Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Ultimate AFC East Crossover: Miami Dolphins - 7/16/2020

Episode Date: July 16, 2020

It’s Day Four of Ultimate Divisional Crossover Week across the Locked On Podcast Network. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Joe Marino of Locked On Bills, John Butchko of Locked On Jets and Kyle Crabbs of Locked On Dolphins to take a deep dive into the AFC East. Today, the quartet take their talents to South Beach to discuss the Miami Dolphins upcoming season, roster questions, and the ‘Foxboro Flavor’ (former New England Patriots players) that is prevalent on the Fins’ roster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Today is the day that we take our talents to South Beach here on the Lockdown Patriots podcast, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

What's up, Patriots Nation? My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much encouraged. Please share your feedback anytime by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-P-C.

And while you're out there doing some summer cruising through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, thank you so much for joining me here today on the fourth and final day of the ultimate AFC East divisional crossover.

And it has been a blast joining my colleagues Joe Marino of Locked On Bills, John Buchko of Locked On Jets, and Kyle Krabs of Locked On Dolphins to discuss anything and everything related to the AFC East. Monday, we prognosticated on your New England Patriots. Tuesday, we exchanged some banter on the Bills. And yesterday here on the pod, we just talked some Jets. But as I previously stated, today we're taking our talents to South Beach to dish on the Dolphins, the Miami Dolphins.

And as Patriots fans, you actually might have more of a sharp eye on the Dolphins than any other team in this division. After all, the head coach of your Miami Dolphins is the Patriots' former defensive coordinator, well, de facto defensive coordinator, that is, Brian Flores. And while anybody that looks at the Dolphins' record and says 5-11, not that impressive, folks, let me tell you, the way this Dolphins team played down the stretch was impressive. We all remember Week 16 of the 2019 season, and the Dolphins dropping a 27-24 loss to the Patriots,

and in the process ruining their chances for a first-round bye. The Dolphins played well defensively. We all remember former Patriot Eric Rowe stepping in front of the Tom Brady pass, intercepting him, and keeping the Patriots on their heels for the better part of the game. Offensively, and forgive the pun here, folks, Ryan Fitzpatrick, well, he pulled out some Fitz magic,

tossing a five-yard touchdown pass to Mike Kosicki with 24 seconds remaining, and we all know the rest, folks. But it wasn't just that game that put the Dolphins on everybody's radar. They played very well down the stretch, considering the way they started the season. Closeout 2019, Brian Flores had his team believing that they could hang with any team in the league, and that includes coming up to Foxborough and beating the Patriots in a hostile environment.

But what does that mean for them in 2020? Well, besides making a huge draft splash when they drafted Tua Tungvaloa out of Alabama, potentially, and if we're being realistic, likely to be their starting quarterback sooner rather than later. But you can take Brian Flores out of New England, but you can't quite take New England out of Brian Flores. Some former Patriots will feature prominently on his roster this year, and they include former linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Alandon Roberts, and former Patriots center Teddy Karras.

Combine that with the Dolphins' young and hungry talent on both sides of the football, and you have to wonder whether or not they have the potential of being a sleeper in the AFC East this year. Well, in an attempt to answer your questions, my colleague Kyle Krabs, host of Locked On Dolphins, will take the wheel today on this fourth and final day of the ultimate AFC East division crossover. Kyle, along with Joe Marino, John Buchko, and myself will put the Dolphins in the crosshairs. Are they positioned for another fourth place finish, or are they better equipped than the

New York Jets to finish at least third in the division or maybe even higher? My colleagues and I will answer these questions and more here on this Miami Dolphins edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast. But first, the news from Foxborough yesterday, folks, was expected. The deadline to sign players who had been saddled with a franchise tag to a contract extension came and passed. That means that the Patriots and second team all-pro offensive lineman Joe Tooney

are now locked into a one-year, $14.78 million contract for the 2020 season. And as I said yesterday to open the show, this is not really an unexpected move, folks. NFL Network's Mike Giardi and Ian Rappaport reported throughout the day that the two sides were not expected to come to an agreement. When the 4 p.m. deadline came and went, I don't think there was anybody that was surprised. As for where the two sides now go from here, well, they're not allowed to reach an extension until after week 17 of this year's regular season, which technically means that the Patriots and Tooney's camp will once again be allowed to meet at the negotiating table again starting on January 4th.

