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After an ugly start to the 2024 NFL season with or without Tua Tagovailoa under center, fans openly wondered if the Miami Dolphins would call it a season and cash out on some of their veteran players in favor of a roster-resetting retooling in 2025.
On paper, the idea was sound; the Dolphins have very little chance to actually catch the Buffalo Bills for the AFC East crown and very well may end up last if the New York Jets and the New England Patriots keep racking up wins in the weirdest of ways. Factor in the presence of players on expiring contracts like Calais Campbell and All-Pro talents like Jalen Ramsey – who is still worth Day 2 draft compensation – and no one would have held it against the Dolphins for being sellers.
And yet, the Dolphins decided to keep their veterans around in the hopes of making one final push for the playoffs in 2024, and in Week 10, they were rewarded for it with a huge effort by many of those very veterans.
Asked about players like Campbell and Ramsey holding things down for the Dolphins in the second half, Mike McDaniel celebrated his locker room leaders for holding things down, as he needed them to keep his troops together when the season could have fallen apart.
“Well, it is monumental for me to have those teammates where you can lean on those guys to understand what needs to be done and to help. The best leadership that exists is within the locker room,” McDaniel told reporters.
“So, the quality of players, where the things they've done and continue to do in their careers, the teammates can't help but listen and follow suit so that when you talk about the standard of how you go into a game where your record, you may feel as though it doesn't indicate the quality of the team. It's so important for the team to be able to execute and show that, if they feel that way. You really need veteran players to really guide you through the adversity of the NFL season, and I think that's paramount. I think that was on display tonight for us.”
Would the Dolphins have won the game in Week 10 if they didn't have Campbell, Ramsey, or other veterans like Zach Sieler setting the tone defensively? It's impossible to say, but McDaniel is certainly happy he had them all at his disposal on the field, as he needed everyone to shut the Rams' offense down in Week 10.
Mike McDaniel hypes Zach Sieler for setting the tone for the Dolphins
Further discussing his defensive veterans and how they helped to pull off the upset on Monday Night Football, McDaniel celebrated Sieler specifically for his tackle for loss on the first defensive play of the game, as it helped to start the game off on the right foot for Miami.
“You go through the week, you're correcting some stuff from the previous game, and I think the guys felt a lot of confidence in terms of where they were building, and then getting a couple of key guys back. I think that was a very effective reminder of, hey, we've been doing this without a couple of guys and Sieler's such an important part of what we do. So, it was absolutely a momentum capturing moment where guys were fired up to have one of the most important pieces of the unit back on the field to make plays immediately.”
Playing his first game back since October 11th, Sieler's play really set the tone for the Dolphins in Week 10, who didn't allow the Rams in the endzone in their home stadium. If the Dolphins are going to get things right and get where they want to be, maintaining McDaniel's winning record streak as a head coach, they will need their veterans to keep stepping up down the stretch.
