The Miami Dolphins' regular season ended with a 33-24 win against the New England Patriots on Sunday, but anyone who has followed the team for the better part of the last two decades knows the games have only just begun.
The offseason begins today for Miami, seeing that they missed the playoffs, again. Here we go, Dolphins fans. Another long offseason of your favorite football team shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. Surely, this time they will get it right.
Even before the final game of the season had kicked off, rumors once again swirled about the future of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, head coach Brian Flores, and general manager Chris Grier. Offseason changes are all but guaranteed, but to what extent remains a mystery.
Ex-49ers coach and current University of Michigan head coach John Harbaugh has flirted with the idea of returning to the NFL and has close ties to Michigan booster and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. That, undoubtedly, will be a storyline to watch in the coming weeks. After three years at the helm, Flores remains more talk than production.
The rumors surrounding DeShaun Watson — the Houston Texans quarterback who's facing 22 civil lawsuits involving sexual misconduct — have been rekindled after it was reported that a trade for him would likely happen in the next few months owing to salary-cap implications. This would be a new low for the Dolphins franchise, and signal they're even worse off than any of us thought.NFL Net today says "the target now is to trade Watson before the 2022 league year begins on March 16." That early resolution important for Miami (or any team that gets him) for cap management/free agent approach reasons: https://t.co/O96tAwsuAW
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 9, 2022
One can only hope they catch a clue and test out a strategy that doesn't include trading the farm away for Watso, a player who hasn't played football in almost two years. Wild dream, we know.
The Miami Dolphins are done playing football, but rest assured, the offseason is when the franchised truly embarrasses itself. Better rest up while you can, because more pain is certainly on the way — at least until Stephen Ross sells the team.
