Sully Starts Cleaning Up Grier’s Mess

Sully Starts Cleaning Up Grier’s Mess

Well, finally, the first domino fell with new GM Jon Eric Sullivan. He cut Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, James Daniels, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. None of these moves was really surprising. The only one that raised an eyebrow was Daniels because he doesn’t have a huge salary. However, if reports are true that he passed on trying to come back early in the season, then go.

The Dolphins don’t need him. 

Hill and Chubb were expected by far. The biggest question with Chubb is whether they will release him, take the big cap hit, or designate him with the June 1st cut to spread out the cap hits. I personally would just let him go and get him off the books. The Dolphins are going to pay a lot in dead salary cap, so what’s another $20 plus million?

Chubb’s career with the Dolphins was going well until he tore up his knee at the end of 2023. Chubb and Jaelen Phillips were starting to come into their own that year, but they both got season-ending injuries and never lived up to the hype of the best passing duo. Chubb missed 2024, returned last year, and played well, but he doesn’t fit into the team’s long-term plans, and the team is gutting the roster to the studs.  

What is going to be next?  

I know Tua Tagovailoa, but I personally don’t care whether they trade or release him. It’s going to happen one way or another. The biggest surprise would be if the Dolphins let him come back, which won’t happen. 

What else does Sully have up his sleeve? There are more big decisions to make, such as Minkah Fitzpatrick and Austin Jackson. Fitzpatrick came back to the Dolphins and played well, but he has one more year left on his deal, and does he really want to be part of a rebuild?

The Dolphins won’t extend him, so just release him or trade him. Jackson is interesting because he plays well when healthy, but the problem is that he has missed half the games over the last 2 years and has one more year left on his contract. So do the Dolphins just cut him loose? Well, see, but those two I’m looking at now. 

The Dolphins can also save more with Alec Ingold and Jason Sanders. Ingold is playing a position that has largely become extinct in the NFL. Not many teams carry fullbacks. Sanders missed all last year, and all his replacement, Riley Patterson, did was kick a franchise record with 90% field goals made, so the Dolphins can find a kicker. It would be sad to see Sanders go, but Patterson’s season made him expendable.  

The Dolphins also have decisions on players looking for extensions, like Jordyn Brooks, Aaron Brewer, and De Von Achane. Will they be part of the plan or the teardown? I don’t think they are going to look to unload these guys unless someone gives them an offer they couldn’t refuse. 

Sully loves draft picks and considers them gold. I expect him to be aggressive to try to get more draft picks this year and next year. I think the Dolphins will be more than willing to trade down in the 1st round and the 2nd or 3rd round because this team needs an influx of young talent, and drafting is a great way to restock the roster and at cheaper salaries to help their cap situation. However, could Sully entertain offers for players on the roster, like Achane or Jaylen Waddle? Both players were investigated by other teams at the trade deadline, especially Waddle, as the Buffalo Bills offered a 3rd  this year and 1st next year, so it’s possible to offer at least a 1st round pick.

Honestly, if it were a team that wasn’t in the AFC East, I probably would have made that deal at the deadline.

Waddle has a lower cap number this year, and it goes up after next year, so a team might be willing. Achane is another option, potentially, because Achane is one of the explosive backs in the league, and there could be a team that could use a back like Achane to create more big plays on offense.

I think the Dolphins will keep Achane and re-sign him, but if the offer is one they can’t refuse, they should take it. 

This offseason is about tearing down the roster and there are going to be some painful decisions made, but we are in this mess because of Chris Grier and how he went off the rails after 2021 trading away picks and giving big contracts to other players from other teams and giving another one or two as well instead of continuing to build through the draft and resigning some of the core players like Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunter, and others.

The Dolphins lacked draft picks, and they lost good players because of Grier’s poor financial decisions. Sully must clean up the mess. 

It’s going to be a long off-season and frankly depressing. We just have to hope that Sully puts his background as a scout and working with the Green Bay Packers, who build through the draft, rub off on him, and he makes the right moves in the draft to provide some hope in the future at the expense of going through the growing pains on the field with young players.