The Miami Heat sufferea midseason disaster when, after two NBA Finals appearances and one Eastern Conference Finals appearance during Jimmy Butler’s five-year tenure, they refused to give the veteran forward a golden parachute as he neared the end of his career. The Miami Dolphins suffered another late-season disaster when they went winless for years, Jalen Ramsey, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle last summer — full-price contracts even though they’re not needed
See the difference between the best franchise in South Florida for three decades and a struggling franchise? How does a strong leader like Heat president Pat Riley navigate the difficult path to his franchise’s future when the Dolphins’ shaky leadership too often does what’s easiest instead of what’s best for the organization?
Riley could do what the Dolphins did. He could extend Butler’s contract, which pays him $48.8 million this season, and everything would be fine today. That’s all that matters. We live in an era where everything is measured by the size of a contract, and Riley could have sent the 35-year-old Butler in a way that prevented the Heat from winning in the future. Managing an aging star is the hardest thing in sports for a front office. Riley has already been through this with Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade.
Now it’s Butler who’s on the sidelines after a series of childish pranks from the veteran instead of giving the team a chance. Now they’re going to trade Butler. How they play will tell if the Heat will be in contention for anything significant in the near future. As tough as the Heat’s situation is, the Dolphins (8-8) have an even tougher time if they want to win something big. They don’t have a winning culture and haven’t shown a hint of how to build one. They keep overpaying players who don’t need to be overpaid. That hasn’t helped matters in terms of winning. But, my God, the locker room is still happy as we approach a possible season finale on Sunday against the New York Jets (4-12). This last stretch of the year is when your best players have to be at their best, so take a look at the Dolphins’ five highest-paid players, in order:
The Mountain. He’s still a talent, even if he’s not the talent he was the last two years for one reason or another. He’s approaching 31, but the Dolphins were kind enough to extend his contract last summer for three years at $90 million ($59 million guaranteed). – Take Terron Armstead. He’ll likely miss another game Sunday due to injury. At 33, this could be the end of a great career. He’s great when he plays. He had still missed 30% of his career games when the Dolphins signed him to a five-year, $75 million contract through 2022. Health problems continued as he played eight, 10 and now 13 games for the Dolphins in recent years. – Tagovailoa. He will miss a second consecutive must-win game with a groin injury. He will have played in 11 of 17 games this season. The questions about his health parallel those about his performance in a fifth season. The Dolphins knew those questions and signed him last summer to a four-year, $212 million contract extension that begins next season. – Walk. He is scheduled to play on Sunday after missing last week’s game.
He plays most games, even if something is physically wrong. He’s also the seventh-highest paid receiver in the NFL this season, while also being the second-highest paid receiver on any team. – Ramsey. A good player and a good “chess piece,” as defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver put it. He got a big deal when the Dolphins traded him in 2023. This was obviously not enough. Although there were two years left, the deal was renewed last summer for five years and $72 million ($24 million guaranteed) to make Ramsey, at 30, the highest-paid defenseman in the league. So here’s the real problem with Butler: The Dolphins management team doesn’t manage the Heat. Butler would then receive his big payday. It wouldn’t necessarily be good for winning or better for the organization. But Butler would be happy. Just like that, Riley has a problem to deal with. The Heat have done it before, winning three titles and appearing in four NBA Finals over the past two decades. Now let’s see if they can pull off that tough feat again.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, have a few internal problems. They’re not winning anything. They only clinched the final playoff spot on Sunday by beating the Jets and having a Kansas City team with its best players beat Denver. So it looks like the Dolphins are experiencing their 24th straight season without a playoff win. There are a few reasons why that’s happened. One of them is playing in front of us. See how a top franchise handles itself when faced with a tough cross with a veteran name. Then look at the easy way the Dolphins continue to take it.
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