Dave Hyde: Dolphins’ big trade gives March Madness the feel of February Fever

There was already enough to say the Miami Dolphins were going all in even before Sunday’s trade. There was the hiring of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the way they’ve dumped draft picks for big-money stars and even the manner they’ve supported quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Sunday’s move wasn’t just about going further in, though. It’s the kind of move to help level the field a little against the Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, if they are to play him next January, or Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow or Buffalo’s Josh Allen, if it comes to them to reach the Super Bowl.

All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey is a Dolphin now, meaning more than one of last season’s weaknesses becomes a strength and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has a new toy to employ. Ramsey one side, Xavien Howard on the other. Consider the possibilities.

The next Super Bowl is in Las Vegas.

How do you like that boom-or-bust possibility?

I love it. I never liked tanking for tomorrow, never understood how a team not smart enough to draft players would suddenly get smart with more draft picks. This trade underlines how this franchise is locked on the present. Now. This year. Boomtown or bust-ville.

Ramsey is thrilled to be a Dolphin. He left no doubt with his happy Twitter posts. And why not? He doesn’t just get an additional $25 million guaranteed as part of the trade. He was the one who pushed for this move in a manner that drove it home, according to Albert Breer of MMQB.com.

Ramsey set one dollar price if traded to the Dolphins and another if traded elsewhere. He’s not the first player to state a desire to play in South Florida. Jordan Poyer and Darius Slay, just to name a couple other Pro Bowl defensive backs, did this offseason, too.

This wasn’t a trade in the manner you think of two general managers haggling with each other. This was a player and his agent pushing so hard that the Dolphins got Ramsey for a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long, a third-round pick in 2021 – oh, and that big contract. That was the real cost.

Long had one catch in two years. He barely got on the field. He shows what the Dolphins have done too often with good draft picks.

So, they trashed the draft.

It hasn’t worked well enough.

They flipped plenty of picks, if you lump Ramsey’s deal into others this past year. Tyreek Hill. Terron Armstead. Bradley Chubb.

The Dolphins enter this draft with a second, third, sixth and seven-round picks. “They may look to set a record for the least amount of draft capital in a given year,’’ Overthecap.com’s Jason Fitzgerald wrote.

There’s tomorrow’s risk. But who cares today? A few years ago the Rams went all-in for a winner in the manner the Dolphins are now. They won the 2021 Super Bowl. They had a terrible 2022 as the bill started to come due for that. Now they’re throwing players like Ramsey overboard for nothing due to salary-cap Armageddon.

Why shouldn’t the Dolphins take advantage of that? Their cornerbacks were depleted last year. Now they have an All-Pro cornerback. OK, he wasn’t an All-Pro last year. He was in 2021 and 2020, when he was picked with his new teammate, Xavien Howard.

Howard and Ramsey might be the be cornerback duo in the league. Howard also turns 30 and Ramsey 29. They’re approaching what often is the witchin’ hour for NFL cornerbacks. So, again, do you see why it’s all about today?

The mild surprise in all this isn’t the Dolphins wanted another big talent. It’s that Fangio’s defense wanted to allocate resources like this. His system has never been big on blitzing or press coverage. Now he has two cornerbacks who have made careers of that type of play.

That question falls under Fangio’s light-hearted answer when asked how far this defense was from championship caliber.

“Can I get in one practice?” he said.

This wasn’t just about solidifying a defense, though. It was about having answers if the New York Jets get quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week or if a season comes down to a day against Mahomes or Burrow or Allen.

Most of the sports world celebrated the start of March Madness on Sunday. The Dolphins celebrated March Gladness with an eye toward February Fever in Vegas.