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Three burning questions for 2025 Dolphins
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Three burning questions for 2025 Dolphins

Miami hasn't won a playoff game in 25 years and missed the postseason in 2024. Dolphins fans want answers, but we have questions about their 2025 campaign.

Is HC Mike McDaniel on the hot seat?

At the end of last season, 84-year old team owner Stephen Ross took to social media to say both the head coach and general manager Chris Grier would be back in 2025 but also said that, “continuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptance that status quo is good enough.”

McDaniel’s contract runs through 2028. He has a 28-23 regular season record since taking over in 2022 but he’s 0-2 in playoff games. Last year, the team struggled with injuries to starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, scoring 8.9 fewer points per game than in 2023.

To his credit, McDaniel understands the position he’s in. 

"You're not entitled to a position and ultimately if it's deemed that someone, the organization would be best served with someone else, like I'm more on board with that than people realize," McDaniel said during the NFL owners meetings.

No one expects the Dolphins to leapfrog the Bills in the AFC East, but the roster should be good enough to win a playoff game and keep the coach around in 2026.

Can the team trust WR Tyreek Hill?

Hill refused to play in the third quarter of last year’s regular-season finale, a 32-20 loss to the Jets, and finished the season with 123 catches for 959 yards, a five-year-low for the 31-year-old receiver. After the Jets loss, Hill tried to talk his way off the team with his postgame comments. 

"This is my first time I haven't been in the playoffs," Hill told reporters. "I just gotta do what's best for me and my family. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, bro, I got to do what's best for my career. I'm too much of a competitor to be just out there."

Hill may have bigger problems outside of football. Last month, police responded to a 911 call from Alesia Vaccaro, Hill’s mother-in-law, accusing the star of being "very aggressive and impulsive" towards his wife and infant daughter.

Hill’s history of off-field issues dates back to his days as a Chief and include a 2015 domestic assault conviction and a child abuse investigation in 2019 which resulted in no league discipline. With no guaranteed salary beyond next season, Hill needs to be on his best behavior moving forward.

Will CB Jalen Ramsey be traded?

The seven-time Pro Bowler has been on the block for weeks but the team hasn't found any takers. The 30-year-old cornerback signed a three-year, $72.3 million extension in September and is still owed $24M in guarantees, a problem for some teams according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

"The sticking point here is that $24 million in guarantees,” Fowler said during an appearance on SportsCenter. “My sense after asking around is Miami has not been overly eager to cover some of that bill, which sort of makes a trade hard to pull off right now.”

Recently the Ravens and Rams (Ramsey’s previous team) have emerged as front-runners for his services, but the Dolphins can save nearly $10M against this year’s cap by trading him after June 1. 

The team added cornerback and local product Jason Marshall Jr. in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft but he’s considered a developmental player at this point. If Ramsey is dealt, Ethan Bonner, an undrafted free agent in 2023, would look to take his place.

Bruce Ewing

Bruce Ewing is 183 pounds of twisted steel and Happy Meals. His work has appeared on Yardbarker, 5th Down Fantasy, Inside the Iggles and MSN. Give a Philly fan a break and follow him on Twitter/X at @fantasybruce.

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