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What Are The Dolphins Doing At Defensive Tackle And Cornerback This Offseason?

Through the initial wave of free agency, the Dolphins still haven't adequately addressed two key positions, but coach Mike McDaniel says he has a plan.

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Originally Published: April 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM EDT

Zach Wilson Was Dolphins' Top Choice As Backup QB Over An Experienced Veteran; Mike McDaniel Explains Why

Mike McDaniel made clear the Dolphins wanted Zach Wilson in free agency over other more-experienced quarterbacks.

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Originally Published: March 31, 2025 at 10:12 AM EDT

Dolphins Coach Reveals Why He Believes Tua Will Limit Injury Risk In 2025

PALM BEACH — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has not given folks much reason to believe he can go back to making it through a full season healthy.

He did it once in 2023, and last season, he was right back to missing significant time.

Tagovailoa was out for a total of six games — four on injured reserve after yet another concussion and two more at season's end due to a hip injury.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel believes Tagovailoa can flip the switch and make a commitment to limiting injury risk, in large part due to one thing he has seen from him through his time sidelined in 2024.

"I do have confidence based upon, realistically, it was every day he didn't play, which was 6½ NFL weeks that he didn't play last season," McDaniel said Monday morning at the NFL annual meeting at The Breakers.

"I don't want to speak too much for him, but the absolute fact is he's become the player who he is, which is a constantly evolving, developing, improving, ascending player because he recognizes the world around him. He had to see the ramifications of his lack of availability first hand."

Tagovailoa's experience, plus the idea that his injuries might have been avoided by limiting contact from defenders, could have him turning the corner.

"His last injuries of the last two seasons, there has been a consistency and a variable that he can control, starting with jiu-jitsu and then, now, as he extends plays, prioritizing his health over a frustrated shoulder punch or whatever," McDaniel said.

His concussion the second game of last season came as he scrambled against the Buffalo Bills and lowered his head into safety Damar Hamlin's body. The hip began to ail when he ran and dove with the football in a loss to the Houston Texans, exposing his core to a big hit from a defender. It was exacerbated by a hit in the pocket the following week against the San Francisco 49ers.

"I have all the confidence, based upon my observation of everything preceding that he's going to control those controllables," McDaniel said. "Because it was a hard, real — he felt it all. The only way that you can do right by anything: You learn by whatever that is."

McDaniel noted Tagovailoa's focus in past offseasons in addressing whatever was needed of him, whether it was his arm strength one year or adding mobility last year.

But with that willingness to extend plays and evolve from being a pocket passer who gets the ball out quickly is what could put him in harm's way.

That's where the rapid calculations must come into play for Tagovailoa.

"It's the art of knowing when it's time to take the risk of the extra hitch and only reserving that for a very specific time," McDaniel said. "It's a difficult task. Such is the nature of any franchise quarterback in the National Football League.

McDaniel said Tagovailoa's hip injury has healed after it cost him the last two games of last season.

He reiterated it wasn't the same as his college injury with his hip, wasn't to a joint and that it was a soft-tissue ailment.

If Tagovailoa misses time in 2025, it will be on the shoulders of backup quarterback Zach Wilson after he was the team's choice as a reserve ready to step in for any injury to the starter.

Originally Published: March 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM EDT

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