- 1 year ago
If things do get REALLY bad for the Fins - starting Sunday vs NE - how does the rest of the season play out?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Here are some of the questions.
00:01This is from David Fironis in the Sun Sentinel.
00:04Here are some of the questions.
00:06He does a Dolphins Q&A, and one of the questions he gets, the first one,
00:11should the Dolphins fire McDaniel and Greer after the Buffalo loss in 10 days?
00:18Greer needs to be gone just as much as Mike.
00:20There's an emailer assuming they're going to lose against Buffalo.
00:25So, Fironis responds, the hot seat both McDaniel and Greer are on was,
00:30without question, the story of the season going in.
00:34I did not imagine the conversation could be ratcheted up to this level this early,
00:39but after the unmitigated disaster that was the Dolphins' season-opening loss
00:44to the Indianapolis Colts, that's where we're at.
00:47I'd honestly say, and this is David Fironis speaking,
00:50I'd honestly say we've entered a stage where it is within the realm of possibility
00:54I wouldn't say it's nearly likely that this is how the next 10 days go,
01:00but it's not entirely out of the question.
01:02Week one against a mediocre Colts team was never competitive.
01:07Quarterback Tua Tungavailoa turned the ball over three times.
01:10That and the accompanying deficit in turn never let the run game get going.
01:15Defensively, the secondary couldn't cover, and without much of a pass rush either,
01:20quarterback Daniel Jones looked like Peyton Manning at Lucas Oil Stadium.
01:24And, oh yeah, there was a critical special teams penalty.
01:29Nothing went right.
01:30The Dolphins were uninspired, unprepared, and did not execute.
01:34These are all indictments on Mike McDaniel.
01:38The key is how it goes in Sunday's home opener against the Patriots.
01:42If the Dolphins drop that one,
01:44even looking half as awful as week one in Indianapolis
01:47against a Patriots team that lost to the lowly Raiders in its opener
01:51and has come into the September 1 p.m. heat and humidity of South Florida,
01:55all bets would be off because these Dolphins are not going into Orchard Park
02:00on a short week and beating the Buffalo Bills.
02:03If you're owner Steve Ross,
02:05you can't make any move merely off a loss to New England.
02:09But if the ensuing Thursday night at Buffalo,
02:12the Dolphins are blown out again or get to 0-3,
02:17Ross would be within reason going into a long weekend
02:21to blow the whole thing up with Greer and McDaniel.
02:25What else are you waiting for at that point?
02:28It would signify another season going down the drain during the first half
02:32where the Dolphins should be stacking wins against a tough second half of schedule.
02:36In the scenario where something happens this year,
02:40some would say Greer might stay while McDaniel goes.
02:44I think, I think, David Firona says, they go down together.
02:48If we find McDaniel's tenure failed, that's in large part on Greer,
02:52who owns the longest active tenure as GM in the NFL without a playoff win.
02:59The franchise would have to start fresh with new direction from the GM on down
03:03and a new coach, all this said, I have the Dolphins winning Sunday's home opener
03:08against the Patriots, so you can put all that talk on hold.
03:13It would be weird.
03:16I do not think you keep one and get rid of the other.
03:20But it would be weird to fire McDaniel week three
03:23and let Chris Greer stay on until the offseason.
03:26Like, Stephen Ross, we've talked about it.
03:28Like, people criticizing his decision-making, I think you either have to let him
03:34stay around and just fight through the pain and fire him both in the offseason
03:39or clean house early.
03:40I don't think you can fire one without firing the other and giving another guy.
03:44And Chris Greer would know, I got three months left for this job.
03:47Like, you're just sitting there as a lame duck.
03:49I don't think one leaves and the other stays for a window of time.
03:55And there's a lot of decisions to be made, like the Tyreek Hill trade.
03:59So you get rid of McDaniel, you leave Greer around to make the Tyreek trade
04:05just to fire him the offseason.
04:06It just, that concept doesn't make sense to me.
04:10Beyond that, though, I mean, no joke.
04:12I understand, you know, it's very difficult to make a decision.
04:15And it's probably never the right time to make a decision like that.
