The Vision is Clear: The Focus is 2025 and Not 2024

That vision is Miami is using this draft to build to the future and not win this upcoming season.

Is that frustrating? YES! Miami is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, something this organization can’t say has happened in many, many years. It had the #1 overall offense in the NFL last season, and we are coming off back-to-back seasons where Miami started 8-3 and then 9-3 before a collapse.

So I get why fans think, hey, let’s just tweak this and tweak that, hopefully, get some better luck with injuries, and get back to where we were and go further than where we have been.

I get why “some” fans think, “yeah, we lost Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, and other key pieces, but let’s use the draft to replace them with guys you can plug in there on Day 1. Let’s hope for the best and make a run at the Bills, who seem wounded, and continue to hold off the Jets and get a playoff win.”

I get why some fans “feel that way”….and it’s logical. But it’s not Chris Grier’s vision.

After we just sat through a season where our 2nd round pick (and our first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft) Cam Smith didn’t play on defense and was red-shirted for a year, Miami did essentially the same thing with the Patrick Paul selection in Round 2.

They took a guy who you don’t expect or even really want to see on the field in 2024 with the thought that he will be a key piece in 2025 and beyond.

At Pick #55 on Friday Night, Chris Grier didn’t draft a guy who would help mitigate the loss of Robert Hunt, who may start Week 1 of the 2024 season at guard.

At Pick #55 on Friday Night, Chris Grier didn’t draft a guy who would help mitigate the loss of Chrisitan Wilkins or Raewkwon Davis, who may start Week 1 of the 2024 season on the defensive line.

At Pick #55 on Friday Night, Chris Grier didn’t draft a guy who can be a third safety and be locked up under contract beyond this season with Jordan Poyer and Jevon Holland, who are free agents after this year and will be a safety who is on the field every time in 2024 when Miami is in a nickel defense.

At Pick #55 on Friday Night, Chris Grier didn’t draft a guy who can be a third wide receiver who would be on the field a ton in 2024 when Miami goes to three wide receiver sets.

INSTEAD…Chris Grier drafted a project left tackle, who some people believed should have been picked in Round 3 or 4, with the goal that he will be Miami’s starting Left Tackle Week 1 of….(wait for it)….2025!

The forecast was clear in early March that the 2024 season for the Miami Dolphins is a re-set year. They let a lot of younger players leave the building (Wilkins, Hunt, AVG, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott) and replaced them with older players whose best days are behind them. They stockpiled 2025 compensatory picks and then on night two of the draft, instead of getting a player to help Miami win games THIS season, he took a project player to fill a big void they know they will have NEXT season.

We can agree with this logic or disagree with it. One thing we can’t do is say that Miami is “ALL IN” to win it in 2024.

The vision of what the Dolphins are doing and how they are building this team is crystal clear. It’s all about 2025.