"It's timely to discuss how this happened with tackle Laremy Tunsil, whose trade started this Tank Era, on the other side of the field Sunday. It's necessary for the Dolphins to talk about this era's full failure, too, considering so many of those involved look to be involved in the coming Rebuild: The Sequel. Team owner Steve Ross. President Tom Garfinkel. Vice President of Salary Cap Brandon Shore. Possibly coach Mike McDaniel."
"It was Garfinkel's idea to tank before the 2019 season and his idea to hire Brian Flores as coach. That doesn't mean those were his decisions. They were Ross's decisions. Fired general manager Chris Grier went along with them, as was his habit, which should have been a flashing, warning sign considering all the difficult football decisions these seven years involved."
"Two central decisions explain how they got nowhere: 1.They tanked for Tua Tagovailoa. They actually tanked for Joe Burrow, but that's another matter that failed. They drafted Tua over Justin Herbert and got Ryan Tannehill II. Not a bad quarterback. Just not capable of lifting a team like seven years of planning mandated. 2. The Tunsil trade and its misunderstood aftermath. It delivered two first- and one second-round draft picks at its core. The first-rounders were smartly traded again by Grier, the picks multiplying."
The Miami Dolphins' long-term plan failed as decisions to tank for a franchise quarterback and the handling of the Laremy Tunsil trade produced insufficient on-field results. Ownership and front-office leaders pursued a multi-year rebuild that relied on draft capital rather than immediate roster upgrades. Drafting Tua Tagovailoa instead of Justin Herbert and subsequent quarterback development left the team short of an elite leader. The Tunsil trade generated multiple premium picks, but converting picks into impactful, complementary players did not materialize. Leadership choices, trades, and draft execution combined to leave the franchise stalled and facing another rebuild.
Read at Sun Sentinel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]