The Miami Dolphins concluded their disappointing 2024 season with a 32-20 loss against the New York Jets, though they already knew before the end of the game they had been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Dolphins finished with an 8-9 record, one of 16 teams around the league to finish with a losing record. That puts them pretty much as a middle-of-the-pack team at the end of the regular season.
Our weekly survey of NFL power rankings is down to nine national outlets — Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, NFL.com, The Ringer, Pro Football Network, The Athletic, Yahoo! Sports, and Bleacher Report — because USA Today only ranked the playoff teams, and this is the first time in three years Miami is not part of the postseason party.
The Dolphins’ average ranking this week was at 18.4, up from 17.9 after the Week 17 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
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The Dolphins rankings ranged from 17 to 20. The only movement involving more than one spot this week came from PFT, which dropped them from 18 to 20.
Here’s the breakdown of the Dolphins’ nine power rankings spots following the end of the 2024 regular season, along with the associated commentary.
Sports Illustrated
Ranking: 17
Last Week: 16
Analysis: While there seems to be a bit of an exodus afoot in Miami with both Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey perhaps pushing for the exits, sometimes we’ve seen this become a blessing in disguise. Tua Tagovailoa needs legitimate competition on the roster, but allowing Mike McDaniel to cook with a younger roster full of malleable parts doesn’t sound too bad to me.
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Pro Football Talk
Ranking: 20
Last Week: 18
Analysis: Tua’s big contract is looking like a massive mistake.
CBS Sports
Ranking: 18
Last Week: 18
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Analysis: The Tua Tagovailoa injuries killed this team’s chances of making the playoffs, but isn’t that a pattern? Now Tyreek Hill might want out? Not good.
NFL.com
Ranking: 18
Last Week: 18
Analysis: Head coach Mike McDaniel and GM Chris Grier will return next season, owner Stephen Ross announced, but the future of Tyreek Hill in Miami is suddenly much murkier after the star wide receiver’s comments on Sunday. Perhaps moving on from Hill — who is due nearly $28 million next season, per OverTheCap — is best for the Dolphins spiritually, but it would leave a big hole in their offense, even with Hill coming off his most difficult season in years. The Dolphins suffered right alongside him for their first losing season since 2019. Even if you can split Miami’s 2024 campaign into two parts — with and without Tua Tagovailoa — it’s worth noting the Dolphins were 6-5 with Tagovailoa starting and 2-4 with others at QB. That suggests there is far more to address than just the Hill situation, and trading him for draft assets won’t ensure a quick fix. The AFC East remains a cloudy division, but the three teams that missed the playoffs are still looking (way) up at the Bills for now.
The Ringer
Ranking: 17
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Last Week: 18
Analysis: The Dolphins may convince themselves that injuries were the reason they missed the postseason, but quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t have been good enough to get them out of the wild-card round even if they were perfectly healthy. This offense needs to find cheap yards on early downs to keep Tagovailoa away from difficult third-down situations, and it’s unrealistic to expect that approach to be viable in a playoff field that features Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert. Tagovailoa is now an expensive player and his top receiver, Tyreek Hill, wants out of Miami. Things are getting messy, and the window to improve is getting tighter. Until the Dolphins can clear out some contracts, expect this team to be average.
Pro Football Network
Ranking: 19
Last Week: 20
Analysis: Entering Week 18, the Dolphins needed a win over the Jets and a Broncos loss to make the playoffs, but neither ended up happening. New York managed to upset Miami (and Denver beat Kansas City), so the Dolphins’ season is over. One has to wonder how Miami’s season would have turned out if Tua Tagovailoa stayed healthy, as the offense completely fell apart without him under center.
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The Athletic
Ranking: 19
Last Week: 19
Analysis on the lesson learned, run the ball: Coach Mike McDaniel is a great run-game play designer, and the Dolphins’ backfield was one of the deepest in the league (De’Von Achane, Raheem Mostert, Jaylen Wright and Jeff Wilson). So why was this team just 21st in run percentage this season at 41.4 percent? Miami finished 27th in rushing success rate (36 percent) and missed the playoffs for the first time under McDaniel. In the coach’s fourth season, the Dolphins need to get less cute and tougher on the ground.
