decisions the Dolphins had to make in the offseason, and it's really easy to say now the Dolphins should have bitten the bullet and given Robert Hunt whatever was necessary to keep him around because it's undeniable that he would be far and away the best guard on the team.

But it's really hard to complain about the Dolphins being unwilling to go as far finanically as the Carolina Panthers did, no matter Hunt being a borderline Pro Bowl-caliber guard.

The failure here was not signing somebody to serve as a replacement and relying on holdovers Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg, particularly with Isaiah Wynn still looking at a long recovery from his 2023 quad injury.

This decision to stick with what they had in the hopes of improvement clearly bit the Dolphins at other positions as well.

As for Wilkins, his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders was cut way short because of a foot injury, and this was another case of not wanting to pay a huge amount at a non-premium position — it becomes a premium position only if you have a game-wrecker like Aaron Donald or Chris Jones, and Wilkins isn't quite that.

The Dolphins maybe could have done better in terms of depth at defensive tackle beyond Campbell — and only because Campbell can't give the Dolphins as many snaps as Wilkins did — but not re-signing Wilkins isn't what caused the big drop-poff in 2024.

THE SAFETY SWITCH

It's hard to see the success that DeShon Elliott and Brandon Jones have had this season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, respectively, coupled with the struggles of Jordan Poyer and the early release of Marcus Maye, and conclude anything other than the Dolphins badly whiffed on this one.

In fairness, Elliott found the perfect scheme to fit his skill set in Pittsburgh and his 2023 performance didn't suggest the Dolphins absolutely had to re-sign him.

Not re-signing Jones looks like a much clearer mistake because this was an original Dolphins draft pick and the potential always was there. Now, whether he'd be having the same kind of season in Miami as he is in Denver (ranked fourth by PFF among safeties) is debatable, but it's probably safe to suggest he'd have represented an upgrade.

THE BACKUP QUARTERBACK POSITION

There's no need to go into great detail here because we already have discussed this on the site, but this easily was the biggest misstep made by the organization.

The Dolphins absolutely, positively have to rectify this next offeason.

The Dolphins went 1-3 while Tagovailoa was on IR, with the offense hardly looking like an NFL outfit most of that time. The Dolphins likely would have won one more game, if not two, with competing quarterbacking during that time.

THE BECKHAM SIGNING AND THE THIRD WIDE RECEIVER SPOT

The Beckham signing was just weird in retrospect, after it comes out that the Dolphins were aware he might not be ready for the start of the regular season because of his offseason knee surgery.

With Beckham a non-factor all season before he was released, the Dolphins never adequately filled the need for a viable third wide receiver option behind Hill and Jaylen Waddle, although the signing of Jonnu Smith and the increased usage of De'Von Achane out of the backfield did fill that need to spread the ball more in the passing game.

And if the Dolphins did sign somebody else to make a bigger impact at wide receiver, then Smith and/or Achane likely wouldn't have the same receiving numbers.

In the end, Beckham's signing was much ado about nothing, just like his departure was.

And it certainly wasn't a big factor in the Dolphins' downturn in 2024.