Category: Miami Dolphins

Dolphins’ top 2025 draft prospects: Notre Dame S Xavier Watts

Will the Dolphins make the safety position a priority early in the 2025 NFL draft?

Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts is a converted wide receiver so it’s no shock he was second in the nation in interceptions this year with six, and leader in 2023 with seven. The consensus All-American received the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Award for the nation’s top defensive player. Watts has great ball skills and hands, and his quick transition to become a productive safety demonstrates his smarts and football IQ.

Position: Safety/Slot
Projected round: 2nd
Height: 6’0
Weight: 203

Fit for Miami

The Dolphins had poor safety play in 2024 and both Jevón Holland and Jordan Poyer are set to become free agents in March. Even depth defensive back and special teamer Elijah Campbell could hit the market this offseason, so Miami must circle safety as a top need.

Watts could be a potential replacement for Holland, should the fourth-year veteran find riches elsewhere.

The Notre Dame captain is a top three or four safety in this class, so if Miami passes on Georgia’s Malaki Starks at No. 13 overall, he could be the team’s solution on the back-end.

Bottom line

Watts could be a solid pick as well as an economic solution for general manager Chris Grier at the safety position. Not paying top dollar to keep Holland could give Miami the ability to address other needs.

Watts has the leadership, ball-hawking skills, and physicality Miami needs. The Dolphins had just 10 interceptions in 2024, and their leader in the statistic was linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who wasn’t even on the roster at the start of November. In fact, no safety recorded an interception for Miami this season, and the group had just one sack.

While still a work in progress at the position, Watts has ball skills as well as work at linebacker on his collegiate résumé. He could be an immediate impact player deep in the secondary, up in slot duties, and against the run. Watts is a potential captain-type player with game-changing ability.

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What Dolphins brass said (and didn’t say) about Tyreek Hill situation

The Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier said they met with Tyreek Hill for an hour earlier this week. Are things smoothed over now?

Tensions between the Miami Dolphins and Tyreek Hill have cooled off in the days since the wide receiver told reporters Sunday that he was “opening the door” to leave the team this offseason.

After initially taking inspiration from Antonio Brown on social media, the receiver has changed his profile picture on X back to a photo of himself in a Dolphins uniform.

“We met for I want to say an hour yesterday,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tuesday. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest and it was great terms that we were discussing. Discussed multiple things including without wavering that it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated in the future, and he embraced accountability. I wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily to fix as much as we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”

Was that meeting enough to smooth things over and pave the way for Hill to return and play for the Dolphins in 2025? It’s hard to say.

General manager Chris Grier told reporters that the receiver “never asked for a trade” in their conversations. But he also said that Hill didn’t do any backtracking on his Sunday comments either.

Hill’s contract, which was restructured just before the start of the 2024 season, makes things a little tricky. Even if the Dolphins were thoroughly fed up with the receiver’s actions — which wouldn’t be surprising considering the team’s discipline issues — releasing Hill isn’t a financially viable move.

Barring an attempt to forfeit the guarantees in his contract, Miami’s most salary cap-friendly plan of action may be to make peace with Hill for now before trading him in the summer.

Then again, the Dolphins are severely lacking in wide receiver depth. The team may decide that its better off with an eight-time Pro Bowler at the position, even if it means continuing to deal with the drama that Hill brings to the table.

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Mike McDaniel is hunting for an answer to the Dolphins’ discipline issue

Mike McDaniel said he fined certain players multiple times, but it “didn’t move the needle.”

The Miami Dolphins had a discipline issue and head coach Mike McDaniel had a hard time finding a solution during the 2024 season.

“I can fine people til they’re blue in the face,” McDaniel said at a press conference Tuesday. “One thing I did learn during the course of the season is that fining guys … didn’t particularly move the needle in the way we need to, so I’ll adjust as I should as the head coach.”

The exact issues were mostly kept behind closed doors, but several of the team’s leaders told reporters that discipline needs to be a point of emphasis in 2025.

