Where Do the Dolphins Go From Here?

The Miami Dolphins are facing some tough decisions after falling to 2-6 on the season.

Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer (21) reacts to getting penalized on a a hit against Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman (0) during the second half at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins played one of their best games of the season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but that couldn't keep them from suffering another loss, which made their road to a third consecutive playoff appearance even harder.

It has been done before: a 2-6 team rebounding to make the playoffs, with the 2020 Washington Commanders and the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars both pulling off the feat. Both did so by taking advantage of a bad year in their division to win a division title — something that's not happening in the AFC East this year, barring a total collapse by the Bills.

So, yeah, the odds don't look good at all, and the Dolphins will have to go at least 7-2, if not 8-1, in their final nine games to give themselves any kind of shot.

Many of the team's fans have already given up on the idea of a late run, in part because of how the Dolphins have looked through their first eight games and also because finishing strong hasn't exactly been the Dolphins' forte in recent years.

But the Dolphins themselves haven't given up, which is why South Florida-based agent Drew Rosenhaus, who's got a number of clients on the team, doesn't see the Dolphins as sellers this week. If anything, Rosenhaus said during his weekly appearance on South Florida's WSVN that they could be buyers.

NOT A SURPRISING APPROACH

And this actually shouldn't surprise anyone.

Does anyone really think the Dolphins are going to trade away one of their core players — Tyreek Hill or Jalen Ramsey, for example — because the 2024 season has gone sideways? Just a few months after, the organization dove in head-first with a strong commitment to that core with new contracts for Hill, Ramsey, Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, and head coach Mike McDaniel.

This season has stunk for the Dolphins, but the major issues haven't centered around the franchise's cornerstones but rather its complementary pieces.

We can debate the merits of all the new contracts in the absence of one single playoff win all day, but the Dolphins' real failing in 2024 was their inability to procure better depth throughout the roster. The quarterback issue is obviously the biggest. And the second-biggest and the third-biggest...

The other issues should be obvious, and they include the defensive line (beyond the superb Calais Campbell, of course) and the safety position. Not even mentioning the offensive line because that group actually has been solid.

Because the quarterback play was so sub-par while Tagovailoa was on injured reserve (IR), it's fair to suggest the Dolphins would be at least 4-4 if not for his concussion, and that outlook wouldn't call for blowing up the roster.

As we've suggested, the Dolphins could make some trades, but they would be more along the lines of trading someone like running back Jeff Wilson, Jr., who is a regular on the inactive list and has a contract that runs out after this season. So, if a team in need of a veteran running back were to offer a late-round pick, then maybe that would be worth doing.

And for all the talk about getting Odell Beckham, Jr. more involved in the offense, his snap count increased only to 12 against Buffalo after he played 11 snaps in his first three games. He's also only signed through 2024, so he would fall under the same category as Wilson.

The trickiest situation involves Campbell, who just might be the Dolphins' best player this season but is 38 years old and came to play in Miami because he believed the team could be a contender. If he intends to make this his last season, perhaps the Dolphins will trade him as a favor because he surely would draw interest around the league.

From a team standpoint, though, it's very obvious that trading Campbell would hurt the cause in 2024, and maybe he wants to see it through in Miami regardless.

Suppose they do make a move to acquire a player. In that case, logic says a pass rusher has to be priority one, two, and three because Emmanuel Ogbah is playing with a bicep injury, Chop Robinson hasn't been impactful enough, Mohamed Kamara is a rookie with a lot to learn and training camp sensation Quinton Bell has been just that, a training camp sensation.

The Dolphins also might not want to give up on the 2024 season because they easily could have won their two games since Tagovailoa returned to the lineup. Maybe they're due some good karma sooner rather than later — like maybe officials declining to call a helmet-to-helmet hit on a third-down incompletion like they did in the Seattle-L.A. Rams game instead of nailing Jordan Poyer for the infraction.

Regardless, the Dolphins will keep plugging this season in the hopes of a quick and major turnaround, more than likely with the nucleus that had them so confident this spring and summer.