Why the Dolphins were right not to tank. And the Brents revelation, 10 thoughts
Ten notes and thoughts from the Dolphins’ stunning 30-13 win against the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday:
▪ The Dolphins haven’t done much right since we entered the 21st century.
But give them credit for this: They didn’t succumb to the temptation of a full-fledged tank before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. They didn’t give away their best players for less than equal value.
When the Bills offered a 2027 first-round pick and 2026 third-rounder for Jaylen Waddle (as NFL Network reported Sunday), the Dolphins smartly said no.
When the Dolphins received a flurry of calls about De’Von Achane, with teams apparently dangling second-day picks, they wisely said no thanks.
When the Dolphins received only marginal offers for Bradley Chubb, the Dolphins said “We’ll pass.”
The Dolphins did trade impending unrestricted free agent Jaelan Phillips to Philadelphia, but his sack numbers were down, Pro Football Focus rated him poorly against the run (96th of 113 edge players) and it would have been risky to give him a lucrative extension because of the injury history. A third-round pick was a decent return considering the circumstances.
This isn’t the popular opinion (based on what social media tells us) but tanking isn’t the answer for the Dolphins for four reasons:
1). There’s no can’t-miss, clearly elite quarterback — or perhaps any generational player — in this draft.
2). This team misses on too many draft picks to give away the ones they get right.
3). The Dolphins already proved they cannot tank correctly, messing up the 2019 attempt when they signed a quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick) who was too good to lose enough games for the No. 1 pick and hired a coach who wanted no part of it.
4). Things can change quickly in the NFL.
Detroit went from 3-13 in 2021 to 9-8, 12-5 and 15-2 the past three seasons.
Washington went from 4-13 in 2023 to 12-5 in 2024.
The Patriots went from consecutive 4-13 seasons to 8-2 after Sunday.
Denver went from 5-12 and 8-9 to 10-7.
Of course, the Detroit, Washington and New England did it with quarterbacks that teams would take over Tua Tagovailoa. But the Broncos have done it with a quarterback (Bo Nix) who hasn’t been elite — one that Sean Payton’s close media friend, Colin Cowherd, says is at risk of being jettisoned by Payton.
The big-picture point here is that the Dolphins have enough good players to become playoff (specifically, wild card) contenders again if the new general manager nails the offseason and if (big if) Tagovailoa can curtail the turnovers that have plagued him this season after not being a big issue in 2022 and 2023.
Waddle, Achane, Zach Sieler, Jordyn Brooks, Patrick Paul, Aaron Brewer (and perhaps this draft class) are a decent foundation, and perhaps Miami can find a way to keep Minkah Fitzpatrick and Chubb, who are both under contract next season.
It’s too soon to judge the rookie class, Juju Brents and Chop Robinson, and Austin Jackson remains a variable because of health. Tyreek Hill wants to return to the Dolphins, per his agent, but that must be sorted out. And Tagovailoa, of course, has much to prove.
Let’s be clear: This is not some pollyannaish perspective that the Dolphins are anywhere near being an AFC title contender. They’re not. The talent needs significant upgrades.
The point is that there’s no need to undersell the talent that’s left and start from scratch because that doesn’t offer any greater likelihood of becoming a contender than keeping Achane and Waddle would.
There’s no need to put everyone through the misery of another tank — a process that fails more often than it works.
The NFL is set up for teams to make quick turnarounds.
Perhaps the Dolphins will hit on a general manager who will help them do that.
▪ Achane was brilliant, scoring on touchdown runs of 59 and 35 yards and averaging 7.9 per carry on a day he ran for 174 yards (on 22 attempts) and produced another 51 through the air (on six receptions).
He finished with 225 yards from scrimmage, becoming the first Dolphins player in history to produce two games with at least 225 yards from scrimmage.
Per Next Gen Stats, he had 195 yards after contact (165 rushing, 30 receiving) against the Bills, the most by any Dolphins player since at least 2017. He forced 11 missed tackles, the most in a game in his career.
Achane, who has 32 touchdowns in 38 games, can become a free agent in March 2027 and is eligible for a contract extension this offseason.
▪ Achane was glad Miami didn’t trade him or Waddle.
“This is where I was to be,” Achane said. “I’m glad neither of us is gone.”
▪ The Dolphins defense set the tone early by holding the Bills to 31 yards in their first three possessions.
Minkah Fitzpatrick made a great play in coverage on a fourth down early in the game and delivered three hugely impactful plays in the fourth quarter — including stopping Khalil Shakir on a two-point conversion early in the fourth to leave the Bills down 16-6. Then he recovered Josh Allen’s fumble with the Dolphins ahead by 10 and 7:10 left. Then Fitzpatrick (with Willie Gay Jr.) helped create a fourth-quarter sack.
Brooks, the NFL’s leading tackler, was active and impactful all day and forced that Allen fumble. Brooks and Tyrel Dodson led Miami in tackles, as is often the case, with 12 and 9, respectively.
Brents, starting for the first time this season, had a fumble recovery near Miami’s goal line and was suffocating in coverage before departing briefly with an injury and then returning. Brents, filling in for the injured Rasul Douglas, entered having played just nine defensive snaps all season.
Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu had a big interception in the end zone on Buffalo’s first drive of the second half.
Defensive lineman Sieler had his first sack of the season and a tackle for loss.