“There was things going on this year, obviously in the background, that needed to get taken care of,” Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler said Monday. “We needed to be on our p’s and q’s earlier in the season and earlier in camp.”

“You definitely need structure any time you’re striving to do something great,” Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith added. “There’s a lot of things we need to clean up as a team.”

So what comes next if players won’t respond to being fined? Parting ways.

“We’re at the point in our team where guys are firmly aware of the expectations, and if your actions continually lead to finable offenses that you’re telling me without words that you don’t want to be here. I think it’s very clear,” McDaniel said.

Will anything change with both McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier set to return? The latter says that’s largely up to the players.

“Players have to be accountable for each other,” Grier said. “Coaches aren’t around them 24/7. “It’s clearly understood now and Mike’s message to the team was very well received.”

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Dolphins announce 12 players signed to futures deals

The Dolphins brought back a dozen players who were on their practice squad at the end of the season.

The Miami Dolphins signed a dozen players to futures deals, the team announced Tuesday.

Reserve/future deals, typically a minimum-salary contract, don’t count against the team’s salary cap or roster limit until the beginning of the next league year. Essentially that means those type of contracts are a way to keep players while roster limits haven’t yet been expanded back to a maximum of 90 players, which will happen when the new league year begins in March.

The following 12 players are set to spend the offseason with the Dolphins:

  • WR Tarik Black
  • LB William Bradley-King
  • S Jordan Colbert
  • DT Neil Farrell
  • OT Ryan Hayes
  • OL Chasen Hines
  • LB Dequan Jackson
  • CB Isaiah Johnson
  • CB Jason Maitre
  • T Bayron Matos
  • LB Derrick McLendon
  • TE Hayden Rucci

All 12 players spent time on the Dolphins’ roster in 2024 and were on the team’s practice squad at the end of the season. Hayes, a seventh-round pick in 2023, is the only player on the list who was drafted by Miami.

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Dolphins GM says Tua Tagovailoa taking health risks is ‘unacceptable’

Chris Grier says Tua Tagovailoa missing six and a half games is a huge reason the Dolphins came up short in 2024.

When Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was asked Tuesday why the team’s 2024 season fell way short of expectations, he pinned some of the blame on Tua Tagovailoa’s inability to avoid injuries.

“Injuries happen, it is what it is, every team deals with it,” Grier said. “Our biggest one is obviously the quarterback. When he misses six and a half games and we miss it by a game getting into the playoffs — to me that’s the difference.”

Tagovailoa, 26, suffered a concussion early in the second half of a Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills. That hit sent him to the injured reserve, which cost him four games. Later in the season, he suffered a hip injury that sidelined Tagovailoa for the last two games of the season.

In his absence, the Dolphins went 2-4 with Tyler Huntley and Skylar Thompson taking over starting duties.

“[Tagovailoa] needs to be available,” Grier said. “He needs to know how to protect himself. Like, you’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control.

“He understands that not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us. And he knows that.”

When Tagovailoa returned from IR in October, he said as much in his first press conference back.

“Just got to be smart,” the quarterback told reporters. “My entire time playing football, I’ve been a competitor and that is or was sort of my edge when I would run from high school, even in college I would do the same thing.

“But it’s a professional setting; this is the professional level, the best of the best, you just cant be doing that. So definitely got to stay more available for the team, for the organization, for our guys.”

In five seasons with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa has played more than 13 games in just one year. Multiple concussions cost him four regular season games and a playoff start in 2022, and he sat out four games in 2021 due to ribs and finger injuries.

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Dolphins GM: ‘We’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now’

Dolphins GM Chris Grier says an offensive line that was “nicked, battered, bruised” in 2024 needs some upgrades.

In a press conference Tuesday, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier defended his lack of concern about the team’s offensive line prior to the 2024 season. However, he also said investments up front are a must in the coming offseason.

“That group did nothing but work,” Grier said of the offensive line. “It’s the hardest working group in the building. … We feel like we have some good pieces there.”

