Short-Term Pain For Long-Term Gain

Short-Term Pain For Long-Term Gain

The Miami Dolphins on Tuesday continued the teardown of their roster, trading wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos for their 1st- and 3rd-round picks in April’s NFL Draft, while also swapping 4th-round picks. New general manager Jon Eric Sullivan continues to overhaul the roster and clean up the Dolphins’ salary cap mess left behind by former GM Chris Grier. 

Was I shocked by this trade?

Initially, yes, but not the least bit surprised.

I was angry, but I was angry at Grier for putting the Dolphins in this mess, and I’m glad he’s not the one to clean it up. The Dolphins had one of their most talented rosters that I could remember in 2023 and the team blew it with him running the show by trading away premium picks for players, then giving new extensions to those players and then redoing those deals, while letting a lot of core players leave in free agency due to their cap, and giving out bad contracts, such as Tua Tagovailoa‘s.

Eventually, the bill is due, and the Dolphins are there right now. 

This team will have over $175 million in dead cap space after June 1st, with payments to players no longer on the roster. Sully had to make some painful decisions, but they had to be done, unfortunately. Sully has talked about how he believes in building through the draft and talked about getting more picks to have more bites at the apple. 

The Waddle deal gives them, this year, 7 of the top 94 picks in this draft, and Sully will have the chance to put his stamp on this roster as he builds it in his vision.  

The surprising thing about the Waddle deal is what the Dolphins got in return. It’s basically the same thing the Buffalo Bills were offering at the deadline, but with the 1st-round pick arriving this year, not next.

The Dolphins were right to turn that trade down last October, as you don’t want to trade a star player to a divisional foe and must play him twice a year. I didn’t think the Dolphins would get a deal like this again, but the Broncos were willing.

I love Waddle, but the reality is he hasn’t developed into the number 1 receiver that this team was hoping for. Yes, he has 3 straight 1,000-yard seasons, but the last 2 years he has underperformed. And while 2024 can be attributed to quarterback play, what was the excuse last year with Tagovailoa playing all season before getting benched?  

Waddle is an exciting player who is a threat to score anytime he touches the ball, but he hasn’t lived up to the hype the last 2 years after the Dolphins gave him a new contract paying him like a number 1 receiver.

However, he isn’t a number 1 receiver. Maybe that changes after this trade, but he wasn’t going to be in the long-term plans of Sully, even though he said that he wanted him to be part of the core moving forward. Sully also said that he would listen, meaning if a team gave him an offer that he couldn’t refuse, he would pull the trigger, and that’s what happened on Tuesday. 

The reality is Sully isn’t done. He can still take calls for running back De’Von Achane, even though he said he is off limits. 

Yeah, I don’t buy that for a minute. What that means is to give me an offer like what I got for Waddle or better. Achane is the biggest asset on this team, and he is entering the last year of his contract and wants to get paid. I also believe Sully wants to give him an extension, but business is business, and Achane can be had at the right price.

I think he will keep him and try to extend him through the summer and into the season, but if a deal can’t be reached and the season goes as expected, not good, maybe a desperate team or a team that wants to go all in gives Sully the offer he can’t refuse. 

It’s a tough time to be a Dolphins fan because this team hasn’t won a playoff game in 26 years, but they are going through yet another rebuild and another regime change. The defense doesn’t have any cornerstone players, and on offense, while they have a few pieces on the offensive line and a good stable of running backs, they have no talent, and the cupboard is empty.

The Dolphins are going to be playing a lot of younger players because they are cheaper, and they have to because of their salary cap mess, and cause Sully wants to build this team in his vision. That starts with a lot of growing pains. 

I have the bar very low for wins next year, but my hope is that the Dolphins draft some younger players who improve as the season goes on for a promising future.