Until then, Tooney's going to try to add to an already impressive resume. He's started 74 of a possible 74 games over the first four years of his career, so you don't have to worry about durability with Joe Tooney, folks. As I previously stated, he's a second-team All-Pro in 2019 and is a member of the Patriots team of the 2010s. Technically, the Patriots could still trade Joe Tooney, but as I've said several times, I believe that is a very highly unlikely scenario. I think the Patriots' value, above all else, even more so than maybe getting fair value in return for Tooney if he's only here for one more year, is continuity on the offensive line. Tooney simply has two of the best

traits to have in a Bill Belichick coach team, durability and versatility. Starting 100% of his games, durability is not a question, but versatility is something that Joe Tooney may not get enough credit for. He's not only a second-team All-Pro starting left guard, he has the capability of filling in at the tackle positions if there's a need and also being the team's backup center. Don't forget, Ted Karras is now down in Miami. And although we're all cautiously optimistic on the health of David Andrews, if the Patriots needed someone to fill in at the center position,

the only other center that they have on the roster right now is 7th round draft selection Dustin Woodard out of Memphis. Based on the likely premium being placed on veterans this year, it's not even a lock that Woodard would be able to make the team. So Tooney is absolutely needed on this team. Also, as I said yesterday here, factor in the loss of Dante Skarnecchia. Tooney's going to be called upon to provide a great deal of guidance and leadership on that offensive line. For those reasons, folks, I believe there

to be little to no chance that Joe Tooney is traded by the Patriots during the year. I believe he plays the one-year deal at the $14.78 million. The Patriots have the cap space to be able to absorb that hit, and then I think the two sides try again in the offseason. So now that we know Joe Tooney is officially in the Foxborough fold for 2020, what does that mean for the Patriots' chances of competing with a young up-and-coming team like the Miami Dolphins, as each of these teams in the AFC East stake their claim for a division title? In just a moment, Kyle Krabs will take the microphone, and he, along with Joe Marino, John Buchko, and myself, will dish on the 2020 Dolphins.

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Go to RockAuto.com right now and see all the parts available for your car or truck be sure to put locked on in their how did you hear about us box so they know we sent you amazing selection reliably low prices all the parts your car will ever need rockauto.com We are here to finish the ultimate AFC East crossover here on the Locked On Network. I am host Kyle Krabs from the Locked On Dolphins podcast, joined by Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots, Joe Marino of Locked On Bills, and John Buchko of Locked on Jets. And we have been spending this entire week working our way through each team, specifically in the AFC East, getting impressions. You know, that's saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well, we're real close this week here on the AFC East crossover. Today we're talking about the Miami Dolphins, who finished last in the division in 2019.

They started the year 0-7, and it was about as ugly as you could possibly imagine. There was narratives of tanking and calls for the competition committee to get involved and investigate the Dolphins. Sorry, Mike, it's just a natural reaction to assume we're investigating the Patriots. Yeah, I have a feeling that wasn't really a Freudian slip there, Kyle. But the Dolphins turned it around over the last nine games. They actually posted a winning record five and four over their final nine games once Brian Flores was able to establish some momentum and really helped to build a positive team culture. They followed suit with almost $100 million in cap space and three first round picks in this year's NFL draft. The direction that they have chosen to go is a fascinating one. They drafted Tua Tungvalu with

the number five overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. And many of the moves that they have made on both sides of the football indicate they have made on both sides of the football indicate they're a team that wants to play multiple on the defensive side of the football, a very New England Patriots style defense. They're coveting the secondary over pass rush. And on the offensive side of the ball, they're going to try to emulate a lot of what Tua had at his disposal at Alabama with a power run game, all RPO heavy. They're going to give Tua the chance to be the successful quarterback he was doing the same concepts he did at college. A novel idea, giving a player a chance to do what he does best to best have chances for

success. Whether or not that materializes is up in the air due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of rookie camps, OTAs. Every team is starting from square one in training camp. We've lost time, and how that impacts the Dolphins is going to be a big storyline for 2020. What I'd like to do now is talk to each one of my co-hosts on today's show about their own teams and their own rebuilding processes before we talk about how the Dolphins sit amongst this division in 2020. So I'm going to start with Mike. Mike, thanks for joining me today. And I want to ask you, looking at the Patriots, obviously so much success over the past two decades, but they, having lost Tom Brady this offseason, having lost Dante Skarniecki this offseason, their offensive line coach, a lot of overhaul. They saw some of their defenders head

down south to join Miami and the Dolphins defense. But this team, you know, they were kind of strapped for cash this offseason and they managed to get Cam Newton on a very team-friendly deal. And all of a sudden, this team opens up into a ton of cap space next year, and they have always been a team that covets drafting by volume. What is the expectation for the Patriots as they continue to progress beyond this year? And what are the chances we see them drastically shift and pivot their team and roster identity to extend their winning window beyond just a win now mentality? Yeah, one thing about the New England Patriots, Kyle, and first of all, your keep your friends close enemies closer quote from the Godfather. I'll let that kind of I'll let that slide considering

the uh the crack that you made against the patriots investigation but no i'm kidding folks i only kid uh but no in every in any case uh one thing with the patriots is they always have one eye on the present two eyes on the future regardless of what moves that they're making and i think you're seeing that in a lot of ways in which they're building their team this year look there's no question about it. 2020 will still have the Patriots looking to their defense as their primary strength of the team. I say that even knowing that Cam Newton is going to be their likely starter in 2020. It's still the foundation of the way the Patriots do business.

