Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard said what needed to be said Wednesday, two days after players reported for the first day of the offseason program.
Howard, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was drafted by the Dolphins in 2016, has seen lots of roster manipulations in his seven seasons in South Florida.
This year, however, is a bit different.
This year, for the first time in many years, the Dolphins have legitimate Super Bowl hopes. It’s evident to everyone, and momentum is building.
“I feel like we finally got a team,” Howard said, “that I feel like we can go further.”
That feeling might even be perceptible throughout the organization.
But they must hurry down the path. The way the Dolphins are constructed they have a two-year “win now” window with the guys on their roster.
And next week’s NFL Draft doesn’t figure largely into the “win now” window.
Although this is a young team, the vast majority of the top players have two or more years of experience. There’s little playing time available, with a couple of exceptions, for rookies or second-year players.
To that end, the Dolphins, for the most part, are done with their heaviest lifting of the offseason.
Make no mistake, the second- and third-round picks the Dolphins select in next week’s draft are expected to make legit contributions as rookies. (Remember: The Dolphins don’t have a first-round pick.) These are key selections. You expect most second- and third-round picks to become starters, especially in light of the second-round success the organization has had recently.
But it’s not essential for this year’s Dolphins team to get major contributions from this year’s four-man draft class (the Dolphins also have a sixth- and seventh-round pick).
If any of this year’s draft picks becomes a rookie starter, that’s somewhat of a bonus whether it’s at tight end, running back, left guard or anywhere else. Mostly, you’re looking for the top draftees to be contributors, or rotational players.
This is a veteran’s team, a grown man’s team. There’s not a lot of need for inexperienced youngsters, especially rookies.
Last season cornerback Kader Kohou received significant playing time as a rookie, quarterback Skylar Thompson ended up playing a key role, and safety Verone McKinley III got some significant playing time.
That’s about it.
It’ll be roughly the same this season.
It’s just as likely the Dolphins get another starter as the result of signing a veteran after June 1, when the money comes available from releasing cornerback Byron Jones, as they get one from the draft.
This team is trying to win now.
I’ve said this a few times already. I consider the Dolphins to be in a two-year ‘win now’ window with their current core, and the reasons are largely three-fold:
Key guys such as Howard, left tackle Terron Armstead, running back Raheem Mostert and edge rusher Bradley Chubb have injury issues that re-surfaced last season, and those issues don’t figure to disappear;
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will earn around $23 million in 2024 on his fifth-year extension, and could earn between $35-40 million a year in 2025 and beyond, a figure that makes it tougher to add quality talent;
Lots of contracts of young players start to come up for extensions after 2025. If the Dolphins have success, it’ll be tough to keep the current core together, and that includes assistant coaches, too.
The Dolphins could always re-stock their core, but they won’t have the benefit of an infusion of low-cost labor from the 2022-23 draft classes, which complicates things.
As you know by now, I love that the Dolphins decided to go for it with moves such as giving Tagovailoa his fifth-year extension, acquiring Armstead, Chubb, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Love it.
And regarding the expectation for the 2023 draft class, you could probably replay what Marvin Allen, the Dolphins’ assistant general manager, said Wednesday about the 2022 draft class that was headlined by linebacker Channing Tindall, a third-round pick, and wide receiver Erik Ezukanma, a fourth-round pick.
“I think when we selected them, we knew the progression for both of them would be in the future,” Allen said. “So you get guys and you want to give them a chance to sit back and learn and do some things on special teams, but knowing that their value would be much more down the line than it was immediately.”
The 2023 Dolphins belong to veteran players, guys who can immediately help the team “go further.”
Grier, Allen and coach Mike McDaniel have been working for more than a year to put the finishing touches on this roster and get it ready for a Super Bowl run.
If the Dolphins didn’t realize that before, they had to know it Monday when they reported for the offseason program.
“This is a new team that we have, and we’re all really excited,” Tagovailoa said. “And it’s cool to have a lot of the big names in the locker room now.”
