The Dolphins are Making Moves but are They the Right Ones?

The Miami Dolphins have dominated the offseason news cycle over the past 24 hours.

First, they shipped disgruntled stars Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a familiar face in Minkah Fitzpatrick. Then they seemingly attempted to address their new deficiency at tight end by trading for former pro-bowler Darren Waller from the New York Giants.

These moves have been interesting and in some ways splashy, keeping those of us on Dolphins Twitter busy with hot takes and reactions to said hot takes, but the question remains: are these moves any good? Are the Dolphins a better team with Fitzpatrick and Waller than they would have been with Ramsey and Smith? That’s what I hope to get to the bottom of in this piece. 

First, we must look at the reasoning behind the moves. It’s no secret that the Dolphins and Ramsey had been at odds. The front office made it clear that they would like to deal the 7x Pro Bowler before the draft, and while they weren’t able to get a deal done, it was only a matter of time. It’s unclear exactly what soured the relationship between the two sides, though the fact that Ramsey immediately got a $1.5 million raise points towards money being the likely culprit.

We know for sure that money was the reasoning behind Jonnu Smith being moved after setting franchise records at the tight end position last season. Due to his stellar 2024 season, Smith wanted a pay raise to better reflect his contributions.

In the past, the Dolphins most likely would have accommodated this request, as I went over in a previous piece.

However, that way of conducting business hasn’t resulted in any playoff wins, so we’ve seen the team adjust its approach this offseason. For what it’s worth, Smith signed a one-year $12 million contract with his new team, a rise from the two-year $8.4 million contract he signed with Miami last season. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in win-now mode with the addition of Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, who claims he is in his final year, DK Metcalf at wide receiver, and Darius Slay Jr. at cornerback. Now with the addition of Ramsey and Smith, it is clear that 2025 will be a make-or-break year for the franchise. A franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2017. With Fitzpatrick being only 28 and generally perceived as one of the top safeties in the league, they are showing that they aren’t concerned with the long term. 

Miami, on the other hand, has been engaged in a sort of soft reboot this offseason. They attempted to go all in during the early part of the Mike McDaniel era, but unfortunately, due to injuries, that didn’t work out. Instead of blowing up everything they had built up, they have instead focused on accumulating young talent and not overpaying for outgoing free agents. Ramsey was an expensive and aging star at a position of need who will turn 31 during this season.

Minkah Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, is turning 29 this season but is coming off of three straight Pro Bowl seasons, having made 5 of the last 6 Pro Bowls. There’s no doubt that he’s begun to slow down, having not been named an All-Pro since 2022, but the Dolphins couldn’t rid themselves of Ramsey without getting any kind of help in the secondary. For that reason, I don’t dislike the move; in fact, I’m cautiously optimistic. 

As for Jonnu Smith being swapped for Darren Waller, I’m less optimistic that it will lead to success on the field. Smith was a hugely important part of the Dolphins’ offense last season. He quickly developed a chemistry with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and set team records for the tight end position with 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. When teams sold out to take away the deep threat, Smith made them pay underneath. Last season was far and away his best as a pro, and I was excited to see how he would look in his second year.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t fated to be, and instead I’ll have to put my hopes into a 32-year-old tight end who sat out all of last season. 

For two years in Las Vegas, Darren Waller was one of the best tight ends in the league, topping 90 receptions and 1000 yards in 2019 and 2020. He slowed down due to injuries in his final two seasons with the Raiders before being traded to the New York Giants and slightly returning to form with a 52 catch, 552-yard season before hanging it up.

Though his retirement didn’t last long, the opportunity to reunite with Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, who served as the Raiders’ tight end coach from 2018-2020, was too enticing. As much as I’d like to believe that Waller will return to form with Smith, it feels unlikely that this will be the case. So I have to say that I dislike this swap. 

To conclude, in my opinion, the moves the Dolphins have made over the past few days are a mixed bag. I’m still holding out hope that the rumor about them pursuing Raiders tight end Michael Mayer will prove true. That would make things a bit more palatable when it comes to losing Smith. For now, we’ll all have to wait and see if Chris Grier has any more moves up his sleeve.  

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