Miami, FL

Miami Dolphins draft focus: No more Mr. Nice Guys | Schad

Published

5 months ago

April 26, 2025

Press Room

Miami Dolphins draft focus: No more Mr. Nice Guys | Schad

The Miami Dolphins prioritized drafting tough, physical players in the NFL draft.
The Dolphins’ first three draft picks, Kenneth Grant, Jonah Saviinaea, and Jordan Phillips, are known for their aggressive playing styles.
Coach Mike McDaniel emphasized a “tonality of violence and aggression” as a key focus for the team.

MIAMI GARDENS — The moment that foreshadowed this Miami Dolphins NFL Draft came in the final days of a cold November, in a locker room in Green Bay Wisconsin.

“Soft,” Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks said of his team’s performance.

It’s a coincidence that five months later the 2025 NFL Draft was held in Green Bay.

It’s no coincidence that the Dolphins drafted a handful of tough, physical, mean bruisers maulers and street-fighters.

“A tonality of violence and aggression,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said during this draft, adding that he and general manager Chris Grier spoke “at length” about addressing the issue.

No more soft guys.

The Dolphins have attacked the soft perception head-on over the past few days.

Miami’s first three picks weigh a collective 975 pounds.

Yes, first-round defensive tackle Kenneth Grant is a monster.

“On the field, it’s no friends, to be honest,” Grant said in Miami Gardens.

Yes, second-round guard Jonah Savaiinaea is a beast.

“Punch guys,” Saviinaea said from Hawaii.

Yes, fifth-defensive tackler Jordan Phillips is a scrapper.

“Grit and willingness,” said Phillips, who is from the Orlando area.

Massive men headed to Miami Gardens to play for Dolphins

There are plenty of problems the Dolphins have to work through before the 2025 season kicks off.

What will they get for Jalen Ramsey when they trade him, presumably as early as June 2? Perhaps Miami can secure a young cornerback; perhaps even a rookie.

Who exactly are Miami’s starting cornerbacks?

At the moment it would appear to be Cam Smith, Storm Duck and Kader Kohou, though clearly Grier will sign at least one veteran capable of starting.

This team seems stuck between trying-to-contend-in-the-AFC and a soft-reset and a hard-rebuild. I’m not entirely sure what it is.

It seems Grier and the Dolphins are trying to thread a needle.

The average age of their roster will be younger.

Miami’s projected offensive line (in some order) is currently aged 23-21-27-27-25.

This is a young man’s game. At times last season, Miami looked old.

Miami Dolphins wants to get younger, tweak culture in 2025

McDaniel is highly focused on delivering messages about positive culture change.

He’s got Ramsey on the move and Tyreek Hill causing off-field headaches again.

He’s going to try to establish some discipline and commitment early in the offseason.

“Non-negotiably we’re going to be one team moving in one direction,” McDaniel said, during the draft, “and we’re going to earn everything we get.”

Print the T-Shirts now. “One Team, One Direction.”

Or don’t. What matters more than the shirts is that the message sinks in.

Miami’s overall roster figures to be on-par or close to on-par in talent to the 2024 version. But last year’s team finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.

Some things have had to change. And one is this issue about size, strength, toughness, aggression and violence.

What has to change is the on-field “tonality” as McDaniel said.

There is a perception that McDaniel operates a creative offense based in speed and misdirection. There are elements of truth in that.

Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel wants more on-field aggression and violence

But what McDaniel really wants is an offense primed by physicality and power run.

Miami added a running back, Ollie Gordon, in the sixth round.

We can’t say how good Gordon will be, but he fits the theme. And thus it is very, very easy to understand why he’s a player McDaniel and Grier specifically targeted.

“I’m a bruiser,” Gordon told reporters. “I’m going to run through you. I’m going to make you not want to tackle me.”

Yes. More of that. Change perceptions. Change the tone.

It’s a clear goal for the Dolphins in 2025.

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

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Miami, FL

Hialeah delays decision on proposed homeowner rebate until October

Published

2 days ago

September 24, 2025

Press Room

Hialeah delays decision on proposed homeowner rebate until October

Ivan Taylor

Updated on: September 23, 2025 / 11:18 PM EDT
/ CBS Miami

Proposed Hialeah homeowner rebate delayed until October
03:14

A decision on whether Hialeah homeowners with a homestead exemption will receive a rebate has been postponed until Oct. 14, following debate at a city council meeting Tuesday.

Council debates rebate proposals

Council members discussed the proposal but did not reach an agreement, saying the money offered for a rebate was not enough and could hinder the city financially.

Interim Mayor Jaqueline Garcia-Roves, who is running for mayor in November, has been pushing to provide money to residents to ease financial burdens. Last week she proposed a $120 rebate.

Council member Jesus Tundidor, who is also running for mayor, has put forward higher figures.

Garcia-Roves backs $200 rebate

“I am proposing 200 dollars, if the council wants to go lower than that we definitely cannot go higher,” Garcia-Roves said. “I am cutting some projects a little shorter. There’s a lighting project that we’re assigning a million dollars a year, we’re going to lower it to 750,000 so it’s just a little bit.”

Tundidor pushes for $300

“I will be proposing a $300 rebate to homestead properties in the city of Hialeah,” Tundidor said. “It’s frustrating to see when we were having a discussion on the mileage rate. And today she wants and I intend to make sure the residents get their money back.”