Yahoo! Sports
Ranking: 17
Last Week: 16
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Analysis: Tyreek Hill not going back in the game, and his rant afterward might be an exit ramp for the Dolphins. Hill played in all 17 games and didn’t hit 1,000 yards at age 30. Is it going to get a lot better at age 31, with a $28.7 million salary-cap hit? Maybe this is best for the Dolphins.
Bleacher Report
Ranking: 18
Last Week: 18
Analysis: There’s been some buzz that the Dolphins could fire GM Chris Grier in the offseason—another report suggests he may retire. Neither outcome would surprise me because poor roster building was Miami’s biggest issue in 2024. Despite having a top-10 overall defense and a surplus of speedy offensive playmakers, the Dolphins fell short of the playoffs/squeaked in as a wild-card team. An unreliable offensive line and a lack of offensive physicality meant Miami largely had to win with finesse. This simply wasn’t a team built to win without Tua Tagovailoa, and, to make matters worse, the Dolphins failed to invest in a strong backup plan at quarterback. Those early losses while Tagovailoa was sidelined burned Miami in a big way.
The curtain is coming down on Hard Rock Cafe’s Bayside Marketplace location after more than three decades on the downtown waterfront.
The rock ’n’ roll themed restaurant will close its doors August 19 after its lease with the city came to an end and will not be renewed, the Hard Rock confirmed in an email to The Real Deal. A spokesperson for the Hard Rock did not immediately respond to why the lease was not renewed or disclose the square footage and seating capacity.
A spokesperson for the City of Miami-owned Bayside Marketplace said the space will be redeveloped for another concept. The next tenant was not disclosed.
New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation holds the ground lease for Bayside Marketplace. A representative for Ashkenazy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In 2020, Ashkenazy filed an eviction lawsuit against the Hard Rock Cafe alleging over $300,000 in unpaid rent amid the pandemic. The case was dismissed with prejudice in 2022, court records show.
At the time, the lease required the restaurant to pay $500,000 in base rent annually plus a percentage of its sales, according to court records.
More than 100 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, according to a WARN notice filed by the Hard Rock Cafe. The stand alone waterfront building includes a main dining room, mezzanine, patio areas and event spaces.
Founded in 1971, Hard Rock Cafe opened its Miami location in 1993. The restaurant is part of Hard Rock International, which has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since its 2007 acquisition of the company and operates cafes, hotels, casinos and live entertainment venues worldwide, plus naming rights for the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium.
Bayside Marketplace was one of the hardest hit retail centers in South Florida during the pandemic. The Hooters there closed in 2021 and was taken over by sports bar Black Market Miami, the Miami Herald previously reported. Other retailers and restaurants that have closed include Sun & Sea Brazilian Bikinis, Bavaria Haus and Express, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2024.
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The waterfront retail and restaurant hub is heavily reliant on tourists. Margaritaville opened there in 2024, and popular fast-casual Mexican chain Coyo Taco opened this month. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Chili’s, Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret are longtime tenants.
Downtown Miami’s retail market is showing signs of softening, according to Colliers. Retailers in the downtown submarket shed 44,430 square feet of space, and vacancy reached 6.3 percent. Developers remain bullish on the downtown core, with nearly 64,000 square feet of retail space under construction and asking rents averaging $52.50 per square foot.
The Miami Worldcenter has been a major recent driver of much of that retail development and leasing.
Total inventory square footage for the downtown area is more than 3.4 million square feet.
Read more
Bayside Marketplace sues to evict Bubba Gump, Hard Rock Cafe and three other tenants
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Take a look at the new Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami
SkyRise Miami developer settles lawsuit with theme park company over $1M refund
Bayside Marketplace is planning another high-rise entertainment venue with a view
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A man is facing new charges connected to the fatal shooting of a teenager in 2019.
Warren Pollock, 25, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Rodney Hinds Jr.
According to police, surveillance video captured Pollock shooting into a car parked at the Shell gas station on the corner of Northwest 183rd Street and Eighth Avenue back on Saturday, October 26 of 2019 just before 1 a.m.