04:18But imagine how it would look if Stephen Ross fired the general manager after letting him
04:25make signings, draft your future assets, make trades throughout the entire offseason,
04:33and then three weeks into the season, after you let him do all that and impact your franchise
04:37for years, that's when you decide to let him go again.
04:41I realize there's never going to be the right time to do it, but that also is as silly as
04:46it gets.
04:47It's not, though, if you find out a lot quicker than you thought you'd find out that none of
04:52it worked.
04:53Because the thought was, because I even said before the season started, hey, this is going
04:58to be a season to make or break Mike McDaniel and Chris Greer.
05:03But I always figured the season, there wasn't a scenario where I thought three weeks in, you'd
05:10be talking about making a change.
05:12Didn't think there was a scenario.
05:13That's how bad they looked opening up, opening week like that.
05:17Like it was unfathomably bad.
05:20So I would say if they do come out looking lethargic and get wiped off the field on Sunday,
05:26and then, you know, you go into a short week against Buffalo.
05:29I think if they get wiped off the field Sunday by New England, the process will be in motion
05:34and it'll happen after Thursday.
05:36I don't think there's a chance that they would upset Buffalo.
05:38So I do think that, you know, while it's an admission that everything you said was okay
05:48and were riding with wasn't, it's better than trying to pretend like, hey, it might get
05:55better.
05:56Like you just find out sooner rather than later.
05:59Wow.
05:59I had faith.
06:01None of it was right.
06:03And with Greer, is Savignaya, did he, did he make a difference?
06:10Aaron Brewer, James Daniels out now, he tore his peck.
06:13Like the additions you added to this team, I didn't see any difference.
06:18Even at front seven, the linebackers he brought in, there was no difference in the front seven.
06:23We're good with Storm Duck and Jack Jones.
06:25Storm Duck's hurt.
06:26We're, we're not good with Storm Duck and Jack Jones.
06:28And now we're really not good with Jack Jones and whoever else is playing Marshall, the fifth
06:33round pick to your point, Solana, a draft pick it's Kenneth Grant.
06:37Did he make a play?
06:38Like it starts a 25 point loss makes you look at everything in a microscope.
06:45You get beat by the Patriots and you're going to play primetime Thursday night in Buffalo,
06:50which that's not going to go well.
06:51You have to look at it and say, Hey, I, I, I might almost, I don't know if this is what
06:57you're saying, Solana, almost to the point that I didn't do it early enough.
07:02How long can I wait to really make the change to get us back on top?
07:06Yeah.
07:06And you know, it's a counter to what I was saying earlier, but if, if I am Steven Ross and
07:11things do get out of hand again, and it becomes clear, I was wrong in allowing this person
07:17to run the franchise for another season.
07:20Don't you almost have to say, okay, I was wrong, but how can I let him continue after
07:25the mistakes he made over the off season?
07:28You know what I mean?
07:29Like if, if he's just not the guy, he's not the guy.
07:31Why let him continue making decisions?
07:33Crowder.
07:34The reality is you look at an NBA team and when the heat had the big three, if LeBron
07:40Bosch and Wade all had bad days, they weren't going to win a game.
07:44It just wasn't going to happen.
07:45James Jones and Eddie house weren't winning you basketball games.
07:49The Miami dolphins are similar to that.
07:52They don't have the big three, but they're top heavy.
07:54And if Tyree kill can't get the football because to a tongue of my low is having an off day and
07:59can't get it to him, the reality is they're not going to win football games.
08:06It just is what it is.
08:07So no matter what other moves Chris Greer made, that's what happens when you have a top
08:12heavy football team.
08:13He could have drafted the best player in the draft, the biggest diamond in the rough.
08:17Kenneth Grant's not winning you a football game like Tua to Tyreek, Tua to Waddle, Devon
08:23Achan, the offensive line, that's winning you football games.
08:26That's what they committed themselves to.
08:28If you get rid of McDaniel, Anthony Weaver takes over, correct?
08:32Like it's a Frank Smith, Anthony Weaver.
08:35Not that the defense looked great on Sunday, but yes.
08:38He's going to be Anthony Weaver, the young guy.
08:39It's almost like, what was it?
08:43Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas.
