The 2024 season was kind of ugly for the Miami Dolphins, but what’s transpired since the end of it certainly hasn’t been a good look.
And probably the most disturbing element is the clear lack of discipline and professionalism the Dolphins demonstrated in 2024, as suggested by a couple of players on locker cleanout day Monday and then confirmed by head coach Mike McDaniel on Tuesday.
But what to make of it?
Why did it happen?
Should it not almost have been expected?
Additional reading:
— Why the Grier explanation didn’t make the backup QB fiasco any better
— Where the Dolphins and Detroit went in different directions
— Where things stand with Tyreek
After confirming the theme of his final meeting of the season with his players was about understanding expectations that were going to be placed on the players, McDaniel was asked why the problems happened in the first place last season.
“I think there’s a multitude of reasons you can go into,” McDaniel said. “There were certain specific individuals that – I don’t think it was across the board. There were a lot of guys that had certain fines before that didn’t have any. There were some people that had multiple that I think there’s different ways to kind of counteract that. Bringing it up as a team and continuing to fine guys wasn’t enough, so I’m not going to continue to just place all blame on even some of the smallest of individuals that were multiple offenders. I’m going to adjust my process and make sure that it’s team-wide knowledge any time that things are done that aren’t in the best interest of winning football games. So there’s a bunch of different reasons and one thing I did learn during the course of the season is that fining guys, which I’d been a part of for season after season in the National Football League, fining guys didn’t particularly move the needle in the way we need to so I’ll adjust as I should as the head coach.”
Whoa, there’s a lot to unpack here.
The first thing that jumps out is how to keep the issue from happening again, and McDaniel probably is right that fines can only go so far because there’s a limit to how heavy those can be. Besides, the amount of the fines is chump change to a lot of high-end players.
The other deterrent to players showing up late is to move on from them or give them a spot on the bench for a quarter, a half or even make them inactive, but that’s where it becomes an issue if we’re talking about front-line players — because then you’re hurting the team.
McDaniel didn’t name names when it comes to the repeat offenders, nor did the players who spoke Monday, but what is a fact is that Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey regularly showed up after the stretching portion of practice to join their teammates on the field.
So if the offending players are guys like Hill and Ramsey — not saying they are, but presenting facts — the Dolphins find themselves with a dilemma.
Regardless of who the culprits were, then where was the accountability to their teammates?
Especially if we’re talking about leaders?
Remember, Tua Tagovailoa said in the summer it was not McDaniel’s team but rather the players’ team.
Weren’t they supposed to hold each other accountable?
Team captain Zach Sieler offered an interesting assessment Monday.
“I think being comfortable with the uncomfortable is a big thing around here that we focused on too late, and I think now we have, sadly, to look back in from the outside in now,” he said. “But hopeful we’ll go into next year kind of making those corrections on what we didn’t get done, what we need to get done and what we need to focus on as a team, as players and coaches. Responsibility falls on all of us, right? So take it into this next season, get after it and holding everyone accountable, earlier on.”
Of course, this is where we ask, why wasn’t this done before?
Is this a reflection on McDaniel’s relationship with his players, one that’s perhaps too chummy?
We also can’t help but look back at all the big-money extensions the Dolphins gave out last summer, including restructuring Hill’s contract when he already was signed through 2026 and giving Ramsey a second contract extension since acquiring him in the trade with the Los Angeles Rams in March 2023? We even could include Jaylen Waddle, who the Dolphins already had under contract through 2025 after exercising the fifth-year option.
Did those extensions create a culture of comfort?
Sure, there’s something to be said for keeping players happy when they’re part of your core, but it’s also possible to overdo it — particularly for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in almost a quarter-century.
Did the lack of discipline and professionalism displayed in being late transfer to the field? Who knows?
What we do know is that penalties often are a result of lack of attention to detail and sometimes lack of discipline, and the Dolphins committed 142 penalties in the 2024 regular season.
They were one of six teams to commit at least 140. Five of those teams failed to make the playoffs; the other has two-time MVP (and possibly three-time MVP when the 2024 vote is announced) Lamar Jackson at quarterback.
The bottom line is football is the ultimate team sport, where the success of one often depends on the success of many. And hearing that not everybody shared the same commitment to the cause for the Dolphins in 2024 is disturbing, to say the least.
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