Dolphins’ McDaniel explains where things stand with Campbell, Armstead and Zach Wilson
The Dolphins remain in discussions with key veterans Terron Armstead and Calais Campbell but don’t yet know if either will be on the team this season, Mike McDaniel indicated Monday.
Armstead, the Pro Bowl left tackle, remains under contract but hasn’t decided whether to retire.
Campbell, a free agent defensive lineman, is mulling whether he wants to sign with the Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens or another team. Retirement isn’t out of the question, either.
“Calais, specifically, is in a unique situation where he’s assessing multiple options as a player in the 45th year of his career,” McDaniel said at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach on Monday.
Campbell, who turns 39 on Sept. 1, is considering whether to play an 18th season.
“There’s a lot in play in that, in regard to, your play is high, you’re excited to play another year,” McDaniel said. “He’s assessing those options, and he was a very important player to the team last year. I see him having the opportunity to be a very important player on the team this year.”
The Dolphins are in a precarious position with their defensive line; Zach Sieler is the only above-average player under contract. Miami also has a middling defensive tackle signed (Benito Jones) as well as two journeymen (Neil Farrell, Matt Dickerson). So Campbell’s return seems vital.
“I feel like we have some options at the position. [Campbell] has some options,” McDaniel said. “That position, in particular, has been a focal point of mine this offseason. And I feel good about how it could play out, and there’s a couple different scenarios of how it could play out.”
With regard to Armstead, McDaniel said his future remains unresolved.
“I just feel he’s getting close,” McDaniel said. “He’s getting closer to having conviction. We’re in constant communication with him.
“We have had unbelievable amount of conversations about his body and how he feels. I think, tied into that, where he’s at relative to other years and how we can realistically forecast that, I think that’s going to really shape the answer to that question.
“It hasn’t ever been about Terron’s play, right? It’s been about how he’s been available, and he’s been straining to be more available for us than a counterpart would. He’s played through a lot of stuff.”
McDaniel on adding Zach Wilson
McDaniel said new No. 2 quarterback Zach Wilson was Miami’s top choice for that position.
“It’s an inexact science, but we felt he was the best option for us,” McDaniel said. “He was a direct, calculated target. We thought that was a way the Miami Dolphins could get better and are excited to see how he seizes that opportunity. What I see in Zach is the experience of being the second pick in the draft, being the starter Week 1 and then not fulfilling the rookie contract, that is behind him. To me, that’s an exciting prospect because you can’t put a measurement on that human ability that is huge at the quarterback position.”
Coming out of BYU five years ago, “he was a phenomenal talent that, in my opinion, didn’t have reps in an NFL pocket yet,” McDaniel said. “At BYU, he was launching it from 10 or 11 yards deep, and you’re not in the phone booth yet. In my estimation, there was going to be some nuanced growth to his game that I think it is close to impossible to excel that early in that new form of football that he was playing.”
The hope is that Wilson was hardened by his struggles in New York -- and improved in the aftermath.
“That’s powerful to me in that there’s very few people who know what it’s like to be drafted high in New York City,” McDaniel said, “and so then to see his resolve, to see where he’s digested the whole situation — it’s like anything for all of us. If you have adversity in your life, that can be a source of strength and growth or it can be a source of that’s what defines you and you can’t get over that.”
▪ Dolphins cornerback Kader Kohou said on the Dive Bar podcast last week that he’s “preparing” to sign his restricted free agent tender, which would put him under contract to Miami at $3.3 million in 2025. That $3.3 million already is accounted for on Miami’s books.
Until he signs the tender, other teams can extend an offer to Kohou, but the Dolphins would have the right to match.
“I love Miami,” Kohou said. “It was the first team that I came into the league with. I like all the coaches, some of my teammates, even though some of them are gone now. But I feel like Miami is a place where I could kind of like grow as a player with people around me that believe in me. So yeah, I would love to stay in Miami for sure my whole career.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 10:28 AM.
