Years after struggling to build for the future, ‘the window is now’ for the Dolphins
The Dolphins’ latest move to enhance the roster, trading for Pro Bowl pass rusher Bradley Chubb, has only reinforced the top-to-bottom belief that they can win now.
That the question was even asked to Tua Tagovailoa showed how different these 2022 Dolphins may be from the iterations of recent years.
After trading for outside linebacker Bradley Chubb — adding the Pro Bowl pass rusher to a team in the midst of the franchise’s third 5-3 start in the past decade — are the Dolphins Super Bowl contenders?
“I think throughout [organized team activities] and throughout training camp, we could see the potential that we had as a team offensively and defensively, and we’re not afraid to talk about Super Bowls here,” the third-year quarterback answered Wednesday. “We’re not afraid to talk about going to a playoff game, having an opportunity to go to one and then hopefully winning one. But yeah, if you were to ask me that, I would say I have full belief that we are capable, even with the trades that we’ve had.”
At approximately the halfway point of the NFL season, the Dolphins are still far from their first playoff appearance since 2016 and postseason win since 2000, let alone a Super Bowl appearance. Their next obstacle to stepping closer to any of those goals comes Sunday when they face the Chicago Bears (3-5) on the road.
However, three years after a 2019 season in which the Dolphins traded established players for draft capital and rummaged through the waiver wire for contributors, the franchise’s team-building approach has flipped. And their latest move to enhance the roster has only emphasized the top-to-bottom belief that they can win now.
Eight months after making a bold move, packaging a firstround pick for wide receiver Tyreek Hill — and subsequently giving him a mega-deal
extension — the Dolphins did so again, this time acquiring Chubb from the Denver Broncos on Tuesday. On Thursday, they made him one of the highest-paid edge rushers in the league with a fiveyear, $110 million deal through the 2027 season.
While general manager Chris Grier downplayed the “all-in” message it may be sending to onlookers, players took notice of the team’s latest blockbuster deal.
“I’m excited for it. I’m happy to see that the GM and the head coach are very invested in this team,” Hill said. “They really understand that every team has a window, and they see that the window is now for this team.”
“It’s definitely good. It just changes your mindset as a player,” defensive lineman Christian Wilkins said. “It’s not like, ‘We’re good enough.’ You see everyone believes in us around the building. Everybody upstairs. And it shows, too. It changes your mindset now at practice when you’re out there working, when you could be sitting down doing nothing; you’re like, ‘No, now’s the time.’ You’ve got to kind of change your mindset, and why wait? Why let the opportunities pass by?”
A year ago, amid a 1-7 start, Grier once again addressed reporters after the trade deadline. But instead of joking about the fruit that the Laremy Tunsil trade continues to bear, he tensely defended the team’s pursuit of Deshaun Watson, while he and former coach
Brian Flores half-heartedly supported Tagovailoa as the team’s quarterback of the future.
On Wednesday, months after his “I wouldn’t say he can’t be [elite]” comments regarding Tagovailoa at the NFL Scouting Combine, Grier gave a much stronger endorsement.
“We are very, very happy with how Tua is playing and what he’s done for us,” he said. “It’s been really exciting to watch him blossom on and off the field. He does so much work here behind the scenes that people don’t see in terms of all the stuff to prepare to make himself take that leap. Him and [coach] Mike [McDaniel], their connection is really special. I think you guys kind of feel it being around them and it’s been really fun watching them. That’s why we drafted him where we did. We believed, and so we’re very, very happy with him.”
McDaniel went a step further, reaffirming his belief that Tagovailoa is “our quarterback for this team and this franchise.”
“It does change how you’re able to big-picture operate,” McDaniel said of a team having certainty in its quarterback situation. “I think it influences it. It doesn’t like dictate it, but you still — teams win, individuals don’t. But when you’re in the search, it’s a difficult place to be in and there is some clarity with regard to being very, very confident in your starting quarterback.”
And the Dolphins have built a roster viewed as one of the more talented groups in the AFC, a healthy combination of young talent on rookie deals and veteran stars at premium positions, with Chubb being the latest. The emergence of Tagovailoa — he leads the NFL in passer rating — has only added to internal confidence that the Dolphins can compete with the elite teams in the AFC.
When offseason workouts began in the spring, several players spoke of a different energy and feel emanating within the practice facility, with the front office’s aggressive moves and McDaniel guiding the team’s vision in his first season. So far, the team has shown those comments haven’t been lip service.
And the newest Dolphin, less than a week in South Florida, feels it, too.
“I see the sky’s the limit,” Chubb said. “The leadership, that’s what’s going to take it to wherever we need to go. I’m just now getting here and we got player-led meetings on both days and it really means something to guys. You see how we practice in jog-through yesterday running to the ball 30 yards down the field. And I’m looking around like, ‘Am I doing this right? Bring me along, too.’ I feel like the sky’s the limit because everybody in this organization, in this building cares, and they understand that to play championship football, you got to go the extra mile.”