Miami Dolphins show disfunction with trade for TE Darren Waller | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

the news that came out yesterday, just one day after the Dolphins sent tight end John U. Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers due to what appeared to be a lingering impass over how much he was going to be paid moving forward. He wasn’t going to play this year for $4 million. And look, my criticism of the Dolphins here is very simple. Normally functioning football operations do not make these kinds of moves in June and July. They make them in March and April. If you know you have an issue with John Smith, trade him before the start of the league year. Have the deal ready to go as soon as 4 p.m. Eastern rolls around on the first day of the league year. Boom, he’s gone. And then you’ve got his replacement lined up. Or worst case scenario, you draft a guy. You don’t go out scrging for veteran tight ends in late June because what you get is a guy who retired a year ago and didn’t play and for all we know he doesn’t really want to play. I don’t know that Darren Waller’s head and heart is in the game. I’m not pinning my hopes at the tight end position to Darren Waller after he’s been out of football for a full year. This isn’t Rob Gronowski deciding to come back and team up with Tom Brady and win a Super Bowl. This is a guy who fell out of love with the sport. he had something else he wanted to do and now he’s in love with the sport again. How in love with the sport is he? Will he stay healthy? What’s he going to do after a year off? A lot of factors, a lot of issues. And the point is this. If the Dolphins had done this when a normally functioning football team would do it in March, the alternative to John Smith would not have been Darren Waller. Darren Waller was break glass in event of emergency. Darren Waller is who can we find? Who can we get? What can we do? Oh, he wants to come back and play. Well, let’s just do that. It’ll be cheap from a pay and from a draft pick compensation standpoint. It’s not a way to run a successful football team. Making these moves now, you need your new players to be around for the offseason program. Think about that. Ma Fitzpatrick arrives via trade from the Steelers after the offseason program. Darren Waller arrives via retirement and trade with the Giants after the offseason program. They’re getting their feet wet in Miami when training camp begins. And I know Mika Fitzpatrick was there before, but it’s all different now. The one thing has been the same for the Dolphins since Steven Ross bought the team and really nine 10 years before that. They haven’t won a playoff game. This does not strike me as a team that is suddenly going to end a 25ear streak of playoff futility. Yeah, they’ve gotten there a few times. They can’t win when they get there. I don’t think this team gets there. I think this team struggles with the Jets to stay out of the basement in the AFC East. That’s what I think. Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong, Dolphin. Dolphin fans get mad. Come on. Don’t get mad at the people who are pointing out the thing that you don’t want to think about because that’s how it works. Fans get mad when we point out the things they’d rather not think about. They would rather be blissfully ignorant of the flaws in the team that they love because what other choice do they have? They want to go through July and August feeling like, “Hey, it could work out.” They don’t want to be told, you know, deep down this isn’t going to work out. You know, Dolphins fans, you know, now, hey, none of us knows how a year is going to play out. There have been teams in recent years that I thought had no chance to make it to the playoffs, and they make it. A lot of things can go well. If Tua plays all 17 games, could go well. Hey, if Darren Waller shows up and plays as well as he ever has, could go well. If Tyreek Hill isn’t injured all year long like he was last year, even though they hit it for most of the season, the wrist injury could go well. Jaylen Wadd, still a great player, could go well. A lot of things could go well, but feels like you need a lot of things to go well. A lot of things need to line up just right for the Miami Dolphins this year. And if I’m picking one or the other, I think it’s a continuation of what we’ve seen. All this talk of culture change. It just feels like trying to change a tire on a moving car and it’s not going to work. Change the tire before you leave the garage in March. Too much happening. Dolphins making too many changes to the roster in late June and early July. I don’t think that bodess well. We’ll see.
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Mike Florio reacts to the Miami Dolphins trading for Darren Waller after dealing Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, discussing why these moves at this point in the offseason “does not bode well” for success. #ProFootballTalk #NFL #NBCSports #Dolphins #DarrenWaller

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Miami Dolphins show disfunction with trade for TE Darren Waller | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
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36 comments

  1. Dolphins have been this functional years and years before even this happened even if you want to go back just recently look at all the cornerbacks that we've overpaid and none of them wanted to stick around also look at like recently we paid Tyreek Hill and then he wants to get paid again 2 years later complaining that he's not paid enough you bringing these types of people trace that kind of culture and that's what dolphins have to do to get players there sadly things aren't going to change unless the owner changes and what that said being a dolphin fan I don't think I'll ever see them make a championship game in my lifetime

  5. Fans of bad teams/franchises tend to be generally blissfully ignorant of the flaws of their teams. Raiders fans in particular are the most delusional in all of pro sports. Dolphins fans I've run across seem to accept their team and the franchise is lost right now, there is nothing they can do about it. Broncos and Bears fans are among the most delusional fans I've run across this season. Both teams have the 4th best QBs in their divisions and will finish this season out of the playoffs IMO.

