During his time with the Jets, Zach Wilson took plenty of criticism for never becoming the franchise quarterback he was expected to be as the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. But the Jets also took plenty of criticism for not developing Wilson. And Wilson says that in Miami now, he’s in a place where he can continue to grow as a quarterback.
Wilson said Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is everything he wants in a coach who can bring out the best in him as a quarterback.
“I think just extremely raw, his ability to just be completely himself every single day is I think what you want in a coach,” Wilson said. “Somebody that is going to give you exactly the same guy every single day and obviously he’s a phenomenal coach and shows how much he cares and invests in you, and so those are some of the qualities I’m just the most excited for.”
Backup quarterback for the Dolphins is one of the most scrutinized jobs in the NFL, given the injury history of starter Tua Tagovailoa. But when asked if he feels pressure, Wilson said he’s ready for whatever comes at him.
“I don’t know if it’s pressure, I mean luckily I’ve played in a lot of games in the NFL so far, and so it’s just the ability to step in and make the offense feel like nothing’s changed from a leadership standpoint, just command of the huddle getting guys the information they need on each and every play and not skipping a beat kind of mentality going in there that everyone feels comfortable that they’re able to completely do exactly what they’ve been doing,” Wilson said.
The Dolphins hope they never need to turn to Wilson. But he thinks that he’ll fit right in with McDaniel’s offense.
Punter Ryan Stonehouse has a big leg. It wasn’t big enough to get him a fourth season in Tennessee.
The Titans opted not to re-sign Stonehouse, nor to apply a restricted free agency tender. He left via free agency for the Dolphins.
“I was surprised,” Stonehouse told reporters earlier this week regarding Tennessee’s decision to move on. “I think a lot of other people were as well. I truly didn’t expect it. I’m a guy that I like to be where my feet are, been training in that building ever since I stepped foot in it three years ago. I thought it would be a little bit different, just more clarity would have been nice, but it is what it is and I’m excited for this new opportunity.”
He approaches the new opportunity with a familiar motivation.
“I’ve certainly built my career off of not being the first one picked,” Stonehouse said. “Obviously, I wasn’t drafted. I didn’t have very many opportunities after the draft — Tennessee was one of them. So I kind of took that as a chip on my shoulder and I truly felt like that’s kind of where my career has taken me. Whether that was college, I didn’t really have very many scholarship offers. Colorado State took a chance on me. Same what I said in high school, I only played on varsity one year; I had to compete for that job. So I really truly have built a career off of competition. Yeah, I think there was some things about natural fits and I actually truly believe the Dolphins are the best fit for me. I’ve kind of come to realize that being in the league for three years now that fit matters so much and understanding the player that I am matters a lot — how to use me as a weapon is truly something that I thank Craig Aukerman and Chase Blackburn for when they brought me into Tennessee. It was very important for me to have a good fit, so I truly believe Miami is that place.”
Stonehouse averaged 53.1 gross yards per punt in 2022 and in 2023. Last year, he averaged 50.6 yards per punt. He was named a second-team All-Pro as a rookie.
The NFL will play seven regular-season games outside the United States in 2025.
Although the league has discussed as many as eight international games, the NFL confirmed that the seven teams that have already announced they will give up home games to play overseas will be all of them this year.
Three regular-season games will be played in London, with the Browns and Jets giving up home games to play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Jaguars giving up a home game to play at Wembley Stadium.
For the second straight year, the opening Friday of the NFL season will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with the Chargers playing a home game at Arena Corinthians.
Germany will host its fourth NFL regular-season game, and for the first time that game will be in Berlin, with the Colts making Olympiastadion their home.
Spain will have its first NFL regular-season game with the Dolphins playing a home game at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
And Ireland will get an NFL game for the first time with the Steelers playing at Croke Park in Dublin.
The league is showing no signs of slowing down on its aspirations for international growth, and 2026 will include the first regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia. It won’t be a surprise if the NFL is eventually playing 16 regular-season games a year outside the United States, with every team in the league traveling overseas once.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and multiple teams (Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, and later the Texans) in February 2022. More than three years later, a federal appeals court has officially taken up the question of whether certain claims will be sent to arbitration controlled by the league or will unfold in traditional, open-court litigation.
An oral argument occurred today. The entire session lasted more than 80 minutes, with many questions from the three-judge panel to which the case was assigned.
We’re currently listening to the entire argument, which has been posted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The losing party will have the right to seek relief before the U.S. Supreme Court. And if the NFL loses, it undoubtedly will. Which will serve only to continue to drag out the case even longer.
Regardless of whether the NFL prevails on its effort to force arbitration, the fact that the NFL can make the straight-faced effort to force all claims made against the league and its teams into arbitration controlled by Commissioner Roger Goodell necessarily slams the brakes on the entire process.
For years.
That’s why, at some point, a broad, comprehensive, and final challenge to this practice is needed. Either it’s fine and dandy for a company to let the CEO be the judge and jury for all disputes involving the company and its workforce, or it’s not.
That’s the question that needs to be resolved, once and for all and for good. By truly neutral and impartial judges, untainted by politics or money or anything other than a fundamental sense of what’s right, and what’s wrong.
Is it right for the CEO of a company to serve as the judge for claims made against the company? Or is there a better and more fair (and/or less unfair) way to do this?
Offensive lineman James Daniels signed with the Dolphins in free agency. He played right guard in Pittsburgh. For now, he doesn’t know whether he’ll be playing on the right side or the left side in Miami.
“They’re still figuring things out,” Daniels told reporters on Tuesday. “They just said during OTAs they’ll have a plan, but they just told me they’re still figuring things out right now.”
Daniels said he played both left guard and center with the Bears. And he’s not concerned about where he’ll be playing for the Dolphins.
“It really doesn’t — position-wise, left guard or right guard, it really doesn’t matter,” Daniels said.
He’ll definitely be playing somewhere. His three-year contract has an average payout of $8 million per year, with $7.255 million fully guaranteed at signing and $3.48 million in injury guarantees for 2026.
The other question regarding Daniels relates to the Achilles tendon injury that he suffered during the 2024 season. He said there’s no doubt he’ll be ready for training camp.
“The status of the Achilles, it’s going pretty well,” Daniels said. “I wasn’t lucky to have the Achilles injury, but I was lucky [when] it happened. I had surgery the first week of October. I’m on schedule, I’m on track, so I was really fortunate about the timing in the year where we won’t have to worry about anything this upcoming season.”
A second-round pick in 2018, Daniels has 90 regular-season appearances and 84 starts.
