Why available star WRs such as Antonio Brown don’t make sense for the Dolphins now
The Miami Dolphins, in need of wide receiver help after two veterans opted out earlier this week, hope to add at least one veteran in the next few days -- following not just a contract agreement but also negative Covid-19 tests that are part of NFL protocols for adding new players.
And now that your head is dancing with grand possibilities of top names such as Antonio Brown or Dez Bryant or Josh Gordon riding over that free agent hill and rescuing the Dolphins, I suggest you stop.
Because that apparently is not the plan.
The Dolphins are not there.
Yet.
And by that I mean this team is on a certain developmental track and those players are not great fits for that track at this time.
That track, you’ll recall, began in 2019 at the very bottom of the growth cycle when franchise owner Stephen Ross blew up the team’s leadership structure elevated the general manager to chief football decision-maker, and had the new leadership tear down the roster.
This year, the second season of the developmental track, the Dolphins want to win, of course. But they also need a very young, very new roster to mesh. To get in synch.
The Dolphins are at the stage where they need players that will buy in to what is possible this year but, more importantly, in the years ahead. They want players to learn a Dolphins Way, if you will, and embrace that into the future.
Because this organization probably realizes it’s not going to win a Super Bowl this year. But wants to do exactly that in the years ahead.
Does that sound like a fit for Antonio Brown?
For Dez Bryant?
Does that line up with Josh Gordon’s career arc?
I know, I know, you’re a fan. You want your team to fill every vacant roster spot with the best possible player, and that typically means the biggest name you can think of.
But sometimes the biggest name isn’t a fit. Sometimes that name player has other priorities. Sometimes the biggest name player has a history that doesn’t quite line up with the team’s present.
I hope the Dolphins learned that last season in their failed attempts to acquire quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and then defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Bridgewater saw where the Dolphins were in their development and rightly figured he could do better staying in New Orleans as a backup. The decision worked out because he was on a playoff team and now he’s the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.
(He also didn’t get beat up behind a terrible offensive line).
Clowney, meanwhile, was offered to the Dolphins by the Houston Texans in the Laremy Tunsil trade. The Dolphins wanted Clowney. They brought Clowney to the team’s facility to meet with coach Brian Flores and GM Chris Grier.
But no amount of persuasion from Flores or Grier could convince Clowney to be on a team destined to pick in the top 5 of the following year’s NFL draft. Because of his career arc, Clowney wanted to A. Get paid and B. Play on a winner.
He ended up in Seattle, which went to the playoffs. So he attained that part of his wish list. But after one season Clowney became and remains a free agent.
(He makes way more sense for the Dolphins this year than he did last year, but I guess that’s a story for another day).
The point is Clowney last year had one vision of what he wanted and the Dolphins were offering another.
And that brings us to the top receiver names mentioned above -- the names Dolphins fans have been asking me about most of the past 48 hours since Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns opted out of the 2020 season.
They don’t fit. Can’t you see that?
Gordon is serving an indefinite NFL suspension -- his fifth league suspension, by the way -- for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs and substance abuse policy. So although teams such as the Seahawks are publicly saying they’d be interested in Gordon, the dude’s suspended as of this writing.
Brown can sign with a team and take part in training camp, but once the season begins he’ll be gone for eight games.
It should be said that Brown wants to play. At least that’s his latest message.
But should the Dolphins sign Antonio Brown for the second half of the season, or about the time they might be thinking of inserting Tua Tagovailoa in the lineup if the rookie loses the training camp quarterback competition?
You’re going to ask a rookie QB to manage Antonio Brown?
And the 32-year-old Brown, who ultimately blew up a relationship with Ben Roethlisberger despite much success, is going to be patient with a rookie quarterback?
Train wreck.
Did I mention Dez Bryant sounds like he wants to play again? He’s certainly let it be known on multiple occasions he’s open to the idea.
Bryant will be 32 years old in November and hasn’t played since 2017. And he doesn’t want to play on a middling team. He wants to compete for a championship.
Does that put him on the same developmental track as the Dolphins?
The good news here is that at some point, the Dolphins hope to be far enough along developmental track to make them not only suitable but attractive to some superstar player who wants to reach for glory one final time.
At some point the Dolphins hope to be like the New England Patriots have been the last 19 or so seasons in that they can convince a Randy Moss or LaGarrette Blount or Corey Dillon to leave their past behind and try to shine on a winner.
And, by the way, it’s not just about being a winner. It’s about being a winner that has such a strong culture and great locker room leadership that the team can absorb a, shall we say, eccentric player known for going rogue at times when the mood suits him.
The Cleveland Browns found out last year it’s not merely about collecting big names. It’s also being able to manage those guys.
That’s the kind of team the Dolphins want to eventually develop into it.
They’re not there yet.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