You mentioned the Miami Dolphins taking on a more Patriots-centric defensive approach in building the secondary. I was impressed by what Miami did with the secondary this year. Bringing in Byron Jones, obviously, is a huge part of that. He's probably one of the more prolific free agent options that were available at the time. And Miami pairing him with Zabian Howard, I think, gives a good, solid addition to that cornerback team. And their safety position as well. You also have guys, you know, you know, that are capable of playing those swing roles.

So in a lot of ways, I think the Patriots will continue to build on a very strong secondary. They boast the 2019 defensive player of the year and Stephon Gilmore. You have JC Jackson, who, in my opinion, is one of the more underrated players across the board in the NFL. He'll be a solid, you know solid contributor to this team this year. Their safety position is still one that I think is among the best in the league when it comes to Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty. I sang the praises of Adrian Phillips on Monday here when we talked about the Patriots' prowess. I think the secondary still remains a big part of their team where they may choose to invest some of this capital that is sort of flush now in New England is along the defensive line, the interior of the of the defensive line and also the linebacking core, which I believe could use a good maybe one or two savvy veterans that can come in and know how to play this system. Look, guys like Dietrich Wise, Derek Rivers have had opportunities to excel or had opportunities

to essentially contribute in this defense. They haven't really found that. And I think both of those guys are going to be on the roster bubble this year. The Patriots definitely took a little bit of a step back in the interior with the loss of Danny Shelton. Bo Allen coming in should be able to at least be a stopgap in that regard. But I think you may see them regress in terms of what they're playing this year. So would not shock me to see them maybe switch to 4-3 at times.

They were very 3-4 heavy last year with those athletic linebackers that could step up, play the interior, but could also step back and maybe even play in the secondary if they needed to. I think they lost a little bit of the athleticism losing guys like Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy, who is down in Miami now. I think those could change the complexities of this team. On offense, I think you're going to see the Patriots try to envision what this team could be like under Cam Newton for the long haul. They have a great amount of flexibility with Cam.

That deal that they signed him to is very low risk, essentially committing a $1 million worth of cap space for a one-year deal. And if for any reason it doesn't work out or the Patriots decide that they really like what they have in Jarrett Stidham moving forward and that Cam has been able to bridge the gap nicely to him, then they can cut that loose and not really take too much of a hit. On the other hand, if Cam comes in and plays the way I think he's capable of playing and the way most people think he's capable of playing, this could be a longer-term solution at the quarterback position than people think. Cam's only 31, can play at a high level.

We've seen him do it several times. So if that's the case, then you're going to want to invest in players that can really make him the best possible quarterback that you can. If that's the case, I look for them to maybe bring in another tight end down the line. Cam is very adept at being able to throw to tight ends. Greg Olson in Carolina was one of his favorite targets. I think you may see them invest in maybe extending some of the guys in the running game. This is going to be a big prove it year for Sonny Michel, whether or not he's capable of being a feature back or whether

or not a guy like Damian Harris, who essentially redshirted last year, is going to be able to come in. They have some cap flexibilities now. They're going to be committing likely. And at the time that we're recording this, it's still likely that Joe Tooney will play under the 14.78 million dollar franchise tag on the offensive line. That's something they're going to need to invest in, especially with a new quarterback like Cam or maybe even Jarrett down the line. You have to invest in the offensive line, especially with Dante Skarnecchia being absent from that coaching staff. And we talked about Dante yesterday. That's going to be a big part of what they need to do. So again, I think the Patriots are going to invest as they always have.

I wouldn't look for the big blockbuster type name, but the right players that can fit into this system. And quite honestly, Miami fans, I would get used to it because I think that's the approach that you're going to see Brian Flores take. I think you've already seen him take it a little bit. And the Miami Brain Trust is going to adapt that. It's going to serve them well. They've got a great nucleus down in Miami. I see a lot of a younger New England team there.

And I'm not saying that derisively or I'm not saying that to be pretentious. I'm saying it's simply because it's a system that's worked for 20 years. And if Miami can figure out a way to harness that, they're looking at a great number of success for a great number of years. Yeah, I think Brian Flores is the right mix of putting his own personality and spin on his locker room while adhering to even Chris Greer having some exposures to the Patriots and their style of team building, kind of that drafting by volume. And when you have opportunities to avoid spending and, you know, capitalizing on the compensatory pick formula and kind of turning that into an additional cash cow, which we've seen the Patriots do better than anybody. And how, I mean, how many third round picks are they doing from compensatory picks? Because they didn't spend big to open free agency this year. It's at least two or three. So, you know, those kinds of extra picks is

definitely one area where you see the overlap in the ideology between what the Patriots have done for so long and how you're probably going to continue to see the Dolphins do it as Chris Greer and Brian Flores put their stamp on this team. Joe, I'd like to transition to you, because I think there's interesting parallels amongst each of the AFC East teams to the Dolphins and how the Dolphins are electing to build their program. But I look at the Buffalo Bills, and they got a two-year head start on their rebuild versus the Dolphins.

