Mike McDaniel – March 25, 2024
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(DT Christian Wilkins. The Dolphins could’ve franchise tagged him for $22 million. Another team gave him $27.5 million. I’m sitting there thinking, why not just tag him for the one year? What are some of the things that I should know, what are some of the things that fans should know about why you all didn’t just tag him for the one year?) – “There are compounding variables in that. I’d be the first to say, I absolutely love Christian Wilkins as a player and his game. But there is this whole thing about the salary cap, and when money goes to one place, it doesn’t go to another. Our job is to facilitate the best team, and unfortunately this is a process that’s not easy, but you’re looking at it from a reflective standpoint. Successful organizations encounter this all the time, where you have homegrown talent, your job is to maximize what they are as a player, and then you have problem-solving situations year in and year out that changes the complexion of your team. The bottom line was we’ve never doubted Christian as a player, but you have to make some tough decisions when you’re thinking of the whole scope of the team. Realistically, it’s a lot more difficult than we want all the best players. There are times like that when you have good players on your team, something that you’re hoping to – a problem derived from drafting a good player and developing him is that we’ve made a multitude of moves with our relationship towards the salary cap, that it probably wouldn’t have existed with that. That’s part of the business that from my vantage point as the head coach, you either want to be able to retain every player that you have, or you want to see them have a grassy meadow of an opportunity to go fulfill their dreams elsewhere. I think that’s something that the fan in me I can totally understand, but (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and I have to think about the whole complexion of the team and the opportunity cost with every player that we do sign.”
(On lessons that can be learned from an extension standpoint with DT Christian Wilkins and OL Robert Hunt) – “I think you learn lessons in everything you do. I think from a head-coaching standpoint, I’m very proud of those two guys individually. It wasn’t like it just jumped on our radar. These are things that we were discussing. We were in contract talks with Christian last year. We had an offer that we thought was very fair, and Christian chose to bet on himself. In those situations, I think the best result is the team gets a player that’s highly motivated, that earns the contract that he gets. You have to keep the scope of the entire team, and the competitiveness that you can put forth at every position. Those situations may arise that way. I don’t think anything from those two players, that whole process, is necessarily going to affect the process of players moving forward. Every individual is different. I think one thing that I did take away was the best-case scenario for our organization is that if there is a more lucrative scenario that they want to chase outside of the team, both players, with Christian and with Rob, it wasn’t like it was easy for them to leave. The relationships that they were leaving, the emotion that they had in the building, on a day that is celebratory for most, I think that’s what I want to stay connected to. It’s relationships above all else and transparency. And sometimes when business doesn’t work out, that doesn’t mean relationships have to be fractured. I was very proud on every level, our communication through the process, and it all comes back to the fact that there is a finite salary cap. Sometimes we can’t be the kids spending the money; we have to be the parents that have to look at our budget and make sure we can pay the water bill.”
(How would you characterize your organization’s approach this offseason? You obviously lost some key players but added some veterans.) – “I’m very proud of the orchestration, particularly between the coaching staff and the personnel department. Let’s not fake the funk and act like it was an easy problem to solve. We’re always solving the problem of roster and trying to make it better. I saw an orchestration of multiple people on all fronts being very communicative. I think we found really, really good players that really want to play for the Miami Dolphins organization. And we were able to really cover – we had a lot of holes to fill … Free agency is still ongoing. But in the middle of March or the third week of March, our roster (is not) complete. That’s never the case. There probably will be some free agent activity before it is all said and done before the draft. Then there will be the draft that we’ll add pieces. And then it will be after the draft where some movement occurs. I think the problems were challenging on the front end. No one wavered. We really resourced all of their brain power within the building. I’m very fired up about the individuals that have come into the building since the league year started and are all about pushing us forward into 2024 because we have exciting things to do and big goals to accomplish.”
(Where do things stand with WR Odell Beckham Jr.? It was reported that he visited last week.) – “So things went great with him. We did make him an offer and business takes time, especially with players like Odell, who’s had a phenomenal career and still has really good football in front of him and has options. I think those conversations will be ongoing. We’ll see where they go. I don’t live in the world of crystal balling and I do stay in my lane as a coach. I’m definitely ready to coach him if we can come to an agreement, and I think both sides are trying to work towards that. We’ll see what happens.”
(S Jordan Poyer, you’ve faced him in the division for a couple of years. What was intriguing about bringing him to the team?) – “It was a classic ‘if you can’t beat them, join them.’ (laughter) No, I think he’s a really, really cool player that I actually have experience with from my year in Cleveland in 2014. I think one of the most exciting things about his addition is he has an attachment to the city of Miami, wants to see goals that we have as a team accomplished, and to hear him have conversations with Jevon Holland and just exuberance about both players taking their game to another level, that gets you excited. I think that’s really good news for the Miami Dolphins organization because at the end of the day, you want guys who are fully invested, that are excited and energetic towards the goal and come into the building every day and work. I know that’s what he is going to do and I know players on the team are excited to have him.”
