Gase happy with team he’s built for the season
The 2018 version of the Dolphins might not be the ideal roster, but it looks like the one he’s wanted since becoming head coach.
DAVIE — Adam Gase probably wouldn’t call this the roster of his dreams, but the 2018 version of the Dolphins looks like the one he’s been wanting since he took the Dolphins’ coaching job two years ago.
For better or worse, and he absolutely believes it’s for the better, this is the group Gase wants. The team has unloaded players he found problematic in terms of attitude, inconsistency or disproportionate salary-cap numbers, and he senses a change in the environment that he thinks will translate to on-field results.
“You kind of look at ‘How does that group get along for that year?’” he said. “‘How do they work together? Do they push each other? Are they all pulling in the same direction? Are guys going to quit on you? Are they going to push forward when
things get hard?’
“I feel like the way that we’re assembled right now and the way that our personnel department has put that locker room together, I like our makeup.”
C learly some of t he answers Gase was getting to those questions over the last two seasons were unsatisfactory. Among other issues, he’s expressed that he thinks some players basically quit on him late last season when the Dolphins were scrapping for a playoff berth.
While the roster overhaul certainly had financial factors and helps the team smooth out its salary-cap situation for 2019 and beyond, there’s no thought from Gase that this is a throwaway year. The Dolphins might end up picking high in the draft next spring, but that’s not their intention.
The biggest names gone are Jarvis Landry, Ndamukong Suh and franchise mainstay Mike Pouncey. Those three are now with the Browns, Rams and Char- gers, respectively, and their collective 2018 cap hit is $35.8 million.
Gase has been raving about his new wide receiver room, in particular. Kenny Stills, possibly his favorite player on the entire team, is the leader of the group that includes newly added 10th-year veteran Danny Amendola, who at 32 is the oldest, most experienced receiver the team has had dur i ng Gase’s run with Miami.
“I think when you’ve got a guy that’s been in a lot of big games, has won a lot of games, made plays in big games and the professionalism, you just see it,” Gase said. “The way he walks around, there’s just some- thing about him that guys kind of gravitate to.
“I think between him and Kenny ... those guys lead that group and have an effect on the other guys in the locker room in a positive way. That’s a big thing for us.”
The Dolphins did something similar at running back by bringing on Frank Gore, who will be a mentor to Kenyan Drake and rookie Kalen Ballage.
While many point to the departures and call this offseason a net loss for the Dolphins, Gase is defiantly saying the opposite. He’s either going to crash and burn with a roster full of players who are good in the locker room but just OK on the field, which could put his future in jeopardy, or he’ll look brilliant as he proves everyone wrong.