But I see a lot of similarities between how they have chosen to attack rebuilding their roster in the early years of their rebuild. And I'm curious what your insight is as you now having been several years into your rebuild and experiencing what that success looks like and making the postseason last year and two out of three years under Sean McDermott and compare and contrast that to what you're seeing down in South Florida with just one year of this rebuild under the Dolphins' belt. Yeah, you know, Kyle, I think there are a ton of parallels, and I think it starts at the starting point in who Sean McDermott and Brian Flores replaced.

And we're going back to Rex Ryan and Adam Gase and both situations that ended poorly and situations that needed a lot of repair and a lot of controversial roster construction when it came to both Gase and Ryan. And so, you know, picking up those pieces start from a very similar point in my view. And then you think about the guys that were hired, right? The NFL is out there hiring, looking for offensive innovators, right? You see Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay and Cliff Kingsbury. And, you know, everybody's an offensive guy, Kevin Stefanski, offensive guy. Well, not the Bills and Dolphins. They went out and got defensive minded head coaches and Sean McDermott and Brian Flores, who obviously they have a great track record of defensive success from their

resumes before they got their head coaching gigs. But the area that they really shine is in terms of leadership and being the CEO of a football team and establishing culture and being selective about the personnel that you bring in, and that they have the right DNA and buy-in to create this locker room and this environment where guys want to go and be the best version of themselves. And they buy in, and they care about their teammates, and they want to perform at their peak, not just for their own careers, but because they care about the people in the building, and it's this wonderful culture. And so I think like from the roots of the of where the teams both launched from, I think there's a lot of parallels right there.

But then you start thinking about, all right, well, the Bills go into their first season under Sean McDermott. And I'm sure you guys remember there was a day where they traded away Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby literally on the same exact day. And then shortly thereafter, they're trading away Reggie Ragland and Marcel Darius, high picks that that that were key pieces of the roster. And they started trading them away and acquiring draft capital. And, you know, the tank word was used with the Bills going into year one under Sean McDermott. And, you know, the Bills tanked their way to nine and seven in a playoff berth, just like the Miami Dolphins tanked their way to a winning record over their last nine games. Right. So you can see that parallel existing. And then after the season, the Bills traded away Tyrod Taylor and Cordy Glenn and positioned themselves to draft their quarterback of the future in Josh Allen, just like the Dolphins have done with Tua Tungavailoa.

Now, fortunately for the Dolphins, they didn't have to trade away a left tackle and multiple day two picks to move up for their quarterback. So that kind of worked out. You should thank Joe Burrow for being such a good player and allowing Tua to be there at number five. But, you know, I think you can draw those parallels. And then also just kind of, you know, not that there's a lot of schematic consistency between the Bills and Dolphins.

I think they run very different offenses and defenses. But what I can tell you about both teams is they both have emphasized building the secondary, just like the New England Patriots. And first order of business for Sean McDermott, two of the first players that were signed when he was hired as head coach were Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, who have become one of the best safety tandems in the league. And really, I think the key to the Buffalo defense in terms of what they're able to do in disguise and coverage and how consistent they are. They drafted Tredavious White with the number one pick. And meanwhile, you see the Miami Dolphins. They have Xavier Howard, who's one of the best corners in

football, and they go give money, big money to Byron Jones. And they drafted Noah Igbenogany in the first round. And, you know, they added Eric Rowe and they moved Bobby McCain back to safety. And you can tell it's important to them to have these pieces in the secondary, just like the Bills. And so, you know, Kyle, I think it's interesting to bring up this parallel because maybe it's under-discussed. But in reality, there are a lot of similarities in philosophy when it comes to what the Bills and Dolphins have done. They're just obviously at different points as we enter the 2020 season. John, I want to shift this conversation over to you. We spoke yesterday when talking about where the Jets and Dolphins stack up in the AFC East versus the Bills and Patriots.

And the consensus was there is a divide there for teams from everybody in the organization that all came in at the same time and all had familiarity with one another, which led to this aggressive rebuild and buy-in from everybody within the organization. You compare and contrast that to what happened in New York when they had a head coaching change. they struck out on a couple of their first attempts to hire because they wanted I believe they wanted to keep Greg Williams on his defensive coordinator of the staff. And they settled on Adam Gates to become the head coach after that first free agent window. They fire Mike McCagnin and Joe Douglas comes in and runs his first draft. So you saw the head coach and the GM come in at different time periods for the team. When you project the Jets forward from here, how big of a concern is it that if Adam Gase doesn't materialize, Joe Douglas is going to want

to obviously not just pick his head coach, but continue to imprint his own vision for the team that marries better with that head coach versus having everybody who came in at the same time and is moving in the same direction. I think that there are a lot of questions about the near-term future of the New York Jets. And there is a big factor out there that people don't discuss frequently. But right now, their owner, Woody Johnson, is the United States' ambassador to the United Kingdom. And this is not a political statement. People have said no matter how the election turns out, he's probably going to come back to the United States to start running the Jets again at the end of 2020. So now you'll have Woody

