Mike McDaniel’s Decision That Helped Turn Around the Dolphins’ 2024 Season

Getty

The Athletic's Zak Keefer detailed how Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel nixed the idea to trade away defensive lineman Calais Campbell at the NFL trade deadline.

As the saying goes, sometimes the best moves an NFL team can make are the moves they don’t make. That appears to be the case with the Miami Dolphins this season. At the 2024 NFL trade deadline, head coach Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins had a trade in place to ship veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell for a fifth-round pick.

But McDaniel nixed the idea at the last moment.

“I can’t do it,” McDaniel told Campbell, according to The Athletic’s Zak Keefer. “You’re too valuable to us.”

Since then, the Dolphins have posted a 4-1 record. Campbell has 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 4 quarterback hits and 2 pass defenses during that stretch.

He has also become an even more vocal leader in the Dolphins locker room.

Calais Campbell Helping Dolphins Turn Around ‘Lost’ Season

Keefer described the Dolphins’ 2024 campaign as “lost” when the team sat at 2-6. At that time, Miami was fielding trade offers for Campbell.

The Baltimore Ravens offered a fifth-round pick for the 38-year-old defensive lineman. Another team, who Campbell wouldn’t reveal, wanted to send a fourth-rounder to the Dolphins for Campbell as long as they were also going to receive a late Day 3 selection in return.

“A fourth?” Campbell told Keefer. “I’m 38 years old!”

But even with that offered draft capital, McDaniel could give up Campbell. Not if he still wanted the Dolphins to make a run at the postseason.

They are doing just that thanks in part to Campbell fueling the team. Campbell said that once he knew he would finish the season in Miami, he left no stone unturned on getting the team on track.

“That’s when I decided I was gonna do everything in my power to get this thing going,” he told Keefer.

Miami has won four of its last five games to improve to 6-7. They sit two games back of the final AFC wild card spot with four games remaining.

Can Dolphins Continue to Make Playoff Push?

All four contests on Miami’s schedule are winnable too. The toughest matchup on paper is December 15 when the Dolphins will visit the Houston Texans.

To make the playoffs, though, the Dolphins may need to win all four of the rest of their games. That means beating the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers and winning on the road against the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets.

The Browns and Jets each have 3 wins. But they play in cold weather cities. The Dolphins have lost 11 straight contests that occurred in temperature below 40 degrees.

To make the postseason, the Dolphins must replace either the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers or Ravens in the playoff picture. All three teams hold an 8-5 record and occupy the three AFC wild card spots.

The Dolphins will also have to pass the Indianapolis Colts in the standings. The Colts are also 6-7 but hold the tiebreaker on Miami because of head-to-head win percentage.

It’s safe to assume Campbell will do anything he can to get the Dolphins into the postseason. He played in the Super Bowl at the end of his rookie season, but the 17-year veteran is still hunting for his first Super Bowl ring.