The Miami Dolphins’ roster rebuild has come to a close. But don’t take our word for it — head coach Brian Flores said such in a roundabout way during an exclusive interview (along with general manager Chris Grier) for NBC Sports’ Peter King and King’s weekly ‘Football Morning In America’ column. A 10-win season would indicate that the Dolphins are ahead of schedule, but the Dolphins’ actions this offseason on multiple fronts and now Flores’ own words seem to suggest a collective exhale — the all-time teardown of the 2019 Miami Dolphins has been completed and the Dolphins are ready to compete with a brand new foundation of players.
How have the Dolphins’ actions suggested the team feels this way? Miami has started to attack older veteran players in free agency (John Jenkins & Jason McCourty) for added depth at key spots. And the team’s signing of WR Will Fuller V to a one-year contract clearly suggests Miami thinks 2021 is a year this team can make some noise.
And then there was that major draft trade. The Dolphins, in short succession, traded down from No. 3 overall only to surrender one of their future 1st-round picks to rebound up the board and climb back to No. 6 overall. Giving that kind of compensation away seemed to indicate that Miami felt the long-term chips were more expendable — and now, thanks to King’s interview with Miami’s leadership, we can confirm that suspicion to be true.
“The guys we got in ’19, the guys we got in ’20, the guys we got in ’21, that we get in this draft, that’s the team,” said Flores via King. “You know what I mean? That’s the team moving forward. As we move forward, that’s going to be the crux or the big chunk of our team. They’ll be the reason why we make noise or don’t make noise.”
There will of course be further tinkering to look forward to with Miami’s roster. But the Dolphins’ foundation and nucleus has been established thanks to Grier and Flores’ ambitious rebuild. And, as Dolphins team writer Travis Wingfield notes, nearly the entire projected starting lineup for the Dolphins for 2021 is comprised of players acquired by premium draft selections within the top-100. And more than half of those were acquired within the past 3 offseasons.
Looking up some old tweets for a monologue on the next Drive Time, came across this and did it again with a projected lineup for 2021
The '19 list came from the starters one day after beating NYJ. It had four players acquired via premium resources. Now, there are 19 such players https://t.co/sVxk64kff4 pic.twitter.com/VDOqwXQH7Y
— Travis Wingfield (@WingfieldNFL) May 10, 2021
Rebuild complete. Now compete.