Johnson with a coach he did not hire. And Adam Gase is a pretty unpopular figure within the Jets fan base, as we discussed yesterday. While Woody's been over in the United Kingdom, his brother's been running the team. And the Johnson brothers are kind of unpredictable. But one of the things that kind of sticks out is that Woody is much more sensitive to public pressure than his brother is when he makes big decisions. So if the Jets don't have a good year, it could be – there could be a lot of pressure coming from the fan base. And if Woody Johnson is back, that might not bode well for Adam Gase. So there's a lot of there are lots of questions about the future of this franchise. And I look at the offseason Joe Douglas had. This was really

his first full. This was really his first offseason with the Jets because Mike McCagnin was fired after the draft last year and the Jets let Mike McCagney, you know, sometimes you'll see teams make a change after the draft. You know, the Bills let go of Doug Whaley after the draft a few years ago. But this was a situation where the Jets let McCagney spend a record amount of money in free agency. I think the Jets gave out something like $120 million in guaranteed money and then you fire the general manager and that's just a move that leaves you scratching your head and it's a move that shows you it's a move that as you said kyle shows that everybody was not on the same page that there was no clear direction in this franchise now they just brought in joe douglas and douglas and gaze had worked together in the past and

they had a pretty good working relationship. So I do get the feeling that these are – Adam Gase is not for everybody. I get the feeling that Douglas and Gase kind of have the same vision. At the same time, when I look at what Douglas did this past offseason, it does kind of feel like he was maybe hedging his bets a little bit because the Jets were not big spenders in free agency. And they gave out a lot of short-term contracts. In fact, almost all the contracts they gave out were either one-year deals or they were multi-year deals, but structured in a way that the Jets could cut these players after one year if necessary with minimal dead money.

Pierre Desir came to the Jets on a one-year contract. They re-signed Brian Poole on a one-year contract. They signed George Fant to tackle on a multi-three-year deal, but they can cut him after this year only $2 million in dead money. They re-signed Alex Lewis, who was a favorite of Adam Gase, multi-year deal, but they can cut him after this year only $1.6 million in dead money. Brashad Perryman signs on a one-year deal. So there's lots of flexibility. And there's also flexibility in the sense that the guys that McCagnin signed in the 2019 offseason, after this year, they can be cut without a prohibitive amount of dead

money. If the Jets cut Le'Veon Bell after the season, it's only $4 million. If they cut Jamison Crowder after the season, only $1 million in dead money. So Douglas has set himself up with a lot of financial flexibility this offseason, and part of me wonders whether he doesn't want to commit to a roster

without knowing whether Gase is going to be the coach long- term. And the way the Jets have structured their organization since 2015 is that the general manager and the head coach both report directly to the owner. Now, will Douglas have a say in whether Gase stays or not? I'm sure the ownership will listen to him, but that decision ultimately falls with ownership. And the final thing I would note is that when Douglas was hired, he was not taking the job without getting a six-year contract because part of that was due to all of the instability in the organization. He wanted to make sure that he would still have a job when Woody Johnson came back since Woody Johnson did not hire him. But you also cannot discount the idea that maybe Douglas demanded a six-year deal because he knew that now he was signed for longer than Adam Gase was. And if things did not work out with Gase, maybe that he would

get a chance to build a team with a coach of his choice, even though he and Gase reportedly do have a good relationship. So I think that there's a lot unsettled right now. And the way Douglas has operated has kind of suggested that he might be looking past this season because he's not sure whether cases in he are going to be working together for the long haul good stuff john after this brief break we are going to get into where my colleagues and i think the dolphins stack up in the afc east relative to the competition. So we'll be right back. Continuing this AFC East ultimate crossover series, I'm going to bring the microphone back to Mike and Mike host of locked on

Patriots. I know that there's a little bit of animosity here from earlier in the show. So I want to give you an opportunity to take out your frustrations on my misspokenness and tell us where you feel the Miami Dolphins stack up in the AFC East in 2020. The floor is yours. I assure you it's all in good fun uh you know it hey you know what there's always an element of truth in every rib so you know what if there weren't investigations surrounding the team that i happen to cover wouldn't be so funny so no do not worry about that just uh keep watching over your shoulder no i'm only kidding folks no the new england patriots in terms of

where they stack up in this division i think i've tipped my hand and I think we all have throughout the course of the week here. And I've thoroughly enjoyed getting a lot of different opinions on not only what you guys feel, what in the fate of this division, but also what our fan bases feel in the fate of this division. Look, I think the Miami Dolphins are a very intriguing team. They came up to New England last December and essentially ruined the, you know, the party of the Patriots getting the first round by for a number of years. I think a lot of people expected that to happen. And quite frankly, it didn't. And that was a lot of it was because I think the Patriots may have not played their best game. But I give a lot of credit to the Miami Dolphins for coming up here and beating them in both phases of football. I mean,

there's no question about it. I think they played a better game, and I think they were more equipped to be able to handle that, and a lot of that credit needs to go to Brian Flores and the guys that he put out on the team that bought into his system and that are willing to go that extra mile. I think Miami's ceiling at this point, and I've said this yesterday and we've said this earlier on in this week, is probably third in this division. Now, that's not to say that Miami can't get hot or catch lightning in a bottle and be able to rattle off some victories. We've seen teams do it before where they were not highly touted in the offseason. And for some reason, things come together and they're able to prove that. I think Miami is in a better position than the Jets right now to be able to surprise in this division because of the

