Patrick Paul isn’t lowering the bar for the 2026 Miami Dolphins. If anything, the young left tackle is raising it.
Speaking on Terron Armstead’s former Dolphins podcast, “The Set,” Paul laid out the kind of team he expects Miami to become under its new leadership. His message to fans was blunt and upbeat: “I expect them to see a gritty team. With this new leadership, we're definitely coming different.”
Paul kept going, painting a picture of a Dolphins group he believes will look tougher and more complete from start to finish. “A hard-working team that's going to be very disciplined, a team that's going to play all through four quarters, in all different weather situations. Just expect a team that's going to go out there and shock people."
That kind of language lands for a reason. Miami has spent years dealing with the same questions about toughness, late-game execution and how it handles cold-weather conditions when the elements become part of the game. Paul’s comments sounded like a direct answer to all of that.
The conversation also turned to Paul’s own 2025 season, and the third-year lineman didn’t exactly hand out himself a victory lap. After his first full year as a starter, the 2024 second-round pick said, “It was good ball that I played, being completely honest, but there’s definitely more. The mindset’s always like more; it’s got to be better.”
He made it clear he watches the tape with a critical eye. “Because whenever you watch it, I’m not watching the good stuff; I’m watching where I messed up when I look back to the season.”
And while he called 2025 a solid beginning, he’s not treating it like a finished product. “Definitely a good intro, but I want more, I want it to be more clean; I want it to be more consistent.”
That fits neatly with what new head coach Jeff Hafley and first-year general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan have been saying about changing the culture in South Florida. There may be some growing pains ahead, but Paul’s comments line up with the tone of the new regime.
He’s also positioned to be one of the voices in the locker room next season, with a role that should put him among the top five players on the roster.
Paul and Armstead covered more ground during the interview, including his rookie season, former coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his time in Miami. Tagovailoa is now trying to win the Atlanta Falcons’ starting job.
The Dolphins are set to open training camp as a full unit on July 28, with rookies reporting on the 21st.
In Other News...
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From the Dolphins side, the conversation is more about whether theyd even entertain moving a proven veteran than it is about any actual deal taking shape. Miami has not indicated that Jordyn Brooks is available, and no trade has been confirmed, but the fact that his name is surfacing at all says plenty about how teams around the league view the Dolphins defensive pieces and how quickly a need elsewhere can turn into a call worth making. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Just Got Dragged Into A Wild NFL Scenario Again
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The Broncos wound up in Group D in Bahns setup and made it all the way through the group stage and the Round of 16 before their run ended in the quarterfinals against Cincinnati. For the Dolphins, the more immediate takeaway is less about Denvers eventual exit and more about how quickly these alternate-universe formats can put Miami in the middle of a storyline that feels both ridiculous and oddly plausible, which is exactly why these exercises keep pulling readers back in. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Roster Trend Is Challenging Everything Fans Assume About This Team
The Dolphins roster construction has turned into an odd little geographic story, and it starts with where the players came from before they ever reached the NFL. Texas stands out as the clear pipeline, with a large share of Miamis roster having played college football there, while Florida schools barely register by comparison. For a team that lives and works in one of the countrys biggest football states, that imbalance is enough to make you look twice.
Even more striking is how many Dolphins were actually born in Texas, a number that pushes the team well above the usual local-birth profile you might expect from a South Florida roster. The reasons are not spelled out as official policy, but the pattern has prompted some curiosity about whether the front office values players who have spent their careers outside the familiar pull of home-state ties. For now, it is just one of those roster quirks that says as much about Miamis approach as any depth chart ever could. [Read more 🡒]