After recording an NFL-best 5.1 yards per rushing attempt during the 2023 season, the Dolphins plummeted to 29th in the NFL in 2024 with 4.0 yards per carry.

Grier said it didn’t help that Austin Jackson, Kion Smith, and Isaiah Wynn suffered injuries that kept them out for most or all of the year.

“Through Week 9 or 10 we were still up there running the ball, moving, playing well. [Jackson] was a huge loss for us,” Grier said. “Once he went down, it was like a slow bleed-out the rest of the year with guys just playing through stuff, being nicked, battered, bruised.”

The team may have three long-term starters on the roster in Jackson, center Aaron Brewer, and 2024 second-round pick Patrick Paul. But guards Robert Smith and Liam Eichenberg struggled throughout the year, and veterans Terron Armstead and Kendall Lamm may be nearing retirement.

“I did think we had created some depth,” Grier said. “I think [the line] deserved some praise because of what they had done the year before. And they started the year out well, but unfortunately, injuries got to us and we didn’t finish well.

“We’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now. We’re just older there now. So yes, this is the time, like we did a few years ago … this is the time for us to invest in some offensive lineman.”

The Dolphins are projected to own 10 selections in the 2025 NFL draft, beginning with the No. 13 overall selection in the first round.

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Dolphins players react to Tyreek Hill’s ‘I’m out’ comments

Bradley Chubb called Tyreek Hill’s postgame comments “disappointing.”

Many Miami Dolphins players shrugged off Tyreek Hill’s comments about leaving the team, but a few weren’t quite as forgiving.

“It’s disappointing, for sure,” Dolphins pass rusher Bradley Chubb, who missed the entire 2024 season, told reporters in the locker room Monday, via WPBF. “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to move on with the guys that want to be here.”

“I’m upset that things were shared the way they were,” Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold said. “But at the end of the day, I have a lot of respect for him. … A lot of guys were emotional after the game, so I’m going to take that with a grain of salt.”

In the time since Hill told reporters that he’s “opening the door” to leave the Dolphins, he’s given little indication that he’s second-thinking his comments.

On Monday, the receiver changed his profile picture on X to an image of his head superimposed on the body of Antonio Brown, who famously quit playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the middle of a game.

Hill, who finished the 2024 season with 959 yards and six touchdowns, has since changed his profile picture back to a photo of himself in a Dolphins uniform.

Barring a restructure or forfeiture of guaranteed money, releasing Hill would cause a significant spike in the receiver’s salary cap hit for the 2025 season. However, the Dolphins could save about $15 million by trading Hill after the start of June.

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2 teams request head coaching interviews with Dolphins DC

The NFL coaching carousel is getting started and one of the most popular names is on the Dolphins’ staff.

The NFL coaching carousel is just getting started and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is already a popular name.

Both the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, two of five teams currently without a head coach, have reportedly requested interviews with Weaver.

Weaver, 44, is a former defensive lineman, who entered the NFL coaching ranks in 2012. After brief stints on the Jets, Bills, and Browns staffs, Weaver spent five seasons with the Houston Texans and three with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Dolphins hired Weaver to be their defensive coordinator last year after parting with Vic Fangio. In his first season with Miami, the team finished No. 4 in yards allowed and No. 10 in points allowed.

Miami managed to find success on the defensive side of the ball, despite being without Bradley Chubb for the entire season and Jaelan Phillips for all but four games. Without the duo of edge rushers — along with the losses of Christian Wilkins and Andrew Van Ginkel in free agency — the Dolphins finished 27th in the NFL in sacks.

There are five teams currently on the hunt for a new head coach. Along with the Bears and Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, and New York Jets are looking for someone new to take charge.

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All 32 Dolphins set to become free agents in March 2025

The Dolphins have a long list of players set to become free agents in a couple months.

The Miami Dolphins loaded up on players with one-year contracts in the 2024 offseason and that means the team has a ton of players set to hit free agency in March.