coaching. I'm a big fan of Brian Flores. Again, I think his style and the player buy-in that he gets in Miami is greater than what Adam Gaze is going to get in New York. So based on that, I give them their just due was being a potential sleeper because of the talent they've put on the field. But ultimately, when I look at the four teams in this division, Kyle, I see probably the Bills being right now in the driver's seat because of the continuity that they have and the talent they have on both sides of the ball. And the relationship that I think Josh Allen can develop with Stefan Diggs gives him the ability to treat that as something that will be a productive relationship for them. Again, the New England Patriots have Bill Belichick as their head coach. It's tough to

go against the team that has that right off the bat. You add in Cam Newton, all of a sudden adding a different dimension to that offense. And now you're looking at RPOs being a part of the Patriots game plan, something that Josh McDaniels has not been able to implement as offensive coordinator in quite a number of years. That dynamic, I think, is going to make this team a little bit different offensively than what teams are used to seeing. And ultimately, their defense is still going to be their strength, as I said in the previous segment. They have regressed a little bit, I think, in the interior of the defensive line, maybe a little bit in the linebacker position.

But that secondary is still as strong as you can possibly find. And they're enough to be able to keep them among the elite teams in the country. So right now, I look at Miami as being a team that I really love what they've done, building the secondary, building the defense. I think offensively, they have a chance to be exciting as well. I don't think a lot of people were talking enough about the potential of Tua Tagovailoa being able to become the quarterback of this team. But even if they stick with Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's proven he can win in the AFC East. That's not necessarily a bad thing, Miami fans. If Ryan remains the quarterback of this team for the foreseeable future, he can win games and we've seen him do it. So I look for Miami to be right now third in this division. They obviously,

if things regress and they just don't progress the way we had hoped, it could end up being a bottom, you know, division finish this year if the Jets are able to get hot. But I just don't see either one of those teams being able to overtake either the Patriots or the Bills, all things being equal. Joe, you and I have spent a lot of time working through our predictions over on Draft D dudes over the past couple of weeks. But I did impress and insist a little bit when it came to the Dolphins. And I do have an optimistic viewpoint of the team. So I want to give you an uninterrupted segment, which with you and I hosting a podcast separately together, it's going to be very difficult for me to sit here and keep my

mouth shut, but I'm going to do it. And I want to give you an opportunity to talk about your unfiltered uninterrupted by Kyle crabs perspective on the 2020 Miami dolphins. All right, Kyle, mute that mic. Uh, so I gotta be honest with you. I really do like a lot of what's happening here with this Miami Dolphins team. I just in the last segment talked about the parallels in terms of how this team is being built to the bills and a recipe that I I've seen firsthand being successful. And this roster, this depth chart is markedly better than it was last year. I mean, Brian Flores was dealing with fringe roster worthy players in the league and playing them in prominent spots across his starting lineup. And that's a lot different this year. The Dolphins went out and were very aggressive in improving the football team.

And I think it starts with the defense and getting that right and getting guys that fit like Shaq Lawson, bringing in Emmanuel Ogba, drafting, you, drafting Raekwon Davis, who is a tailor-made Brian Flores-type defensive lineman with long arms and heavy hands to get a guy like Kyle Van Noy in this linebacking core and use his versatility. Same with Alandon Roberts. That's going to allow them to do so much more in terms of matchup-specific things that have made Belichick defenses and Flores defenses great for so long and he's got some personnel that he can play with here in terms of chess pieces and then you know you got to love what they have there in the secondary and of course the young talented player in noah egg benagadi to go with byron jones who was one heck

of a signing one of the best man coverage corners in the league one of the best tackling corners in the league and so um you know you have to like what they have there in the secondary, one of the best tackling corners in the league. And so, you know, you have to like what they have there in the secondary and in a pass happy NFL, you've got dudes that can match up on the back end. And then offensively, you know, it's all about whenever Tua is inserted into this lineup, but I love what they've been able to do to make this a comfortable situation for him. I was very high on Tua in the draft process and loved him as a prospect, thought he was a high first round caliber quarterback. And now he goes into a situation that I think is beautiful for him with Chang Gailey as the offensive coordinator, implementing the horizontal

spread, getting the ball out of his hands quickly, but then complimenting that with a power rushing attack that has these massive dudes up front with a good back in Jordan Howard and a really good complimentary back and Matt Breida to do the pass catching stuff out of the backfield in this horizontal spread. So, you know, can they get better on the offensive line? Sure. Can they have a little bit more juice at receiver? Sure. But this rebuilds not complete. And I really like where it's at right now, all things considered. Now, here's my challenge for this Dolphins team. And if this was a normal offseason, I would be nervous about the Dolphins being able to make some noise here and really challenge and be a disruptive, pesky team in this AFC landscape

and AFC East landscape. But I just feel like there's so many new pieces here. We're probably talking about roughly 10 new starters for this football team, a new defensive coordinator, a new offensive coordinator, and a fair amount of new assistant coaches as well. I think it was probably difficult for Brian Flores in his first year as head coach to hire that staff, given he was coming off of a Super Bowl win with the Patriots, and he's the last guy to have his opportunity to hire a staff.

