The Fans Have Lost Faith in the Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins feel like a team lost at sea. Listlessly drifting about as those around them frantically work to improve their positions. The press conference by Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier from this past Tuesday looked like it was going to shed light on the team’s plans for the future, but after it was over, fans were left with more questions than answers. 

The prevailing feeling amongst the fans seems to be that they no longer believe that Grier is aggressively working to improve the team. Even a couple of years ago, when he made trades for star players at the expense of draft picks, fans may have disagreed, but they couldn’t accuse him of inaction. Now, Grier and the team seem complacent, willing to trade stars like Jalen Ramsey and potentially Tyreek Hill, but not attempting to reload in free agency to replace the talent lost. 

This offseason, Terron Armstead, the Dolphins’ starting tackle and best player on the offensive line, announced his retirement. It felt clear that things were leaning that way when he restructured his contract to allow the team more room to make signings. The team decided that they would not pursue a serious replacement for Armstead in free agency, which surprised many fans. Grier addressed this in his press conference, confirming that the team believes in second-year player Patrick Paul to be their starter when he said, “he will be our starter at left tackle”. Can’t get much more clear than that, but they should have brought in a veteran to compete with the young player as an insurance policy against him underperforming. 

This lack of urgency extends to the cornerback position as well. Over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have lost Xavien Howard and will seemingly soon lose Jalen Ramsey. They’ve really only managed to develop undrafted free agent Kader Kohou into a player that can be relied on to start each week. The other player who seems to be in line to start is former second-round pick Cam Smith. Smith has been unable to find a field in his first two seasons, starting zero games and playing in only 21. In that time, he notched 18 total tackles and no interceptions. It would appear that this season, he will be made to sink or swim according to Grier. 

“Cam Smith needs to come through at the end of the day. He’s got to stay healthy and be on the field,” said Grier. “He has shown some flashes, but this is a very big year… we can’t hold his hand and wait for him anymore”

Undoubtedly, the team will draft one, if not more, cornerbacks during the draft next week, but fans are rightfully upset about the lack of a plan at the position. Why didn’t the team go after any veterans if they felt like the relationship with Ramsey was deteriorating? 

Calais Campbell served as an excellent replacement for Christian Wilkins last season, but you wouldn’t know that based on the fact that the team allowed him to walk in free agency. Campbell returned to the team that drafted him, the Arizona Cardinals, and left behind a huge hole both physically and metaphorically. If the Dolphins felt the 38-year-old wasn’t worth the price the Cardinals paid for him, which ended up only being $5.5 million, that’s one thing, but to not pursue any defensive linemen in free agency or via trade is frustrating. Another example of the team appearing lackadaisical in their approach to the offseason. 

The Dolphins have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. The holes on both sides of the line and cornerback have fans preparing for the worst season in some time. I can’t really blame them, as at this point, Grier has lost my trust for improving the team for the future. We can only hope that fans like me are being too pessimistic, but only time will tell. 

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