Teams are going to look bad throughout the season. Maybe it’s a couple of drives, maybe it’s a quarter, maybe it’s a half, maybe it’s a game, maybe it’s just the whole year. The key to looking bad and surviving is to do it during a game that’s buried in the middle of a Sunday slate; you absolutely cannot look like a garbage pile in a primetime game.
The Miami Dolphins didn’t get that memo. On Thursday night, they looked like absolute hell in their 28-6 loss to the Ravens, and their record dropped to 2-7. You knew that people were going to get fired. Except, you were wrong: Only one person got fired, and it was their long-time general manager, Chris Grier. That’s it, at least so far.
The pros and cons of keeping Mike McDaniel
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Mike McDaniel is going to remain Miami's head coach for the rest of the season, which is baffling.
On one hand, it makes sense to keep him because he’s their offensive mind and they need someone to actually call the plays. If he were to get fired, it would mean either Frank Smith (their offensive coordinator) or Anthony Weaver (their defensive coordinator) would probably be the interim HC.
With how the team has been playing this season, you don’t want either of them to split duties because it can always get worse. So if you think about it that way, it makes sense that they’re going to stick with the regime they have.
More importantly, it’s hilarious that they’re sticking with McDaniel. The guy is a content machine. Every time the camera shows him on the sideline, it’s pure comedy; he's constantly incredulous, and it makes for great television.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to rebuild this team, you want it to get worse. If you fire McDaniels, you don’t even have to hide the fact that you’re tanking. Starting Zach Wilson over Tua Tagovailoa would be too obvious … and for a team that’s recently gotten busted for tanking, they know they need to cover their trail.
By the way, there was nothing more foreboding about how this season was going to go for Miami than when they signed Wilson to be their QB2. The dude has been one of the worst starting quarterbacks in recent NFL history; why would you go into the season with him as your safety net for a starter with injury issues? Whatever.
Sell them all, and sell them now
Regardless, the Dolphins' season is over. It’s been over for a while, but now it’s super over. That means they need to be sellers over the next few days. These are the guys they can move by the trade deadline (November 4th at 4 PM eastern) to get some real draft capital for whoever their next head coach and general manager will be.
I’m not going to list any offensive linemen here. They definitely could move some of those guys, but it’d be an act of war for the front office to take away the players who are supposed to protect Tua.
CB Rasul Douglas
There might be three or four teams in the entire league that are actually happy with their cornerback situation right now. Everyone else is looking to upgrade, and for a decent number of teams, Rasul Douglas would be just that.
He’s going to be a free agent after this season, so if the Dolphins could trade him and get a Day 3 draft pick, it’d be a smart move. Otherwise, he’ll leave and they’ll get nothing.
EDGE Jaelan Phillips
Jaelan Phillips is one of those guys that you actually want, not just a guy that you sign to be a body. When he’s healthy, he’s pretty good at not only getting after the quarterback but finishing plays when he does so.
The problem is that he’s got a lengthy injury history of his own. He popped his Achilles in 2023 and tore his ACL in 2024. He’s 26 years old, so he should be able to bounce back from that kind of stuff, but he’s going to end up wanting a decent contract after this season. If you’re trading for him, you’re most likely trading for him because you want him to be around for more than just the rest of the year.
Do you want to pay a good player with jumbled-up legs? Luckily, you’re not a general manager, so you don’t have to answer that question.
EDGE Bradley Chubb
You can take pretty much everything about Phillips and apply it to Bradley Chubb, except for the youth, athleticism and contract situation. Chubb’s a good pass rusher. He’s good against the run. He’s had a little bit of an injury history, but he’s 29 years old, and he’s not going to be a free agent after this season.
The trade deadline is normally a seller's market, and with the number of teams that want good pass rushers and the lack of available ones who are actually good, the Dolphins might be able to score themselves a couple of third-round picks by the end of next week.
WR Jaylen Waddle
It seems like the Dolphins will have to get their socks blown off by a trade proposal if they think about moving Jaylen Waddle. The dude is a really dominant wide receiver with some serious speed. The problem for him is that he’s the only wide receiver the Dolphins have right now, and defenses know that.
If you’re a defensive coordinator, and you see Waddle, Cedrick Wilson and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on the field, who’s the guy you’re going to shadow or bracket? Probably the only one who’s ever been consistently productive.
There are plenty of teams that need wide receiver help, like the Chargers, Bills, Giants, Patriots, Falcons and Steelers. You can probably take out the Bills and the Pats because they’re in the same division, and you can probably take out the Falcons because they’re hurting on draft picks. But that still leaves you three teams that would really benefit from a wide receiver like Waddle.
It wouldn’t be crazy if Waddle got traded for some kind of conditional pick that could go from a second- to a first-rounder.
Also, it’d just be super nice if he were on a team that wasn’t allergic to scoring. His waddle touchdown celebration is awesome because he’s the only one who can do it. The fact that we’ve only seen it six times in the past two years is criminal.
LB Willie Gay Jr.
Every team, aside from the Philadelphia Eagles, probably wants to add a good linebacker. Willie Gay Jr. has the upside of being a good linebacker ... if he can get on the field. He’s not getting on the field in Miami.
Their linebackers coach, Joe Barry, says that Gay is a Will (weakside) linebacker and a guy who can play in a big nickel package. They already have Jordyn Brooks, who is really good (leads the NFL with 93 tackles and 46 stops, per NFLPro), so they’re not taking him off the field. It’s a tough spot for Gay.
So if they’re not going to use him, then try to get something for him. He’s another guy who’s going to be a free agent after this season, so if they don’t move him for a Day 3 pick, then they’re just wasting a season of a player who can be solid somewhere else.