And so he's probably still massaging that group and getting the guys that he wants to, you know, be his core staff moving forward. But, you know, there is a lot of turnover with coaching and personnel that, you know, while I think it's upgrades and I like the the the moves that were made both from a roster perspective and a coaching staff perspective, you know, it's I don't know that this is the right offseason for this to come together for them to really be a top two team in the AFC East. So I do like them as a third place team, uh, in this division. And I think you think about the games last year that the bills played the dolphins. I know the bills won by two scores, uh, at least in both games, but those games were much tighter than

those scores indicated. And the Dolphins were right there. And you think about Brian Flores and how aggressive he was last year as a coach overall and now doing that with more talent. You know, there's a lot to be excited about. And I think, you know, there's a lot to be nervous about with this team in 2021 with a ton of draft capital still and a fair amount of cap space to continuing to build this roster. I think that's the year where I think they're probably most likely to be a contender in the AFC East. But for 2020, I think they're third.

And, John, I'll pass the microphone to you as far as getting the New York Jets perspective on where the Miami Dolphins stack up amidst the contenders here in the AFC East. Yeah, I'll try not to repeat what Mike and Joe said already, because I mostly agree with all of their points. I think the Dolphins are at the beginning stages of executing what looks like a really solid plan on paper. And I'll tell you, like watching this from a Jets perspective, I can't count how many times since I've been watching the Jets, they've bounced between like seven and ten wins and they've always been kind of like mediocre where I've just been saying come on just like tear it all down so you can build a stronger foundation so I really respect what the Dolphins did and I have nothing but respect for Brian Flores typically when the team has a bad year and like somebody says, oh, that coach

really overachieved getting them to six and 10 or seven and nine, I kind of roll my eyes. This is an exception because I think Brian Flores did an amazing job to get that Dolphins team to five and 11 last year, because that was not a team with five win talent. And I really liked the hiring of Chan Gailey. and this is a bit of a controversial statement in the jets fan base but i think chan gailey is one of the most underrated offensive minds in the nfl of the last few decades and let me clarify underrated is not the same thing as best i'm not putting chan gailey in the ranks of Andy Reed or Kyle Shanahan. But I think people don't appreciate the influence he's had on the,

on offensive strategy in the NFL. If you go back to the 1990s, he was on a Pittsburgh, a Pittsburgh coaching staff with Ron Earhart, which was one of the first teams in the league that started flooding the field with receivers on passing downs, four and five receivers. And, you know, you look at what the saints are doing with Taysom Hill. Those Steelers teams, you know, they're different players, but those Steelers teams with Gailey kind of use Cordell Stewart in a similar way where he was an all-purpose guy. So Gailey's a very creative, innovative guy who thinks outside the box. I like matching him with Tua Takavailoa.

I think after a season where you overachieve by winning five games, it's very tempting to keep the same coaching staff in place. But I like the decision to move on from Chad O'Shea, especially if you're going with a younger quarterback. I think Gailey's system is probably easier to pick up for a young quarterback than O'Shea's was, because my understanding is O'Shea's was a little bit more complicated. So I like the fact that Flores was authoritative enough to make a decision like that. You know, I think Joe just alluded to all the draft picks, all the draft capital, lots of young talent on this team, lots of young talent that will be coming in in the future. And I was also a big Tua fan. You know, you look at. It's always difficult to project quarterbacks,

but the things you look for in a prospect, any quarterback, I think, once you reach the NFL, is going to be able to hit a pass from a clean pocket if his first read's open. So the things I look for are, can you manipulate a defender with your eyes? Can you throw guys open? Can you make plays when the pocket's a little messy?

Even if you don't do it all the time, are you capable of doing those things? And I think Tua passes all of those tests. I like the way they built up the secondary, especially at the corner position. In my view, there's no position on defense that loses you games faster through poor play than corner. So I like where the Dolphins are heading. I'm not sure that they're there with New England or Buffalo just yet. I think it's maybe Dolphins and Jets neck and neck for third place in the division. But I will throw in a caveat here is that I did not think the Dolphins could win five games last year.

And many times in the NFL, when a team arrives, it happens far quicker than you expect it to. So I do think that there are pieces there where the Dolphins could conceivably put things together this year, maybe put together a winning record. But I think it's probably more likely they'll be competing for third with the Jets. And I'll put my own spin on this to finish. I think all of you guys made terrific points regarding the Dolphins and Brian Flores and his impact and Brian Flores as the CEO of the Dolphins football operations, if you will. I think that's the biggest difference. John, you alluded to kind of the purgatory that you're in as one of these middling teams that's the biggest difference. John, you alluded to kind of the purgatory that you're in as one of these middling teams that's constantly chasing New England

over the past two decades. And, oh, we're a couple players away. Let's keep spending. Oh, well, now it's time to transition. Now we'll go get a young quarterback, and we'll try and have a roster ready around him. For the first time, the Dolphins, in the entirety of owner Stephen Ross, who bought the team in 2008, he became or 2009, he became the majority owner of the team. The 2008 year with Bill Parcells was the last time the Dolphins exercised a rebuild.

