Last offseason, the Dolphins signed safety T.J. McDonald, traded for defensive end William Hayes, signed linebacker Lawrence Timmons and extended/re-signed several key members of the defense. Unfortunately, their maneuverings have not paid off, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald writes.
The Dolphins also spent a great deal of money to keep key contributors in-house. Despite extensions for defensive end Cameron Wake, linebacker, Kiko Alonso, and safety Reshad Jones plus a new deal for defensive end Andre Branch, the D is simply not producing.
“I think in general, this will apply to Kiko but also to sum up some of the other guys from Sunday,” defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “Our good players can’t miss on plays. He missed a couple of tackles that he can’t miss. Period. If we want to be the defense that we want to be and we want to win games that we want to win, he can’t miss a couple of those plays. Reshad can’t miss a tackle. Cam can’t miss a sack. That’s just facts.”
This offseason, the 6-8 Dolphins will have to re-evaluate their roster, but they won’t have much flexibility thanks to the moves they made in 2017.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- It sounds like we shouldn’t bank on seeing Christian Hackenberg on the field before the season is through. The Jets quarterback split scout team work with practice squad QB Joel Stave this week while Bryce Petty got every first team rep, Connor Hughes of NJ.com hears. Hackenberg, a second-round pick in 2016, has yet to make his NFL debut. If the Jets do not kick the tires on him over the next two games, one has to wonder if he’ll get cut in the offseason.
- The Jets won’t say whether they’ll play Muhammad Wilkerson, but the only logical move is to leave him off the field, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com argues. If Wilkerson were to suffer a serious injury in the final two games of the season, the team would be on the hook for his $16.8MM salary next year. Alternatively, the Jets could send a powerful message by cutting Wilkerson right now, but they would still have to pay him for the final two contests of the season and they would lose the opportunity to use the June 1 designation on him. One far out scenario raised by Cimini would be for the Jets to suspend Wilkerson without pay for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
- Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia were among the head coaching candidates recommended by the NFL’s Career Development Advisory Panel.
- Bills safety Micah Hyde cashed in with his Pro Bowl selection.