With Dolphins training camp set to begin Tuesday, the clock is ticking
The past 198 days will have come down to this.
A disappointing 8-9 finish to the 2024 season was the catalyst to a host of changes for the Miami Dolphins. Key players have retired or been traded. Lingering injuries have healed or, at the very least, in a much more manageable place. And, arguably most discussed, the team wants to improve its culture.
The result of these changes will been seen firsthand Tuesday as the Dolphins open training camp, the stakes of which cannot be higher. Case in point: as much as coach Mike McDaniel has produced one off the best Dolphins offenses of recent memory,the 25-year playoff-win drought still remains. A lot will have to go right for that to change — specifically health as well as elite play from a revamped offensive line and both boundary cornerbacks — yet many players believe the groundwork has been laid over the last few months.
“We have the right guys within the room, within the locker room, within the offense and I know those guys on defense feel like they have their guys as well,” Tagovailoa said. The message, according to Tagovailoa, to his teammates is simple: “I’ve been here for five years, going on six. Are you not tired of what we’ve done with that five years? If you are, why aren’t we doing anything about it?”
It’s no secret that Tagovailoa’s success will be crucial in 2025. The franchise quarterback missed six games in 2024, and the Dolphins suffered as a result, going 2-4 during that span. One of the most important aspects of his offseason was him gaining a better understanding that he must do whatever necessary to stay available.
“Doing everything I can to stay available for the guys,” Tagovailoa said, adding that his biggest emphasis was “knowing when is the time to give up on the play.”
Tagovailoa, however, will require the Dolphins’ new-look offensive line to keep him upright. The retirement of tackle Terron Armstead thrust 2024 second-round pick Patrick Paul into the starting lineup. Miami subsequently added another second-round lineman in Jonah Savaiinaea during the 2025 Draft and signed James Daniels, who’s coming off of a torn Achilles, to fill both guard spots.
With three new offensive lineman joining center Aaron Brewer and tackle Austin Jackson, the importance of congruity cannot be understated. Jackson looked better than ever in 2024 before a significant knee injury tear cost him the second half of the season. It’s unclear whether he or Daniels will begin training camp on the player unable to perform (PUP) list, a potential blow to the necessary chemistry the group needs to build.
“I’m trying to be very intentional about everything getting guys closer together so we have that bond and that connection as soon as possible,” Brewer said. “That’s what we need to be successful — that brotherhood, that community, we have to be there together.”
If this offensive line can also create the juggernaut of a run game that it was in 2023, the Dolphins will be able to force defenses out of the two-high safety looks that severely limited the effectiveness of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, both of whom had down years in 2024.
“To be two-dimensional in any way, shape or form, regardless of how adept we were at doing any sort of pass game, I think that they showed us that we will have to earn our way out of that, and you can easily as a group,” McDaniel said. “If you’re trying to do it just with passing, it’s going be difficult, close to impossible. It’s got to be a totality and I think, really, it speaks to what we preach every day in terms of balance and run affecting pass and vice versa. The point was kind of proven last year so it’s up to us to really lean into our overall philosophical beliefs anyway.”
What will ultimately determine the Dolphins’ defense is how the loss of seven-time Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey affects the unit. The Dolphins traded the star cornerback alongside tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a pick swap. While Fitzpatrick’s return to the team that drafted him 11th overall in 2018 will certainly give the Dolphins a unique talent on the back end, the hole created at corner cannot be ignored.
“We are getting major evaluation stuff that a guy might have a good day for two days,” McDaniel said. “To me, that’s a setup at this stage in the evaluation for me. I’m waiting, OK, two good days? This is fantastic. I can’t wait till he gets beat, because now we’ve got action. Now we’re seeing who we’re dealing with, because the one thing that I can’t coach is that mental fortitude to bounce back, an inherent feature in the game, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
As it stands now, the Dolphins have only one corner that play significant time in 2024 — Kader Kohou — while the rest of the group includes several practice squad players, a 2023 second-round pick, a rookie, a handful of undrafted guys and few veterans who haven’t been consistent starters in years. The lack of starting experience is a bit surprising for a team with playoff aspirations, especially considering the elite receivers — Ja’Marr Chase, DK Metcalf and Mike Evans, just to name a few — that Miami will face in 2025.
“I’ve said to the group a couple times, ‘I have a depth chart to fill out, can you help me out with it?’” McDaniel quipped.
The return of edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, both of whom dealt with knee injuries in 2024, could help ease the depth concerns at corner, yet it’s a total possibility that they too begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list. Chubb, however, was rather open about how seriously the team has taken the offseason program in an attempt to build a better culture.
“I’m going to say last year, we were lying, honestly,” Chubb said. “Point blank, period. We felt it. We put our toe in the water, but we didn’t dive all the way in. We didn’t get all the way there with each other. We weren’t making the effort to go the extra mile and I would say this year, we’re doing that.”
Added Chubb: “Guys are taking accountability of how we want it to look out here.”
The ultimate determinant of this newfound culture will happen at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis come September 7. That means the Dolphins have less than 50 days to get it together. And as of Tuesday, the clock is ticking.
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 12:35 PM.
