More Good News for the Patriots: Miami's Trade With Pittsburgh is Proof Positive They're in a Total Rebuild
Source - The Dolphins are sending cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Steelers in exchange for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Monday. The teams later announced the trade.
Miami previously paid Ramsey $4 million this offseason and tacked on another $3 million to facilitate the trade, while Pittsburgh is giving Ramsey a $1.5 million raise and covering the rest of his $26.6 million salary this season, per Rapoport and Pelissero. Rapoport also noted that the Steelers are giving Smith a one-year, $12 million extension.
While this trade is obviously good for the players getting the pay raises and for the Steelers as they're trying a bit of a reset around Aaron Rodgers, it hasn't sat well with everybody:
Personally, while I'm as worried about Frank's well-being as much as anyone, I'm first and foremost a fan of myself. And my football team. And what this trade signals is just more good news for both of us in the middle of what has already been The Summer of Hope.
Because it is all the proof you need that the Dolphins are in a rebuild. Maybe not blowing it up to the foundation. But definitely doing a major reno. Possibly even tearing things down to the load bearing walls and starting over from there. Or having Ty Pennington roll up with the trucks and start the deconstruction.
Regardless of the extent of the work, one thing should be obvious to us all. Painfully obvious, in the case of fans like Frank.
The Miami Dolphins do not plan to compete this year.
In the fourth season of Mike McDaniel's reign as the boy genius, the NFL's Young Sheldon, his team has decided to take a Gap Year. At 27 years old, Tua Tagovailoa is theoretically entering his prime. He led the league in completion % last year after leading it in passing yards the year before. But now he's about to find one season of his prime (at least) as the QB of Team Bridge. And as far as the best player on Miami's roster since the day he arrived in 2022? Tyreek Hill is taking the news of this trade about as well as you could expect:
The Dolphins have finished 2nd in the AFC East each of the past three seasons, and five of the last seven. All their efforts have been geared toward finally overtaking the Bills for divisional supremacy. But this is a salary - and a talent - dump, plain and simple. There's no other way to spin it. The insiders agree:
Pro Football Focus - Follow the money: The Miami Dolphins trading Jalen Ramsey is much more about financial freedom than it is about getting better for 2025.
Jonnu Smith‘s days in Miami were numbered: Trading the talented tight end after a career year signals he wasn’t part of the team's long-term plan. …
This move not only kept Miami from losing Ramsey for nothing immediately in return but also allowed the Dolphins to save a few million dollars in cap space this and next year.
So while the Patriots outspent everyone in Free Agency by a massive margin and loaded up with 11 draft picks, their second biggest obstacle in their division is jettisoning cargo like a flight crew trying to keep their plane from crashing and burning. And still other insiders are pointing out that the only people involved in this trade that are making out are the Steelers, everyone going to the Steelers, and maybe Minkah Fitzpatrick, just because he'd been reduced to pretty much a nickel role in Mike Tomlin's defense:
NFL.com - LOSERS
1) Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa landed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins just about one year ago, and it's likely to keep him in Miami for at least the next few seasons, assuming he keeps playing football. But a lot has also changed in that timeframe. …
Now, the trade of Jonnu Smith removed one of the QB's major weapons from the equation. In Weeks 8-16, Smith (67 targets) saw nearly as much action as Tyreek Hill (69 targets).
Hill, now 31 years old, is coming off arguably his worst season to date, and his own future with the team has looked cloudy lately. … Hill, [Jaylen] Waddle, Tua and De'Von Achane still offer hopes of fielding an offense with firepower, but the Dolphins will suddenly be littered with questions if one or two things go awry with any of these core players.
2) Mike McDaniel, head coach, Miami Dolphins. Hired in 2022, McDaniel's candid presence made him a breath of fresh air in a league where his colleagues are known to be a little more buttoned-up. But he followed consecutive playoff seasons with an 8-9 dud, and pressure will surely be mounting on him to show he can get this team back on the right track. …
[T]his is about as tough a spot as McDaniel's been in since taking over the job. McDaniel is no longer the new kid. He's now a man who must return his team to success after it was gutted of some talent.
3) The Dolphins' exterior defense. Again, it was no surprise that Ramsey was traded. But that doesn't make replacing nearly the entire secondary any less daunting a task for coordinator Anthony Weaver as he tries to piece that group back together.
Bottom lining this thing, these are not the actions of a team trying to contend for a championship. Or improve from their 8-9 step-back season last year. This sounds like a team that's voluntarily laying down its weapons and coming quietly. Making them one less impediment on the Patriots path back to respectability in the Mike Vrabel Era. The Jets remain the goatfuck they've always been. Now Miami is taking itself out of contention. And the Pats are ascending. Buffalo may still be out of reach for the moment. There's a long way to go there. But if you think the Patriots haven't become the second best team in the AFCE over the past few months, then you're delusional.
This can't drop soon enough so we can really celebrate all that 2025 has brought us:
