In a phone interview with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald this past week, former Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson outlined his hypothetical punch-list for fixing the Miami Dolphins. You can read his full plan of attack here.
But one thing in particular seemed to resonate throughout Johnson’s entire message: he echoed the sentiments of owner Stephen Ross and general manager Chris Grier that the Dolphins needed to recalibrate the entire system, from top to bottom.
Johnson spoke about clearing out the salary cap of dead weight, avoiding overpaying for veteran players in free agency and embracing the cheap labor that comes with starting rookies and building the team up from there. You know, all the things this team hasn’t done for years.
Johnson did specify that he didn’t “like tanking”, but the acknowledgements of all that currently ails the Dolphins is impossible to address in a single off-season. Putting an overhaul into motion will inevitably bring a lower quality product to the field in 2019.
The Dolphins will have every opportunity to put portions of Johnson’s plan in motion, starting first with the process of trimming the dead weight from the team’s salary cap.
How the team chooses to handle discarding of players who no longer fit the team’s vision (DeVante Parker) or simply aren’t worth their weight in payroll (Ryan Tannehill, Robert Quinn) will dictate just how firm of a reset they can muster.
