Seahawks Provide Dolphins with Blueprint for Rebuild

Just a few years ago, the now Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks were in a similar position to the Miami Dolphins.

After a few good, not great years, the Seahawks bottomed out at 7-10 and decided to make a change at quarterback.

They jettisoned longtime franchise quarterback Russell Wilson and began a rebuild.

After two years of going 9-8 in 2022 and 2023 in transition years with Pete Carroll, they decided to part ways with him, too.

In 2023, even in a mediocre season, they built the foundation of a championship roster with the selection of Devon Witherspoon and NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The next year, they continued to stay patient with their process and added more young talent to their base in defensive tackle Byron Murphy and tight end A.J. Barner.

Under new head coach Mike MacDonald, Seattle improved to 10-7 in its first season.

This season, they had another stellar draft with Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori, along with adding veteran Sam Darnold in free agency.

So, what can we learn from the Seattle Seahawks’ build?

They never veered from their process.

Under General Manager John Schneider, who also helped build the “Legion of Boom”, Seattle identified the right pieces at key positions and, above all, found good football players who could play in multiple schemes.

Along with Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba, they capitalized on the draft picks in 2022 that they received for Wilson.

That year in the draft, they added six future starters in Charles Cross, Abraham Lucas, Coby Bryant, Kenneth Walker III, Tariq Woolen, and Boye Mafe.

Where did Schneider come from before he arrived in Seattle?

Well, you guessed it.

Green Bay.

Where did the Dolphins’ current top decision makers come from?

Green Bay.

It makes sense that Schneider and new Dolphins General Manager, John-Eric Sullivan, learned from the best in the business in Ron Wolf, and in Sullivan’s case, will look to take the Packers and now Seahawks’ championship blueprint south with him.

That blueprint is to draft well, identify key free agents to fill gaps, and then find coaches whose schemes can maximize those players’ talents.

Schneider made bold moves to move on from Wilson and from Carroll, who had both brought sustained success and a championship to the Northwest.

While Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa did not deliver the same level of success to the Dolphins, they did bring back-to-back playoff appearances and a league-best offense to Miami.

However, even with the success the duo brought to the franchise, it was clear that major changes were needed.

That is why Sullivan and Hafley were brought in.

It may take some time for the duo to develop their identity in Miami, but luckily for them, they have a clear, recent blueprint to follow: the Seahawks.

Hopefully, that blueprint brings a championship to Miami just like it did in Seattle.