The Miami Dolphins planned to build a competitive team around key players, hoping to transition from mediocre seasons to a Super Bowl contender. The 2024 and 2025 seasons were seen as crucial times for this development based on a foundation of drafted and acquired talent. However, injuries, salary cap issues, and poor decisions derailed those ambitions. Significant injuries to key players like Tagovailoa, Hill, Waddle, and others, paired with contract disputes, created challenges, leading to questions about the core roster and future prospects.
Many of these 14 players were supposed to comprise that nucleus: Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey, Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler, Jevon Holland, Andrew Van Ginkel, Terron Armstead, Austin Jackson, Jaylen Waddle, Connor Williams and Jonnu Smith. Most would still be in their prime.
But then a crushing concoction of bad decisions, salary cap problems and bad luck torpedoed Super Bowl dreams: Tagovailoa's concussions; an unwillingness and to a lesser extent, an inability, to pay Wilkins, Holland, Van Ginkel and Hunt.
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