Without much cap space to work with, the Dolphins may not be able to keep many of those players. Here’s the full list of Miami players with expiring contracts:

  • QB Tyler Huntley (unrestricted)
  • RB Jeff Wilson Jr. (unrestricted)
  • WR Braxton Berrios (unrestricted)
  • WR River Cracraft (unrestricted)
  • WR Dee Eskridge (unrestricted)
  • WR Anthony Schwartz (restricted)
  • WR Grant DuBose (exclusive rights)
  • TE Jack Stoll (unrestricted)
  • OL Isaiah Wynn (unrestricted)
  • OL Robert Jones (unrestricted)
  • OL Liam Eichenberg (unrestricted)
  • OL Kendall Lamm (unrestricted)
  • OL Jackson Carman (unrestricted)
  • OL Kion Smith (exclusive rights)
  • DL Calais Campbell (unrestricted)
  • DL Benito Jones (unrestricted)
  • DL Matt Dickerson (unrestricted)
  • DL Da’Shawn Hand (unrestricted)
  • OLB Emmanuel Ogbah (unrestricted)
  • OLB Tyus Bowser (unrestricted)
  • OLB Quinton Bell (restricted)
  • OLB Cameron Goode (exclusive rights)
  • LB Anthony Walker Jr. (unrestricted)
  • LB Tyrel Dodson (unrestricted)
  • LB Duke Riley (unrestricted)
  • LB Cam Brown (unrestricted)
  • CB Siran Neal (unrestricted)
  • CB Kader Kohou (restricted)
  • S Jevón Holland (unrestricted)
  • S Jordan Poyer (unrestricted)
  • S Elijah Campbell (unrestricted)
  • LS Jack McQuaide (unrestricted)

Teams have until March 4 to use the franchise or transition tags to keep players. The only candidate who makes any sense for the Dolphins is Holland, although the price tag — which is projected to be around $20 million for safeties — could scare Miami away.

After that, the legal tampering period will begin March 10 with free agency officially starting on March 12.

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Parting with Tyreek Hill could be a tricky move for the Dolphins

Tyreek Hill’s time in Miami could be over, but it won’t be easy to get rid of the receiver without incurring a huge salary cap hit.

The Miami Dolphins may have no choice but to move on from Tyreek Hill.

The wide receiver — who has been a team captain in each of his three seasons with the team — quit in the second half of the team’s Week 18 game. While the receiver initially told reporters that coaches pulled him from the game, when he was asked why, Hill said that it was due to the Broncos’ insurmountable lead against the Chiefs.

“I was informed that he was unavailable right before a drive,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “I was not informed that it was a new injury, and I think at that point of time my focus was on the players and I didn’t take the time to go and try and figure out more into that.”

Hill, 30, also told reporters that he’s “opening the door” to leave the Dolphins. But that might not be an easy move for the team to pull off, even if it’s ready to be done with the receiver.

What it would cost to part with Tyreek Hill

After reworking Hill’s deal in August, the receiver is due to count $27.7 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap next season and $51.9 million in 2026. Cutting the eight-time Pro Bowler will only make the team’s tenuous cap situation next season even worse.

Releasing Hill would launch the receiver’s salary cap hit from $27.7 million to $55.9 million in dead money. That’s an additional $28.2 million in cap liabilities.

A post-June 1 release of Hill would make it $40.3 million in dead money, which is still an additional $12.7 million.

The more realistic and financially sound move is a trade that sends Hill out of town, but even that isn’t so straightforward. If the Dolphins traded the receiver before the start of June, they’d eat $28.3 million in dead money. By waiting until the summer, Miami could finally find a way to recoup some money — knocking $15 million off Hill’s salary cap charge, and dropping the dead money to $12.7 million.

Perhaps a restructured deal could get done to a facilitate a trade. But for now, it seems the Dolphins’ only good move (assuming they don’t iron things out with the receiver) is to wait until June or beyond to trade Hill elsewhere.

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