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Authorities said new evidence led detectives to Pollock, who was already in custody for an unrelated murder case.
He remains behind bars at the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on no bond.
🏠 News From Your Neighborhood
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
David Dwork
David Dwork joined the WPLG Local 10 News team in August 2019. Born and raised in Miami-Dade County, David has covered South Florida sports since 2007.
It was the blockbuster deal of the NBA offseason: After years of will-he/won’t-he, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has been traded to Miami.
It also feels like the first domino of what will be some other big moves — including possibly a Jaylen Brown bidding war and trade. At NBC, we’ve explained the Antetokounmpo trade, named its winners and losers, and broken down how it will impact fantasy teams. Still, the fallout from this trade just keeps coming. Here are some other notes and analysis surrounding Antetokounmpo’s move to Miami.
Jaylen Brown bidding war?
Boston tried to say, “We weren’t shopping Brown, it was only because this was Giannis Antetokounmpo.” Except a few years back, they said the same thing when Brown was rumored to be part of a trade offer for Kevin Durant. From Brown’s perspective, you don’t want to be the person in the relationship where your partner is always looking around for an upgrade.
Other teams are expecting Boston to make Brown available, and there could be a bidding war, something articulated well by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the network’s “Get Up.”
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“What I expect to happenis a bidding war for Jaylen Brown. In the most recent days, teams have been preparing for this eventuality, that it wouldn’t be the Boston Celtics who won the Giannis sweepstakes and that there would be a Jaylen Brown market. And now we’re going to watch that. I think it’ll take time to play out.”
If Brown becomes available, look for Houston and Atlanta to be at the front of the line for him, with a number of other teams — Portland has said it’s interested — in the mix. The challenge will be matching his salary, which is $57.1 million next season and totals about $183 million over the next three years. Brown is coming off his best season as a pro, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
Boston kept young players out
Why did Milwaukee ultimately choose the Miami offer over Boston? In part because, while Brown would have been the best individual player the Bucks could have gotten in return, they wanted more — specifically a young player like Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez, and Boston would not put them in the offer, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
Boston’s final offer was Brown and two unprotected first-round picks. Milwaukee preferred Miami’s offer… or at least one key person did.
Bucks co-owner Haslam pushed for Miami trade
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam also owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns — a team that dealt with a trade demand from future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett. Then came the Antetokounmpo saga with the Bucks.
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That led Haslam to push for the “certainty” of the Miami offer because he didn’t want to see Brown come to Milwaukee and force his way out in a couple of years, something Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports reported right after the trade went down.
Report: Haslam a ‘driving force’ in Giannis trade
Mike Florio looks at Jimmy Haslam’s reported role in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and analyzes Haslam’s involvement as owner of the Cleveland Browns.
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That was a concern of others in the Milwaukee front office, reports Sam Amick and Eric Nehm at The Athletic, who add there had been signs in recent weeks that Brown didn’t really want to land in Milwaukee.
Herro happy
Brown may not have wanted to go to Milwaukee, but Tyler Herro — who is a Milwaukee native — is excited to go home in the trade, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes.
Sources: Tyler Herro is thrilled about a fresh start and playing for his hometown team the Milwaukee Bucks. Herro always envisioned returning home at some point during his NBA career.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 23, 2026
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Except Herro may not be staying in Milwaukee—there are multiple reports that the Bucks are listening to offers to trade him again. At the front of that line may be Detroit, which is looking for shooting and secondary ball-handling to pair with Cade Cunningham, and Herro fits that bill.
Is Anthony Edwards next?
Once one superstar is traded, the insatiable NBA trade rumor machine starts looking for the next star who might be on the move.
Is it about to be Anthony Edwards’ turn in the spotlight? ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest Hoop Collective Podcast, “The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market.” Multiple reports in recent years have said Edwards has been frustrated with the team building in Minnesota, dating back to when it traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to save money.
This is not happening fast. Minnesota has no intention of trading Edwards right now, and he still has three fully guaranteed years at $156.9 million left on this contract. There is no pressure to move him, and Edwards would deny he is even thinking about leaving.
That said, teams file these kinds of things away and just wait.
