Albert Breer’s Mailbag: Two Good Reasons to Fire Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel

Plenty of questions to sort through this week, and I got to as many answers as I could. Let’s go!

Miami Dolphins

From #Mendoza2Miami (@FromRagsToGP): How much worse does it need to get for Ross to fire people in Miami?

Mendoza, this one really is up to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, and I’m not sure he’s been particularly forthcoming with more than a couple of people about how he’s processing the team’s shipwreck of a 1–6 start. As to how Ross might see this, I think usually there are only two good reasons to fire a coach this early in a season:

1) The coach has lost the locker room and, thus, the environment isn’t a good one for the team’s young, developing talent to play the rest of the year out in.

2) The team has a coach on staff that it wants to audition.

On the first count, there’s a lot of noise, though clearly Ross doesn’t think his team is at that point yet. On the second, you do have defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, widely seen in-house as a future head coach. So the elements are there for a move.

The team’s structure makes things interesting, too, with Mike McDaniel reporting to GM Chris Grier. If Ross were to make a move on McDaniel in-season and hold on to Grier, and Weaver gets the team rolling, would the owner stick the interim coach with the GM? It’s at least an interesting scenario to ponder as the Dolphins try to get off the mat.

From Francis Bannister (@jcahill89): Mike McDaniel going back to San Francisco when he eventually gets let go?

Francis, McDaniel was Kyle Shanahan’s guy—the only assistant who was with him at every one of his stops, since he first became an NFL position coach (Houston, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco)—so I wouldn’t rule that out. But I don’t think things were perfect at the end there, so I’d actually see McDaniel landing with the Rams or Packers as more likely, though in those cases, you have established, respected coordinators.

There’s also the possibility that he looks outside his own football family and goes to work in a place where he’d just be handed the keys to the offense and allowed to make it his own show. This is, of course, putting the cart before the horse, but if the Dolphins do decide to move on, McDaniel should have options.

San Francisco 49ers

From C.E.D.R.I.C. (@Official_C_E_D): Most realistic trade options for the 49ers? Will they have to give up a lot or can they find a bargain and still contend?

Ced, where most people would look for the Niners to help themselves, would probably be with an edge rusher to replace Nick Bosa in the rotation. The bad news: It’s not easy to find one of those. I could see them making a run at Trey Hendrickson, though it seems less likely now that the Bengals would trade their star rusher, with Joe Flacco helping to breathe life back into Cincinnati’s playoff hopes.

It’s worth calling the Dolphins (Bradley Chubb, Jaelen Phillips), Jets (Jermaine Johnson) and Titans (Arden Key), too, with Key being an intriguing possibility because of his experience in San Francisco, and affordability, both in money and trade return. However, he’s currently battling a quad injury right now.

The bigger part of the equation for the Niners is that your core is aging. Fred Warner and Nick Bosa will be turning 30 and 29, respectively, when they return next season. Trent Williams will be 38 on opening day. George Kittle just turned 32. Next year will be Christian McCaffrey’s 10th in the NFL, which, at tailback, is like playing 20 years at quarterback. So I think San Francisco has be honest with itself.

And that’ll mean asking hard questions, such as whether the team, without Bosa and Warner, is capable of competing for a championship as presently constituted. Because if it isn’t, it may not be worth flipping future assets that could inject youth into the roster.

Las Vegas Raiders

From Sports Junkie (@SportsJunkie_27): What is going on with the Raiders? Brady/Spytek seem like they’re on a different page than Pete Carroll & Co. Who’s on the chopping block after this horrible season so far? Chip Kelly?

Junkie, the roster wasn’t there to begin with, and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Of late, the problem has been the messaging with the Raiders. Three years ago, in Josh McDaniels’s first year, the Raiders aggressively traded for Davante Adams, and paid Adams, Derek Carr and Maxx Crosby, moves that maybe folks believe, after a playoff year in 2021 under interim coach Rich Bisaccia. This year, they hired Pete Carroll, traded for and pay Geno Smith, and re-signed Crosby again, before taking Ashton Jeanty with the sixth pick.

Neither team, McDaniels’s first or Carroll’s first, was close to competing for a championship, or even ready to jockey for position in the AFC West. But flashy offseasons can sometimes make fans see things that aren’t there, and this seems to be one of those cases.

I’d give the Raiders time. GM John Spytek is sharp as they come and aligned with Tom Brady, who’s leading the Raiders’ crew of deep-pocketed minority owners. Carroll and his staff are capable of developing young talent. I think the team’s actually in position to make a leap next fall. So let’s reevaluate in February.

Buffalo Bills

From Stosh (@Stosh70817): Are the Bills going to add a wide receiver?

Stosh, if someone who could be a longer-term No. 1, like New Orleans’s Chris Olave or Minnesota’s Jordan Addison, were to become available, then it’s something the Bills would investigate. My guess is Olave and Addison will stay where they are for the long haul, since that kind of thing would be on their radar in the 2026 draft.

Absent that, I’d say if there’s one thing they could add in an ancillary piece at the position, it would be speed. That’s why New Orleans’s Rasheed Shaheed would be an intriguing target. He’s in a contract year, so that might be a short-term fix, but that would probably make him available for a little bit less. It’s something the Bills should kick tires on.

Tennessee Titans

From Adam (@zandermercury): Titans trading anyone?

Adam, I think they’ll definitely have open phone lines for the next two weeks—there are pieces on a roster that’s pretty barren that might elicit some interest. Would they deal a Calvin Ridley or Tony Pollard? Maybe. But there’s the question of what that’ll do to their ability to develop Cam Ward over the next couple of months.

On defense, there are probably fewer names that have great trade value, if they stick to their guns on not trading Jeffery Simmons (and I can tell you they have no intention of moving Simmons). Key, Roger McCreary and Dre’Mont Jones have elicited interest, and Cody Barton and L’Jarius Sneed could too, though Key’s hurt, and Sneed’s had a lot of injury issues and is expensive.

I’m just not sure how many players, again, outside of Simmons, are capable of bringing a needle-moving return for Tennessee. We’ll see.

Baltimore Ravens

From David Kromelow (@dkrom59): Which AFC team, aside from Indy, do you think has the best chance to defeat the Chiefs in the playoffs?

David, I’m gonna go off the board here and tell you it’s the 1–5 Ravens.

Am I nuts? I don’t think so. If they beat the Bears this week, they have the Dolphins, Vikings, Browns and Jets before their Thanksgiving night home game against the Bengals. With the crew they have returning from injury (which includes Lamar Jackson), I don’t think it’s impossible that we’re looking at a 6–5 team that has Cincinnati coming to town a little over a month from now.

If they put a string of wins together, Baltimore’s roster is as talented as any in football, and they become pretty dangerous.

RBs over the top

From Eric Johnson (@EricJoh80003972): In short-yardage situations, how come RBs don’t go over the top anymore (a la LT)?

Great question, Eric. I do have that image burned in my brain, of LaDainian Tomlinson jumping the pile and tumbling into the end zone, and you’re right that it seems like fewer and fewer guys are crossing the goal line that way these days. I’d say it’s probably a ball-security question, where it’s harder to secure the ball in that sort of situation, one where a lot of defenders are trying to punch it out. So, a back’s strength to hang on to it would be a factor, and there may just not be many who have that.

(Tomlinson also had hops that other guys might lack.)

Houston Texans

From Cameron Sebek (@CameronSebek): Will Nick Caley and Nick Caserio be back in Houston in 2026 if the Texans continue to struggle?

Cameron, I understand your frustration.

To be clear, I don’t think Caserio is in jeopardy. He was instrumental in hiring DeMeco Ryans, and building a roster that, despite the Texans’ record, remains one of the NFL’s best collections of young talent. Caserio’s long-term job security will almost certainly be tied to C.J. Stroud’s viability, but I think he has time to work that out.

I’d give Caley some time, too. The Texans started a rookie at left tackle (Aireontae Ersery) at left tackle, and two rookies at receiver (Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel) on Monday night. As such, this is an offense that should get better over the course of the season, with the quarterback, obviously, being a key component. Caley’s sharp, and coaches like Sean McVay and Josh McDaniels think the world of him. I bet he figures it out.

NFL ownership

From KTA (@keiteay): Is there any worry at all among NFL owners—especially the old-time, family ownership types—that their franchises could actually be become too valuable to the point where hardly anyone would be able to afford them if they decide to put their team up for sale?

KTA, that’s why you’re seeing the continued relaxation of ownership rules. First, they abolished the restrictions on cross-ownership, which had previously prevented prospective owners from buying NFL teams while owning teams in other sports that weren’t in the same market as the NFL team in question. Then, they allowed for private equity to enter the fray.

The idea is to allow for more of the world’s wealthiest people to become involved as the price of teams skyrockets and the pool of potential buyers shrinks. If the Seahawks go up for sale soon, for example, the other 31 teams will want a real bidding war, and the only way that can happen is to involve as many people as possible who can afford it. So they’ll twist the rules as much as they can to make it a good proposition for people like Steve Ballmer and Jeff Bezos, both of whom have ties to the region.

The next domino here would be to potentially relax the rule that the primary owner must own at least 30% of the team. But I don’t think we’re there yet.

New England Patriots

From 150 Causeway (@JimLegere): Pats are on a roll for sure. Where (or who) do you see Vrabel/Wolf looking to add as the season moves on?

Causeway, I’d say look at running backs and pass rushers. And I’d put the approach here in two buckets.

The first is the short-term. I think this is where the Patriots would be looking at Band-Aids. So if there’s a back, such as Zamir White in Vegas with logical ties (he played for Josh McDaniels) at an affordable price (he isn’t playing much for the Raiders), then yes, I could see the Patriots moving. A short-term answer, like Trey Hendrickson (who’s probably not being dealt anyway with the Bengals playing better), at a big price, your proverbial “win-now” transaction—would be less likely.

The second bucket is the long-term. We mentioned Olave and Addison earlier in regarding Buffalo. Both have the potential to be No. 1 receivers, and are in their mid-20s, so they’d be building blocks (and for Drake Maye). That’s where I’d see the Patriots more willing to part with significant draft capital.

The Patriots are a good team again, but I’m not sure they’re a threat to come out of the AFC and win a Super Bowl. The roster still has plenty of holes. So those 2026 draft picks won’t be thrown around haphazardly.

Detroit Lions

From Michael Griffey (@Mike__Griffey): Do you see the Lions making any trades at the deadline? Which players would they be interested in?

Michael, I think it’s logical to assume they’ll be looking for a pass rusher, like they were last year, to put opposite Aidan Hutchinson. So the two in Miami could be of interest, if you’re willing to take on money, or maybe Johnson if the Jets show willingness to part with him.