Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gase sees playoff spot as reasonable
Dolphins do not expect to be sellers at trade deadline
DAVIE — Even after a brutal two-game skid that dropped the Miami Dolphins to .500 this season, coach Adam Gase remains a staunch competitor.
Gase said Monday he does not expect the Dolphins to be sellers ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s NFL trade deadline.
Gase believes the Dolphins are still in the hunt for a playoff spot with half of the season remaining.
It would have to take a convincing proposal from Dolphins vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum and general manager Chris Grier for Gase to buy into the idea of trading players away for draft picks with sights set on the future.
“If they brought me something that they thought was a great idea, then I would do what’s best for the organization, but it’s highly unlikely something like that can happen,” Gase said about the Dolphins’ approach to the trade deadline.
Gase said he fully expects wide receiver DeVante Parker, who has been the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks, to remain with the team.
Outside of transactions, Gase wants to focus on his porous defense and getting healthy with the hopes of
being in playoff contention later this season.
Only six teams in the AFC have a record above .500 at the halfway mark of the season.
The Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens are both 4-4, with eight other teams with a lower winning percentage.
So making the playoffs is not entirely out of the Dolphins’ grasp with the second half of the season ahead.
“I like where we’re at right now. I like this group,” Gase said.
“I’d like to stay healthy here on out. I don’t think we have much more room for losing guys for the year — we’ve maxed out on that. For the most part, we have the right guys. We just have to clean up.”
Dolphins cut two: The Dolphins waived safety Maurice Smith and defensive tackle Jamiyus Pittman, opening up two roster spots ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Smith, a former Georgia standout who is in his second season with the Dolphins, has bounced back and forth from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. It’s possible that he’ll return to the team’s 10-player development unit.
That could also be Pittman’s fate.
Pittman, a rookie from Central Florida, started the season on the practice squad, but was called up to the 53-man roster earlier this month. He recorded one tackle in the three games he played, contributing in the defensive tackle rotation that was depleted because of Jordan Phillips’ release.
However, Pittman has been part of a defense that has given up 878 rushing yards in a five-game stretch.
Pittman’s release would leave the Dolphins thin at defensive tackle, especially if the foot injury Vincent Taylor suffered in last week’s loss to the Houston Texans prevents him from playing in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
If Taylor doesn’t play, his absence, and Pittman’s release would leave Akeem Spence and Davon Godchaux as the only healthy defensive tackles for Sunday’s game. The Dolphins usually rotate three or four defensive tackles in and out of games.
The Dolphins didn’t make any corresponding moves on Monday, but the transaction happened 24 hours before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.
Last year, the Dolphins traded tailback Jay Ajayi to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2018 fourth-round pick, which turned into tailback Kalen Ballege, on the morning of the trade deadline. The Dolphins could also be getting ready to place linebacker Mike Hull and center Jake Brendel on the 53-man roster, activating the two veterans who began the season on injured reserve, but were designated to return.
Hull and Brendel began practicing two weeks ago, and must either be placed on the active roster this week, or go back to injured reserve and sit out the rest of the season.