08:45Like you're going to get the young player coach, you know, the guy that everybody likes.
08:49If you get rid of Chris Greer week three, you have to have a GM in place to make a lot of
08:57decisions.
08:58Free agent signings, trades with Tyreek, which I think if we go 0-3, Tyreek's not going to
09:04be here through the year.
09:05They already have odds on him not to be with the Dolphins.
09:08Who is that guy?
09:09You always say, just fire him, fire him, fire him, fire him.
09:13So who's going to take his place to make a lot of crucial decisions for the rest three
09:18months of this, this Dolphins season?
09:20And then does he keep the job in this whole, obviously does whoever takes over Chris Greer,
09:25is he now the GM through the draft next year?
09:28Is he an interim GM?
09:29It's a, it's a lot more than just, we look bad, fire people.
09:33You have to have a replacement.
09:34It's an untenable situation because there, it like, because the truth is, so if you bring
09:39in someone new to make all these decisions in the interim and you make decisions that
09:44affect the franchise moving forward, but then you go out and you want to get a certain coach
09:50and that coach might say, yeah, but I need all the control.
09:53And so the person you hired to make all these decisions now is kind of on the outs.
09:57Like it's just not a, this is why no team wants to be in this situation because there's
10:03so many moving parts to it.
10:06And every decision you make is going to affect the next decision that gets made.
10:11All that being said, David Fironis gets another question in the Sun Sentinel.
10:15How much will it cost to move on from Tua after this season?
10:19I've heard conflicting info.
10:21Fironis says a Yahoo story Tuesday detailed a path similar to how the Denver Broncos,
10:27got out from the Russell Wilson contract.
10:30It revealed that it would cost the Dolphins $79.2 million over the next two seasons.
10:36The team could allot $62.4 million on the 2026 cap and the remaining 16.8 to 2027.
10:46The Dolphins already have $33.6 million in dead cap space for 2026 with Ramsey and retired
10:54left tackle Ron Armstead together combining for more than $31 million of it.
10:59To move from Tua would require a cheap starting quarterback next season, possibly an avenue
11:06to find one as a top draft choice if the team is picking high in the draft and rebuilds this year.
11:13And is that a tank?
11:19Is that the question?
11:20Are we tanking to go get a young guy or to sign a vet?
11:24Well, no.
11:25If you get rid of Tua after this season, you'd be drafting a quarterback.
11:31So then you'd have a quarterback for cheap.
11:33Like you'd have to draft a quarterback high so you'd get a quarterback cheap.
11:36The reason you'd get rid of Tua after this season is because they have an awful season.
11:39So you'd imagine they'd have a high draft pick and then you would get rid of him, eat the
11:43dead cap space, but you'd have a very cheap quarterback because of drafting one.
11:49Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeyer, and Lenore Sellers are the three top quarterbacks.
11:56Does that move any?
11:58Well, don't forget about Carson Beck.
12:00Carson Beck.
12:01I'm just looking at the top 10 mock draft.
12:04It's so funny.
12:06The website's called Tankathon.
12:10But it's, yeah.
12:12I mean, that's the whole thought of New Orleans, right?
12:14That they're tanking for Arch Manning.
12:15And that's who's number one is the New Orleans Saints are drafting Arch Manning number one
12:20overall quarterback out of Texas.
12:23Our old friend, Adam Beasley, to that point.
12:26And by the way, like I know we're a long way from this becoming true.
12:31So who knows?
12:32Yep.
12:32And I don't think the Dolphins are moving on from Tua this offseason anyways.
12:36I genuinely don't.
12:37I don't think there's an out for them the following season.
12:41So I just don't think so.
12:42But our old friend, Adam Beasley, who I know no longer is full time on the beat, but he
12:48has been here for a very long time.
12:50He said, if the last 25 years have taught the Dolphins and their fans nothing else, it
12:54should be this.
12:55Unless you have a generational quarterback, you must try to improve at that position every
13:00single offseason.
13:01He writes, college football gets it.
13:03The NFL should, too.
13:04And I know it's very easy to say that, like, go find Patrick Mahomes, go find Joe Burrow.
13:08And it almost never happens.
13:10But I think, you know, he's right.
13:13Like, you shouldn't just settle when you find a good quarterback.
13:16You should consistently be trying to find a great quarterback.
13:20The commanders are proof positive there.
13:22They hit on that.
13:24And look at where they are.
13:27Literally, a season and one game in, they feel like they're Super Bowl contenders now every
13:31year for the next decade.
13:33But Trevor Lawrence was a generational quarterback.
13:38Jags ain't doing a damn thing.
13:40Dak Prescott, Hawk loves them.
13:42The Dallas Cowboys, they do the same thing we do.
13:44Get to the playoffs, get their ass whooped.
13:46Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.
13:49Like, we can go through those top five.
13:51We're going to, we, they're not making, Nussmeyer is not Josh Allen.
13:56Arch Manning is not Josh Allen.
13:58I'm with you, but Josh Allen wasn't Josh Allen until he turned into Josh Allen.
14:03No joke.
14:03I remember Josh Allen's first playoff game against Houston.
14:07He was a disaster.
14:09He was throwing the ball over the place.
14:11It was, it was, it was a nightmare.
14:13I thought this guy sucked.
14:14Manning couldn't win a Super Bowl until he won a Super Bowl.
14:16I mean, so you got to give guys chances.
14:19I get it.
14:20I mean, I think there's a real conversation to be had if Tua continues to, and the question
14:24is, is Tua going to continue to look like he looked on Sunday, or was that the one game
14:29aberration?
14:30I asked that of someone yesterday.
14:32Like, that's the, that's the real question.
14:34This, and it's so, it's so funny that they're both itsy bitsy spiders.
14:40Drew Brees got ran out of San Diego, went to New Orleans and won a Super Bowl.
14:44Yeah.
14:44He's a little bitty dude.
14:45Tua's a little bitty dude.
14:46He was injury prone with the, with the chargers.
14:49He tore his hip up or something, just like Tua's been getting concussions, but he was
14:53talented.
14:54And we look at Drew Brees as a very good quarterback.
14:57We look at Tua as a very good quarterback.
14:59Tua goes to, I don't know, the Browns.
15:02Will he be better?
15:03Can he go get over that hump?
15:06Because why don't you just bring a better regime in to coach him?
15:10Like if they said, I mean, that's the Tannehill example.
15:13It's like, Hey, did you have to get rid of Tannehill?
15:15Maybe you could have brought in Derrick Henry and they would, you know what I mean?
15:18Like, I mean, you can do the yin and yang of that all the time.
15:21AFC championship game.
15:23Yeah.
15:24So was Tannehill terrible or was our coaching staff terrible?
15:28That's what we're going to have.
15:29Or did you miss Derrick Henry?
15:32Or did you miss Derrick Henry?
15:33Like, you know, there's, again, there's so many moving parts.
15:36There's no answer.
15:37It's like, no, Tua is not going to be a good NFL quarterback.
15:39No, Brian Tannehill is never going to be a great NFL quarterback.
15:42All of a sudden he's in the AFC championship game, but he happens to have Derrick Henry
15:45in the backfield.
15:47So it's, it's, it's, it's hard to play that game.
15:51I get what you're doing Crowder, but I do.
15:54Man, comparing Tua to Drew Brees, I see the parallels, but bro, Drew Brees ended up being
15:59one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
16:01And you, I know he was injury prone, but the longevity of his career is a testament to
16:06what he was able to accomplish.
16:08I mean, you're bro.
16:10The guy I saw, the guy I saw Sunday, the guy I saw Sunday, and I'm saying this carefully
16:14doesn't look like somebody who's going to be playing football in five years.
16:18Again, that's the question though.
16:20Is the guy you saw Sunday really representative of what you're going to see moving forward
16:25that we're going to start to find out on Sunday.
16:27We got to take a break because the four o'clock hour is coming up five years with San Diego
16:31chargers.
16:32No one thought Drew Brees was good goes to new Orleans and we love Drew Brees.
16:36Yeah.
16:37Yeah.
16:37Sometimes a change of scenery helps, but also a change of teammates, depending on who you
16:41get surrounded with construction.
16:44Yeah.
16:45That has a huge difference in what goes on there.
Comments