This has not been what anyone would call a great offseason so far for the Miami Dolphins, who have seen big-name players leave and their best player continue to make news for the wrong reasons. The report of a potential trade moving Jalen Ramsey didn’t help the media perception of the team.
The Good Morning Football panel Tuesday featured former players Logan Ryan and Will Blackmon, along with current Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross, and they didn’t mince words when talking about the state of the Dolphins.
Of the three, it was Ryan, the former Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots safety, who had the strongest words.
“A word that’s so overplayed in the NFL and pro football is culture, right, or lack thereof?” Ryan began. “Like, what is Miami’s culture? And the thing is, they don’t have one, you know? And I know I was taught earlier in my career that culture is who you are when you’re losing, not when you’re winning, not when you’re going fast, not when you’re scoring 70 points a game. It’s when things aren’t working out well.
“And now all I know is these last couple years, obviously, Tua (Tagovailoa) has had some injury problems, right? Calais Campbell (is) gone, Christian Wilkins (is) gone, Tyreek (Hill) wants a trade every other week, and now Jalen Ramsey wants a trade. So that’s not really good when you’re not winning and all your star players want out or aren’t here anymore, I think this puts a big target on Mike McDaniel’s back.
“It’s not working in Miami, and that’s a fast city to live in off the field, too. So you definitely need some of that leadership on the field. I don’t know who their leaders are, but I don’t really see that when I see guys like this in a locker room coming off some losing seasons or not the best seasons and every star player wants a trade. That can’t be speaking to me high volumes of culture in that building.”
As referenced by Ryan, the Dolphins have lost several high-profile players in the past two years, with Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt leaving via free agency in 2024, and Campbell and Jevon Holland leaving as free agent this offseason, Terron Armstead retiring, and Hill saying after the season finale against the Jets he wanted out.
And now this Ramsey report.
Blackmon, a 10-year defensive backs with the Packers, Giants, Jaguars and Washington, took aim at head coach Mike McDaniel.
“When he first got hired, it was like, OK, like, it’s a fun offensive system coming from (Kyle) Shanahan,” Blackmon said. “They get all these weapons. They trade for Tyreek and, like, everything is explosive. But anytime that you’re building a team to this magnitude it is always about culture. Even I go back to the (Cleveland) Browns, when they had OBJ, they had Jarvis Landry, that team was loaded, but I remember a coach on the staff, he said, ‘I’m still concerned about the culture.’ And just based on how things are going, you’re hearing so many things coming out of Miami that aren’t positive.”
Cross, meanwhile, faced the Dolphins last season at Lucas Oil Stadium and is scheduled to do it again in 2025 — again at Lucas Oil Stadium.
As a current player, his criticism figured to be more restrained, but he still said plenty without necessarily taking shots.
“I would say this Miami team was a team that we looked at as a team that potentially competed,” said Cross, who had nine tackles when the Colts defeated Miami last October. “They had Tua at the helm as the quarterback. You have Tyreek, you have Jaylen Waddle. You have explosive backs, Raheem Mostert was back there. Even on defense, you brought in Jalen Ramsey. You had Christian Wilkins, Calais Campbell, Jevon Holland, who they let go to New York. So it feels like … I don’t want to say they’re in a rebuild or they’re moving towards that, but moving away from all your star pieces and everything, it doesn’t look like it’s a very prosperous situation right now in Miami.”
Ryan ended the Miami conversation with a pretty startling assessment of where things stand with the Dolphins, who are coming off their first losing season since 2019 after finishing 8-9, and the big picture heading into McDaniel’s fourth season as head coach.
“I compare it to if you’re renovating a house, right?” he said. “You come and you get a rundown house. We’re gonna put the new windows in, paint it black, you know, white house, black door. Everything looks good on the inside. It’s gonna sell real quick, but then an earthquake hits or hurricane hits. Now that basement is flooded.
“It’s pretty costly, you know? And I just don’t think he really went through and built the foundation correctly, and it was a cool little house for a couple years, but I think that house is coming down.”
More Miami Dolphins Coverage:
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