  8. I don’t see how trading away a guy like Ramsey, who is a locker room problem and Smith who wanted a contract extension or might not have played and then signing a tight end who really wants to be in Miami is a sign of dysfunction. Especially when that tight end has a similar skill set as the one you lost.

  9. Waller faked an injury so he and his girlfriend can go watch a Padres game and he told the Raiders just go ahead and fine me I'm going to a SD Padres game. He quit on his team. He went back to the locker room during a game then put on his street clothes so he would not have to play anymore. The Dr's even said there is nothing wrong with this guy. Dolphins are stupid and I mean Stupid for signing this guy. He will never be a Raiders now that Brady is in the building.

  10. Waller should be a good piece for competition in the TE Room. They are not hanging their hats in him. It is a good way to hedge their bets though…

  12. A professional media person/organization, should make sure that spelling is correct on their posts. The word is "dysfunction", not "disfunction". Before you criticize, check your own work!!

  16. Just based on the fact that they play in the same division as the Jets and Patriots I think the Dolphins still probably finish in 2nd place. The Patriots will improve but not enough to be a 2nd place team. The Jets quarterback can't pass consistently and they are far more dysfunctional organization than the Steelers are so I do not expect Fields to improve.

  19. Is Waller in love with ball again or does he miss the paychecks? Well, that is Miami's problem. Dolphins fans are delusional anyway. As long as the team is really fast and scores points they dismiss the fact they haven't won a playoff game. Success!!!

  20. things don't have to line up just right. it's entertainment. this Dolphins team will entertain. obviously, a postseason win is not important for fans to be entertained.

  21. Oh no we traded a 6th for Darren waller and a 7th back. What will we ever do if he sucks.. the team just made johnu smith a pro bowl tight end after nobody else wanted him. Now they are terrible because he wanted triple his salary

  27. Normally functioning NFL franchises don’t trade players with a $20+ million cap hit in April, when it drops by $9million after June 1. That’s not what normally functioning NFL teams do.

    Acting like there’s a world where Ramsey got traded before his cap number got halved is absolute lunacy. Florio is way out of his mind with this take.

    Was the Jonnu addition probably a sweetener for the Steelers? Sure, but it’s not like he’s done what he did last year for 2 seasons, and how exactly does replacing 2 pro-bowlers with 2 other pro-bowlers for a 6 and a 7 constitute desperation? This whole narrative feels like trying to sell the public on how great it is to give tax cuts to billionaires.

  28. @Mike Florio – it is the TUA fans. The Dolphin's fans understand totally. I think you will see our fan base improve when Tua is gone – because those fake fans will be gone too.

  29. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story or "hot take" Jonnu asked for more money in June, way after the draft, so he the Fins behind the 8 ball.

  31. More Miami bashing. Shocking. Literally as a “journalist “ your bias is blatant. This is a joke. Darren Waller is a great tight end that didn’t want to play for the Giants. Seriously Mike you just hate Tua. Admit that and stop bashing an entire organization because someone cancelled a TV appearance on a show that was gonna bash said individual.

  33. Mike Florio fails to mention that Darren Waller hated being used as an in-line / H-back tight end with Brian Dabol and the New York Giants. Waller specifically requested to reunite with former tight end coach Frank Smith and the Miami Dolphins because under Smith, Waller had back to back thousand yard seasons in 2019 and 2020. Much like Jonnu Smith, Waller will be primarily asked to line up in the slot and will not be used in-line or lined up as a primary blocker . Waller should thrive with tua in this tight end friendly offense. Waller never had a good quarterback or weapons around him to truly showcase his skills.

  35. FACTS => Miami's offensive line and running back corps have had massive upgrades during the off-season and no one seems to be talking about it.They now have enough backfield fire power to run over any team in the league. They may or may not see the playoffs as they rebuild into a younger, less expensive and more powerful roster, but things are changing quickly. In 2026 the division will be ours.

  36. My problems arent that the moves in themselves arent necessarily bad in a vaccuum. I just dont see how this gets them to be a better team. None of these moves move the needle. These dont feel like moves you make by a competent/confident organization taking the next step back to prominence. Feels like moves to tread water.

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