And then they kind of hit their plateau and they tried to spend their way through it for years and years and years and years. So to have somebody who is a higher in Brian Flores, who is not chasing after the next sexy offensive mind like the Dolphins tried to do with Joe Philbin from Green Bay and then Adam Gase. They chose to bring in somebody who had the quote-unquote it factor or intangibles factor. So I hear a lot of questions from Dolphins fans. Are you concerned about the lack of continuity and the fact that they lost both offensive and defensive coordinator this past offseason? It's worth noting, but if you have the right person atop the organization who is able to impress and imprint his vision on how to coach, how to teach and how to approach a game, that is more important than having the right offensive or defensive coordinator, because everybody has their role to play. And I think that is why I do have an optimistic outlook for the Dolphins this year. I'm hoping and expecting somewhere between seven wins and nine wins in an absolute best case scenario, somewhere around 500. Do I think that's enough to win the AFC East this year?

No, I do not. I think the Dolphins are a year away from seriously contending in this division, but I do think it is a note that entering the offseason, the Miami Dolphins' best position group on the offensive side of the football was the wide receiver group. They did not invest in that group at all. And now that we are on the other side of that, minus maybe the offensive tackle position where we may see Robert Hunt, who was a second round pick, playing inside at guard, wide receiver might now be one of the bottom tier position groups on the

offensive side of the football for the dolphins they chose to pick and choose their battles and address and prioritize the trenches on both sides of the ball and the secondary this is not rome was not built in a day and neither will the miami dolphins but they are certainly doing things in a different way than they have done them before. It's a source of optimism. And I expect the Dolphins to contend for 500 by the time this season is all said and done. I'm Kyle Krabs, joined by my great esteemed colleagues here in the AFC East, courtesy of the Lockdown Network. Mike DeBate, Joe Marino, John Butchko. We hope you enjoyed this AFC East ultimate Crossover throughout the course of this week.

Hope you guys enjoy your weekends, and we'll all be talking to you all again very soon. And so, folks, the Ultimate AFC East Divisional Crossovers have come to an end, and I sincerely want to thank my esteemed colleagues, Joe Marino of Locked On Bills, John Butchko of Locked On Jets, and today's host, Kyle Krabs of Locked On Dolphins, for their amazing insight, analysis, and opinions on each of their respective teams in the AFC East. How will the division play out this year?

Well, folks, the old adage is, only time will tell. And in a lot of ways, that may be more poignant this year than ever before. Here in Foxborough, we remain optimistic. Each of us believe that the New England Patriots are going to be right in the mix when it comes to contending for a division title. And even though I know some of you may still have a slight bone to pick with me for saying that the Buffalo Bills are still in the driver's seat when it comes to a division title,

that is in no way an indictment on what the Patriots can do this year. I have faith in Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels, and the coaching staff. I think on the field, Cam Newton provides another dimension for this team. At the end of the day, the Patriots still boast one of the best defenses in all of the NFL. But there is still one lingering question. Is this roster finally set? Are the Patriots pretty much done making moves? Or is there still one more trick up the cutoff sleeve of Bill Belichick?

Well, now that he's apparently filmed his Subway commercial, folks, and I for one cannot wait to see this one, there are still some lingering questions when it comes to roster building. And what else does it all come down to? What it always comes down to, the finances. And whenever we have any type of financial question, we go to the guru, the Patriots salary cap top gun, the Pats cap himself. Miguel Benzon joins me here on the hot seat to close out the week here on the Locked On

Patriots podcast. And of course, we'll talk about Joe Tooney's franchise tag salary for the year. We'll give Miguel some much-deserved kudos for pinpointing that the Patriots could end up seeing a salary cap windfall by winning the grievances on the Antonio Brown and Aaron Hernandez situations. Don't forget, Miguel called that way back in January. And of course, no visit by Miguel would be complete without giving him the floor to set the record straight

on all those salary cap myths out there. So, to ensure that you do not miss this or a single episode of Locked On Patriots, be sure to follow us on Spotify, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, download Locked On Patriots wherever you sure to follow us on Spotify. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. Download Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you can always listen to Locked On Patriots right on your very own smart device. All you have to do is ask it to play

the latest episode of Locked On Patriots. And if you've enjoyed today's episode, now tell your smart device to play the most recent episode of Locked On NFL. Once again, folks, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank Joe Marino, John Buchko, and Kyle Krabs for their time and their insight this week. But most of all, I thank you all so much for listening

and remaining locked in to Locked On Patriots. Stay safe, stay well, continue to be the change you wish to see in the world, and have a great day, everyone.