New Dolphins GM faces tough decisions. Postscripts from another lost season
Another unsatisfying Dolphins season is in the books, just like the 24 that came before it.
But at least Stephen Ross isn’t taking the easy path.
At least the Dolphins owner is conducting a thorough search for a general manager — and hiring the sharp and well-connected Troy Aikman as a consultant — instead of simply handing the job to interim GM Champ Kelly.
Even if it was five years too late, at least Ross is doing the right thing by rebuilding the personnel and scouting departments, a shift which became clear when he dumped Chris Grier on Halloween and co-directors of player personnel Adam Engroff and Anthony Hunt 10 days later.
Nobody knows how Kelly would do in the job permanently. But the Dolphins need to find the most qualified person from a perennially successful team, someone who consistently contributed to smart personnel decisions on a contender. That’s the most prudent path here.
The new GM will face monumental challenges — a team that’s $12 million over the salary cap and will lose its most dynamic playmaker when Tyreek Hill and his cap-clogging contract are sent away.
The on-field product will suffer without Minkah Fitzpatrick or Bradley Chubb, but parting with one or both seems necessary for cap reasons (unless they take pay cuts).
The new GM will need to figure out the Tua Tagovailoa mess; even as a post-June 1 cut, his Dolphins 2026 cap hit would be $11 million more than if Miami simply kept him as a backup next season.
There are a few strong building blocks (De’Von Achane, Aaron Brewer, Patrick Paul, Jordyn Brooks), but not nearly enough of them.
Offensively, Miami needs a starting quarterback (or at least somebody to compete with Quinn Ewers), at least two heavy-usage receivers, another tight end and a clear plan at both guard spots (among Jonah Savaiinaea and James Daniels, free agent Cole Strange and anyone else).
Defensively, the Dolphins need at least one starting safety (two if Fitzpatrick isn’t retained), two starting corners (perhaps Rasul Douglas returns as one), at least two impactful, heavy-usage edge players (Chop Robinson might ultimately be nothing more than a No. 3) and a superior replacement for impending free agent Benito Jones to join a rotation with Zach Sieler and the three rookies.
And they will need to do all of this on a tight budget. There is simply no way to accomplish that in one offseason, with Miami’s cap constraints.
So this is clearly now a multi-year rebuild; any hopes that this could be a patch-job (smartly filling a few needs but keeping most of these players) logically were eliminated in lopsided losses to Pittsburgh and New England.
The GM must decide whether to look for something different at inside linebacker opposite Brooks; what kind of contract extension to offer Achane (who made clear that he wants one); whether to keep kicker Jason Sanders or re-sign Riley Patterson; and what to do with more than 25 incumbent unrestricted free agents.
The Dolphins plan to move quickly on the GM search, with interviews expected to start this week.
Considering all the needs and the lack of cap space, it’s difficult to envision this being a very quick turnaround. Patience is ostensibly a requirement for 21st century Dolphins fans, and more again will be needed.
As we close the page on Year 4 of the Mike McDaniel era (with his future unresolved), here’s our take on the best and worst of the 2025 season:
▪ Biggest stories:
1). Tagovailoa’s benching and his regression from one of the league’s most accurate passers to a shell of himself, a player who lost much of his athleticism and mobility, made repeated bad decisions and led the NFL in interceptions until late in the season.
The Dolphins thought they had a franchise quarterback in his prime. Instead, they join the Jets and Raiders and the other hapless teams who are perpetually looking for the Next Great Hope at the position.
1A). Dolphins firing general manager Grier after a decade marked by personnel missteps and no playoff wins.
3). Hill’s season-ending knee injury in Week 4, which certainly contributed to Tagovailoa’s downfall.
▪ Worst decision: If we limit this only to choices made in 2025, it’s a no-brainer for us: The dismal handling of free agency in March, particularly the negligence shown in not signing a quality defensive tackle to pair with Zach Sieler.
As defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver noted, Sieler was less effective early in the season because he often played alongside two rookies. Not signing Calais Campbell — or finding an adequate replacement — led to the horrid run defense that contributed to the 0-3 start.
Here are the 12 external free agents who were signed by the Dolphins in March and what happened from there:
1). Quarterback Zach Wilson. Wasn’t needed and was bypassed for the starting job when Tagovailoa was benched. A $6 million allocation that could have been spent on defensive line help.
2). Guard James Daniels. Managed only three plays in the opener before sustaining what ended up being a season-ending pectoral injury.
3) Tackle Larry Borom. A serviceable fill-in for Austin Jackson but nothing more.
4). Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. Pro Football Focus’ 62nd-best safety among 98 qualifiers. Not a difference-maker.
5). Safety Ashtyn Davis. PFF’s 87th-best safety among 98 qualifiers. Struggled most of the year until a great interception to seal the Tampa Bay win.
6). Receiver Nick Westrook-Ikhine. Even with an elevated role after Hill’s injury, managed just 11 catches for 89 yards all season.