(In the postseason press conference, you were asked about giving up play-calling possibly and you said you would think about it. Have you made a decision on that and what was that decision?) – “Yeah, I’ve thought about it long and hard and I think one of the things that we’ve done this offseason is really lean into the facilitation of full communication and the development of our staffs in all three phases. I think from a play-calling perspective, for now in the spring, I’m going to call plays. And I plan on doing it in the fall. But we’ll always adjust if necessary. As long as you’re ok with me calling plays, I’ll call plays. (laughter)”
(WR Tyreek Hill has had some off-field headlines recently. Have you guys talked about that and how have those talks gone?) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think all things with regard to players on our team, it’s of paramount importance that you have communication. One of the things from our perspective is I think it is very important as an organization that we’re in the avenue of finding, gathering and learning all information possible. I think that’s kind of our obligation to all parties involved, to have information. One of the good things about this offseason in regard to Tyreek Hill is our communication with him has been phenomenal. Working through different things is part of the coach/player relationship. You don’t wish unfortunate things on anyone. But our No. 1 obligation to both player and the organization is to find out all of the information possible and then work with the player. In Tyreek’s case, we’ve been very transparent. He’s been very candid with us. We’re working with him on all of those things.”
(What kind of player and person is LB Jerome Baker?) – “He was a really cool player in the last two years for me because he’s an incredibly smart human being that gives you some of his really dynamic personality when he feels comfortable and you’ve earned it. Seeing how his teammates were around him, and then as the first season went on and I earned more and more of his trust, and him giving me his personality and being vulnerable to me, he’s a guy I can understand why all of his teammates that he’s ever played with absolutely love him. You talk about a guy that is extremely, extremely smart and can handle a lot of things, I’ve firsthand witnessed him be the main communicator in basically three different versions of defense. Wonderful human being. I can’t say enough good things about Jerome Baker and excited for his opportunity in Seattle.”
(This is kind of a broad question, but is there one Kyle Shanahan story you have that you kind of carry with you that you think has made you a better coach or better man or maybe both? Anything like that?) – “I’m not sure if it was happenstance. I was answering another question maybe yesterday in regards to him, but the first thing from my perspective, he was such a big part of my career from the onset. He was the first person that told me that it doesn’t matter what I look like or who I am, if I can help players accomplish their goals, players will listen to me. Moving forward all the way to 2016, something that jumps off for me in terms of shaping my understanding of my current job as a head coach – 2016 with the Atlanta Falcons, he was the offensive coordinator and play-caller and there was a third-and-2 in the Super Bowl against New England. I’m not sure if you guys know about it but Atlanta didn’t win. Sorry, I didn’t want to ruin the ending for you guys here, but I think it was 28 to, I don’t know, 12 or a teen digit and it was a third-and-2, and because of injury during the game, we had a shuffle in the backfield. And I watched him call a play that was designed for Aldrick Robinson, guessing a certain coverage and put in the play based upon guesses of what the defense might show that they haven’t. The bottom line was, it was the third quarter of the biggest game of our lives and he made a perfect play call and because we had some injuries during the game, our protection was a little off and we got sacked. So I watched him be fully prepared, do everything in his control, make a play call that was highly scrutinized, and you kind of understand that for me, that brings me peace in my job to not over – you only can do what you can control. You’re always responsible for the results. And to me, I learned so much about how in high-stakes situations, it doesn’t matter sometimes how much you prepare, how well-orchestrated a scheme is or everything that you can control from a coach’s perspective. Football is a team sport and a lot of things are going on, and sometimes it doesn’t fall your way and you have to move on and do your best moving forward. I hope that answers your question.”