Cost to the city

If the $200 rebate proposed by Garcia-Roves had been approved, it would have cost the city about $6.2 million, with funds coming from reserves and some projects, officials said.

Budget vote next week

The rebate proposal was not approved. Council members are scheduled to vote on the city’s budget next Thursday.

If they want to provide homeowners with a rebate, they will have to amend the budget.

The debate comes as Hialeah prepares for elections in November.

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Miami, FL

Dolphins vs. Bills odds for Thursday Night Football Week 3

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2025

Press Room

Dolphins vs. Bills odds for Thursday Night Football Week 3

The Miami Dolphins have started the season 0-2 and will now have a short week to prepare for their AFC East rivals, the Buffalo Bills, who are off to a 2-0 start and again look like the class of the division. While Buffalo opened the season in sync and ready to go, Miami has looked like they are sleepwalking through the early part of the season as they have struggled to find their rhythm.

The opening odds for Week 3 have been released, and the oddsmakers have not missed how much of a mess Miami has been in the early portion of the season. The Dolphins are not just underdogs for a primetime game on the road on a short week, but they are nearly two-touchdown (with the extra point) underdogs. The opening odds as of Sunday evening have the Bills favored by 12.5 points. The point total is 49.5. The Dolphins are +610 for the straight-up upset win; the Bills are -900 on the moneyline.

Will the line grow to reach the two-touchdown (and extra points) mark? Will money bring the line back toward the Dolphins? And, more importantly, will Miami find a way to upset the Bills and come away with their first win of the season?

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Miami, FL

Detroit Tigers collapse in 11th inning in 6-4 loss to Miami

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Detroit Tigers collapse in 11th inning in 6-4 loss to Miami

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Miami Marlins, 6-3, in 11 innings.
Kerry Carpenter homered in the third inning to drive in two for the Tigers.
Charlie Morton allowed two runs over four rocky innings for the Tigers.

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4, when Troy Johnston hit a walk-off homer – his second of the game – in the 11th inning.

The Tigers were locked in a 3-3 tie late against the Marlins at loanDepot Park in the middle contest of a three-game set on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle, who was pitching for just the second time in six days, was given the eighth inning and he shut down Miami – three up, three down – with nine pitches. That’s a good sign for the Tigers’ postseason hopes.

After the Tigers failed to score in the ninth, right-hander Will Vest was brought in. Vest had not pitched since Sunday, Sept. 7, but he came out sharp. After getting the first two batters, Victor Mesa Jr. hit a sharp liner to left field but Riley Greene tracked it down.

In the 10th, Vest returned for his second inning and it was wildly dramatic. To open the inning, Javier Sanoja popped up a bunt and Vest caught it and fired to second, doubling off Mesa, on second as the automatic runner. But any sense of relief was short-lived. After the Marlins put runners on second and third, Liam Hicks lined out to Trey Sweeney at short.

In the 11th, the Tigers took the lead when Wenceel Pérez doubled to right, knocking in Greene, the free runner, to open the inning. Soon after, Colt Keith was walked to load the bases with nobody out. Dillon Dingler struck out. After the Marlins turned to lefty Josh Simpson, he threw a wild pitch, but the ball bounced off the backstop and Spencer Torkelson, coming home from third, was tagged out at the plate. The Marlins then intentionally walked Jahmai Jones and struck out Parker Meadows to hold the Tigers to one run from a bases loaded with no outs situation.

Rafael Montero pitched the 11th, and nearly got out of a runners-on-first-and-third jam, inducing a ground ball from Heriberto Hernández to defensive replacement Javier Báez. But the Tigers couldn’t turn the double play, and the Marlins tied it up and brought Johnston back to the plate.

The Tigers (84-65) will finish this six-game, two-city road trip on Sunday, Sept. 13 (1:40 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit) with a bullpen game against the Marlins (70-79). Detroit’s magic number to clinch the American League Central remained at eight, with the Tigers’ division lead on Cleveland shrinking to seven games, with the Guardians playing the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

Charlie Morton dances through trouble

Right-hander Charlie Morton got the start for the Tigers and he spent the better part of the afternoon walking through a minefield of his own making.

Miami scored first off an Agustín Ramírez double, a Dingler throwing error and an Otto Lopez single. Not that it really mattered, but he probably would have scored even without the throwing error.

Morton made the situation more dramatic when he was called for a balk – after throwing to first three times without picking off the runner – and Lopez advanced to second. But Morton got out of it when Hernández grounded out to third.

He got into trouble in the second when he walked Acosta, he advanced to second on a ground out and scored off a Javier Sanoja double. After walking Marsee, he was in serious trouble. But he got out of it by striking out Ramirez to end the inning.

He got into trouble again in the third inning after a pair of walks but got out of it when Maximo Acosta grounded out to thid as Colt Keith made a nice running throw.

Morton was done after four innings, giving up two runs. He gave up three hits and walked four but had four strikeouts.

Melton gives Tigers a chance to win it

Troy Melton, the 24-year-old rookie right hander, had another solid performance, pitching in his 13^th game.

He gave up a tying homer to Johnston – who came into the game with just one in his career – in the sixth inning but Melton was otherwise solid. He went three innings and tried to sneak annother inning in by walking to the middle of the dugout, but Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked down the dugout to track him down and shake his hand, signalling the end of his outing.

Melton threw three innings, giving up a run off two hits and left the game after the seventh inning with the score tied, 3-3.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

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