Cornerback Jack Jones had two tackles for loss, forced a fumble and helped Fitzpatrick keep Shakir out of the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt.
▪ Most players claimed off waivers by the Dolphins after NFL roster cuts in late August become footnotes. (See Grant DuBose and Luke Falk.) It would help the Dolphins’ rebuild considerably if Brents becomes more than that.
Indianapolis drafted Brents 44th overall out of Kansas State — where he was an All-Big 12 selection during his final season (2023).
He started eight of nine appearances for the Colts as a rookie, produced 43 tackles and made his only career interception in Week 6 against Jacksonville. Brents, 25, sustained a torn MCL and meniscus in last year’s season opener and appeared in just two games last season.
The Colts waived him in late August.
Per Pro Football Reference, Brents had permitted a 110.5 passer rating when targeted in his career — 38 completions in 58 targets for 550 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
He had a couple of excellent plays in coverage against Keon Coleman, who beat Ethan Bonner for a TD when Brents left for a time.
▪ Don’t blame this on the Bills injuries. Yes, Buffalo played without key cornerbacks Christian Benford and Taron Johnson and lost Dalton Kincaid to a hamstring and have Taylor Rapp and Ed Oliver on injured reserve.
Miami had even more talent sidelined — Tyreek Hill, Chop Robinson, Darren Waller, James Daniels (a Pro Bowl-caliber pass protector in Pittsburgh), Jackson, Kader Kohou, Jason Sanders and Douglas (their top cornerback this season).
▪ The Dolphins ended a nine-game losing streak against teams that entered with winning records. Mike McDaniel improved to 4-15 against teams with winning records and is now 2-7 against the Bills, including playoffs.
With a very forgiving schedule ahead, the question is whether the Dolphins can get to the fringes of wild card contention by mid-December.
Up next: a game in Spain against the Commanders (who are missing Jayden Daniels and have a brutal defense), the dreadful Saints and the dreadful Jets. Three wins would move Miami to 6-7 heading into a Monday night game at Pittsburgh.
After that are home games against Cincinnati and Tampa Bay and a road finale at New England.
▪ Even on a glorious day for the franchise, watching Greg Rousseau was also a reminder of one particular aspect of the Dolphins’ hapless existence.
For most of ousted GM Chris Grier’s tenure, they not only often drafted the wrong guy, but often bypassed the better player at the same position.
There was Charles Harris over T.J. Watt and the Tagovailoa-over-Justin Herbert decision, but we (and the world) have discussed that enough.
In the 2020 draft, the Dolphins took long-gone Raekwon Davis at pick 56. The next defensive tackle drafted? Nnamdi Madubuike, who has become a Pro Bowler for Baltimore.
In the 2021 draft, the Dolphins had a choice of two Canes edge players: Jaelan Phillips and Rousseau. They took the one with a history of injuries, Phillips, watched him sustain two serious injuries and then traded him this past week. The Bills, 12 spots later, took Rousseau, who has 28 sacks and is rated the 10th-best edge player in the league this season, per PFF.
In the 2022 draft, the Dolphins took inside linebacker Channing Tindall at 102, one spot before Kansas City selected inside linebacker Leo Chanel at 103. Tindall played 21 defensive snaps in three seasons and is out of the league. Chanel has 198 tackles (17.5 for loss) and 6.5 sacks as a key contributor on the Chiefs’ defense.
In 2023, the Dolphins took Cam Smith, who was a bust and is now out of the league, at 51. The next cornerback taken? Tyrique Stevenson, by the Bears, six spots later; he has become a solid starter with seven career picks.
And this year, the Dolphins traded third- and fourth-round picks to move up 11 spots to take Jonah Savaiinaea instead of Georgia guard Tate Ratledge. PFF rates Savaainaea the worst guard in football and the Lions’ Ratledge 20th.
And all of this doesn’t even include myriad other draft mistakes involving players at different positions — Jackson over Justin Jefferson, Kenneth Grant over likely AFC offensive rookie of the year Tyler Warren of the Colts. And on and on.
▪ In the Dolphins’ first game in nearly a decade without Grier as their general manager, it also was a good day for some of Grier’s pickups: Melifonwu, who hadn’t been much of a factor until Sunday; fifth-round defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (two good stops in the run game); Brents (looks like a smart waiver claim), tight end Greg Dulcich (the late-August practice squad addition had a big catch), Jones (solid work all day at corner) and, of course, Achane and Waddle.
▪ Besides starting Brents, the Dolphins made a couple of other subtle changes. Rookie seventh-round defensive tackle Zeek Biggers had a larger role after logging just six defensive snaps in the first nine games. Willie Gay Jr. started at linebacker. And Jaylen Wright had his largest role of the season, running for 18 yards on one carry but losing 1 yard on four others.
▪ Quick stuff: This was the first time since 2007 that the Dolphins held the Bills scoreless in a first half… Josh Allen entered averaging 32.6 points in his starts against Miami. He’s now 14-3 against the Dolphins… Allen finished 28 for 40 for 306 yards, two touchdowns, the one interception and a 98.5 rating...
Chubb took responsibility for his taunting penalty after a sack that preceded the Bills’ late touchdown... Tagovailoa, who had two deep interceptions that essentially served as punts, finished 15 of 21 for 173 yards, two TDs, two picks and an 88.1 passer rating.
Here’s what McDaniel said after the game.
This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM.