(I’m sure there are a lot of players you would still like to add, if you could. But given what you’ve already added and what you might want to add moving forward, if you could fill one more position with an impact player, would it be No. 3 receiver, would it be on the defensive line, offensive line? What would that one player bring you?) – “That was a very well-thought out way to ask the question. I think for me – and I share this vision with the coaching staff – so often, you can fall into the trap of spring, even summertime, you’re chasing that feeling of accomplishment of you’re looking at the depth chart, looking at the roster and you want a piece or name that makes you feel good. And it’s not about magnets or depth charts. It’s about human beings and who’s the best player. So as long as we have very capable football players at every position, you’re trying to position yourself where, ‘ok, who’s the best player at what they do and let’s evolve around them.’ How I talk about skill position players in general, at this stage, where we’re at with our roster, that’s the kind of approach that we look at for the roster. Who is the best player, and we’ll adjust by position. If you’re super fired up about a third receiver, whether that’s free agency or the draft, then you evolve into more three-receiver sets. And then if you have an opportunity at another run stopper, you’re able to work more on two-shell defense because you can stop the run with – you kind of evolve to where your opportunities are. That’s where you kind of have to stay at, at this point, where you have to be very calculated with your free agent acquisitions. And then you have to make decisions not based upon necessarily position as much as team impact with your draft picks. So I’m not intentionally trying to be gray. It’s gray in that way where you’re ‘ok, well, this player, he’s good at this. And if we get this player, we can’t have this player. Which version of the team is the best?’ Which is why it’s an exhausting process and why Chris Grier just grinds me to a nub. (laughter)”
(On updating LB Jaelan Phillips and LB Bradley Chubb’s rehab) – “Yeah I’d love to. They have been doing phenomenal. Those two in particular, remember that line that I was talking to you guys about all season with Jalen Ramsey about no timelines? So, after action report, since you guys didn’t want to bring it up, I think that worked well. No timelines. He came back faster than you guys thought. (laughter) It’s also from a psychological standpoint. You don’t want people to chase the wrong things. I bring Jalen Ramsey up because both of those two individuals, Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, are extreme versions of, ‘hey, we need to make sure they aren’t chasing a timeline because as competitors, they will achieve that timeline and it might be at the worst for their bodies.’ So relative to timelines, we specifically don’t have those for those two. We’ve had to mandate that they have a week off of rehab just recently, both of them, because they literally live there. They have a pseudo-tape on the floor parking spots for their little scooters that they’ve graduated from. They’re both really doing exactly what you’d expect from those two individuals, which is absolutely attacking that process, but doing it from a perspective that they don’t want to get healthy for one week, they want to get healthy for the whole season. So that’s what they’re working towards.”
(On if he thinks QB Tua Tagovailoa will be at the offseason program) – “I think with intentionality, I try to keep myself as head of coaching. The contract and contract negotiations, those things take time. I do expect Tua (Tagovailoa) to be in OTAs only because my working relationship with Tua. For two years, I’ve watched Tua gain some unbelievable residuals towards the season in that process. It’s part of the reason Tua is who he is because he’s always learning, never staying the same and always working on his craft. I know the one thing that he likes to do now in his life, besides be a kick ass dad to Ace and Maizy, is play football with his teammates. That’s what I expect. I don’t really put too much thought beyond that. I understand the business, but I also understand my job with Tua is to make sure that his football is continuing to evolve and the best days are in front of him, which are both of our goals.”
(Because of some of the roster deletions, some of the expectations, Las Vegas oddsmakers, NFL analysts, have been lowered for the Miami Dolphins in 2024. What are your thoughts on this idea that this might be need to be a reset year?) – “Well, you’re talking to a guy that is very well-versed in expectations or lack thereof just in life. I don’t really attach any emotion to it. I can tell you one thing, every single player that was on the team last year and the year before, and every single player that we’ve added this offseason, and every single coach that we’ve added this offseason, their expectations are to help fulfill goals unaccomplished. There’s been zero time spent thinking anything less bold or less aggressive then the way we approach every season. To trivialize a season or to say – for me, I have a hard time expressing what our teams going to be like as the head coach without ever being around the team. I think everybody’s individual expectations are extremely high. The more people lower their expectations, it’s kind of erroneous or irrelevant, but I know that starting April 15th, guys are very, very hungry to deliver on what they know, which is an opportunity to be on a team that has the ability to grow from what we’ve learned last year and what we went through, and have zero thought as to down, rebuilding, whatever those words are. That makes zero sense to me. Fans are going to pay to try to watch us play football and people don’t go to games to watch people lose. People’s careers, this will be the most important year of every single player’s career because it’s the only one that exists. We’ve talked about that before.”
(How would you describe the impact OL Robert Hunt made on your offense last year?) – “He’s been a big part of what we’ve been doing on the offensive line since I got here in 2022. He’s a guy that really has grown and become a professional football player from the day we walked in the door. I think he’s a guy that’s a tremendous asset for the Panthers and what they’re trying to do, and I’m happy that he was able to really hit that milestone of that contract for him in his career. And that’s something that again, if we were priced out because guys have really grown within the organization, that’s a good thing for the organization, it’s a good thing for Robert and I’m happy for him.”
(How odd will it be coaching in the division without Bill Belichick?) – “Well, yeah, it’s bizarre for me. I think I was in high school the last time he wasn’t a coach in the AFC East. So from a competitive standpoint, you want to go against the best. I have no doubt that the New England Patriots are retooling in their own fashion to be their best selves. But in terms of an individual to go against, there’s not anybody more difficult from a defensive standpoint to try to forecast what they’re going to do in that next game. There’s not anybody better at facilitating technique and fundamentals across the board. So to say that I’m somber and have been mourning the loss of Bill Belichick in the AFC East would be a flat out lie and I wouldn’t lie to you. (laughter)”