7). Linebacker K.J. Britt. A serviceable backup but made no significant impact.
8). Running back Alexander Mattison. Sustained season-ending neck injury in training camp.
9). Tight end Pharoah Brown. Didn’t make the team.
10). Punter Ryan Stonehouse. Didn’t make the team.
11). Cornerback Artie Burns. Sustained torn ACL on first day of training camp.
12). Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. Was a standout in training camp, but the team couldn’t figure out how to use him, and he played a career-low 112 defensive snaps.
When you make as many mistakes in the draft as the Dolphins do, you cannot survive a total whiff on March free agency.
▪ Best personnel moves:
1). Signing cornerback Douglas, who rebounded from a subpar year in Buffalo (122 passer rating against) to produce a 65.2 passer rating against, the sixth best among all NFL cornerbacks targeted at least 50 times this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent in March.
2). Drafting Quinn Ewers in the seventh round. At worst, they appear to have a good backup quarterback. At best, something more.
3). Signing fill-in kicker Patterson after Sanders’ August hip injury, plucking tight end Greg Dulcich off waivers on Aug. 28 and poaching guard Cole Strange off Cleveland’s practice squad on Sept. 9. All surpassed reasonable expectations.
▪ Most regrettable move: Trading the 48th, 98th and the 135th picks to Las Vegas to move up 11 spots to draft Jonah Savaiinaea, who has been PFF’s worst-rated guard nearly all season (80th overall).
Miami, which also picked up a fifth-rounder in the deal, could have instead selected Tate Ratledge, who was drafted later in the second round by Detroit and is PFF’s No. 22 guard.
▪ Worst luck: Miami losing both Daniels in the season opener and starting cornerback Kohou to a preseason injury.
▪ Most absurd stat: Opponents outscoring the Dolphins 130-27 in the third quarter, including 81 in a row to end the season.
▪ Most inexcusable performance: The 31-6 Oct. 19 loss to Cleveland. A putrid showing against a bad team, featuring one of the worst quarterbacked games in modern Dolphins history. Win that one — and don’t blow a late lead against the Chargers — and this could have been a decent season.
▪ Most memorable quote, Part 1: From Grier, who had a strange way of framing last year’s 8-9 campaign during a late-August news conference: “You’re winning [last season]. But you look at it and say ‘Hey, I don’t know if we’re winning the right way.’
“At times.. It didn’t matter to them. And so moving on from those people with the right guys here and focusing on that.. This is our time now…”
None of this ultimately mattered. It was another lost season in the wilderness of irrelevance.
▪ Most memorable quote, Part 2: Tagovailoa, after the loss to the Chargers: “We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late. Guys not showing up to player-only meetings. Do we have to make that mandatory? Do we not have to make that mandatory?”
Tagovailoa apologized to the team and issued a public apology in the aftermath.
▪ Most memorable quote, Part 3: Secondary coach Brian Duker, speaking in early August about the state of the Dolphins’ defensive backfield: “There’s a bunch of guys maybe you guys haven’t seen that you guys are probably a bit more worried than we” are.
Narrator: The Dolphins entered their finale with a dismal 104.6 passer rating against, fifth worst in the league and much worse than last year’s 88.7. (To be fair, poor pass coverage numbers against inside linebackers contribute to that.)
▪ MVPs: 1). Achane. Led the lead the league in per carry average (5.7) and produced the third-best season ever by a Dolphins running back.
2). Brooks. It’s not just the league-leading 183 tackles. It’s also the 13 tackles for loss, the 3.5 sacks, the nonstop motor and respected leadership provided.
3). Brewer. Delivered outstanding play at center all season.
▪ Biggest in-season regression: The Dolphins converted 10 of their first 12 short-yardage situations (third- and fourth-or-1-and-2 ), then missed six in a row, most in critical situations.
▪ Best coaching move: Inserting Daniel Brunskill as a sixth offensive lineman, a key factor in the running game finding its rhythm.
▪ Most dubious coaching moves: McDaniel never finding a solution for the team’s abysmal third quarter play.
Honorable mention: Not moving to a more run-heavy approach immediately after Hill’s injury; not using Gay more after a great training camp; not playing Zeek Biggers more early; sticking too long with Westbrook-Ikhine over Theo Wease Jr.
▪ Making the best of a bad situation: The Dolphins tight end room, which looked historically bad on the day Miami traded Jonnu Smith, ended up being decent, with Darren Waller, Julian Hill and Dulcich all making contributions.
▪ Most encouraging developments for the future:
1). Ewers’ play against Tampa Bay and good first half against the Patriots after a decent debut against Cincinnati.
2). Paul’s strong season at left tackle before struggling late in the year (including four penalties in the final two games).
3). The rookie defensive tackles progressing from below average to decent — better than that at times. Jordan Phillips was good (per Pro Football Focus) in Sunday’s debacle in New England, but serious questions remain about Kenneth Grant.
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM.
