Miami Dolphins losing bet on older and injury-prone players | Schad

MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins are hoping 31-year-old receiver Odell Beckham can help save the day as early as this Sunday, at New England.

Beckham missed the first four games of this season after an offseason knee procedure.

This really was supposed to be an all-in season.

Super Bowl contention, if healthy, owner Stephen Ross said before the season .

If healthy , the caveat of course.

There was a period of time in this rebuild where general manager Chris Grier wouldn't even consider signing a player older than 30 years old.

And now, well, Miami's current roster has 11 players aged 30 or older, including five aged 32 or older.

We're here to tell you it's amazing that Miami's oldest player, 38-year-old defensive lineman Calais Campbell, has been one of the best players on the team. Of course, we all hope that can hold up and that Campbell can hold up.

Miami leads the NFL in salary cap dollars injured at the moment.

And unfortunately, some of Miami's older players have been injured or have struggled.

Safety Jordan Poyer is 33 years old. There have been some tough moments and now he's hurt.

Poyer even accidentally took out teammate Jaelan Phillips last week on a "friendly fire" tackle attempt.

Terron Armstead is 33 and he's had shoulder and knee injuries and missed last week with a concussion.

Raheem Mostert, the 31-year-old running back, has only six carries this season due to a chest injury.

Some will say it's not just age, but Miami's propensity to sign injury-prone players, that's a problem.

Bradley Chubb, 28, is not yet back from last year's knee injury.

Isaiah Wynn, 28, is not yet back from last year's quadriceps injury.

Those players have had some prior injuries.

And Tua, only 26, was of course signed to a long-term extension despite a lengthy injury history.

It's hard to argue against the idea that Miami's all-in strategy in 2024 included taking some risks.

Right now, they're losing some of these bets.

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Joe can be reached at jschad@pbpost.com and @schadjoe on X. Are you a member of our Daily Dolphin page on Facebook?

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins losing bet on older and injury-prone players | Schad