The Miami Dolphins had culture and accountability issues during the 2024 season. Not long after the team’s last game — an embarrassing 32-20 loss to the New York Jets that dropped the Dolphins’ final record to 8-9 — head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters that fining players “didn’t particularly move the needle.” Defensive lineman Zach Sieler said there were “things going on” that distracted players.

Heading into the 2025 season, Dolphins players and coaches seem convinced those issues are in the past. What changed in the offseason? According to one player, the departure of troublemakers has made all the difference.

“Mike [McDaniel] hasn’t changed at all,” Dolphins fourth-year tight end Tanner Conner said earlier this week, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I think maybe the emphasis around him and respecting him more as players has changed as we’ve gotten some players out who might have not been as respectful…. The team is very bought in. They believe in Mike and what he wants to do.”

Notable players who left the Dolphins in the offseason include Jonnu Smith, Raheem Mostert, Jevón Holland, Calais Campbell, and Emmanuel Ogbah. But the only one who had a public falling out with McDaniel and the Dolphins was cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who was traded by the team at the end of June.

According to one report in April, Ramsey’s relationship with McDaniel was “irreparably broken.” The cornerback seemingly confirmed as much with a cryptic post on social media that intimated that he was ready to get away from people who are “okay with mediocre.”

“I feel like culture really comes down to the shared character of when things are going wrong,” Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold told reporters last week. “What we can do right now during camp is manufacture that as best we can, by competing, by bringing great energy and truly pushing yourselves through that discomfort early on.”

Whether or not the Dolphins have actually turned a corner behind closed doors is tough to say. Many of the team’s leaders were singing a similar tune last year before the season started.

“We were lying, honestly,” Miami pass rusher Bradley Chubb told reporters in June. “We didn’t dive all the way in. We didn’t get all the way there with each other. … This year, I feel like everybody has the right mindset and moving forward, so if it works out, it’s going to work out. If it doesn’t, we’re going to get back to the drawing board and make sure it works out.”