Mike Tannenbaum Adds Confusing Layer to Miami Dolphins' Front-Office Structure

Instant gratification. We're all victims of it, every time we pick up the remote to change the channel, when we pick up the phone to text, or hop on the Internet to tweet. 

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is afflicted by a need for instant gratification, too. He is always looking for the quick fix, instead of the long, laborious process of building from the bottom up. Time after time, the Dolphins have tried to take a short route to improving their team, making one change that Ross hopes will get his team over the hump and into a recurring role as a playoff contender. 

Basically, he's a Milennial trapped in a Traditionalist body.

He proved it once again by hiring Mike Tannenbaum as the Dolphins' new executive vice president of football operations, the team announced on Tuesday.

Now, with Tannenbaum in the fold, the Dolphins front office structure is a convoluted mess, as laid out by Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald. 

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General manager Dennis Hickey, who previously reported to owner Stephen Ross, now reports to new executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum. Hickey was cut off at the knees except that he maintains authority over the 53-man roster while his new boss does not—of course. Tannenbaum is Miami's new football czar, occupying the same job last held by Hall of Famer Bill Parcells. But Joe Philbin doesn't report to Tannenbaum. Club CEO Tom Garfinkel also doesn't report to Tannenbaum. That's fine because Tannenbaum doesn't report to Philbin or Garfinkel, either.

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All this leads to one question: Which way is up?

Tannenbaum has seven years of experience as the general manager of the New York Jets, and he spent 15 years with the team in various roles. As GM from 2006-2012, he led the Jets to the playoffs in three out of seven seasons and helped the team acquire some talent.

He drafted high-profile players such as Harris, center Nick Mangold, left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and cornerback Darrelle Revis. He was also the selector of some of the draft's biggest busts over the past decade.

Player	Years	Amount	Guaranteed	When signed	Games played on contract
Mark Sanchez	3	$40,475,000	$19,250,000	2012	15
Santonio Holmes	5	$45,000,000	$24,000,000	2011	31
David Harris	4	$36,000,000	$24,900,000	2011	64
Nick Mangold	7	$54,075,000	$16,097,600	2011	61
Sione Pouha	3	$15,000,000	$4,000,000	2012	12
Wayne Hunter	4	$13,000,000	$2,500,000	2011	16
Antonio Cromartie	4	$32,000,000	$12,800,000	2011	48
Plaxico Burress	1	$3,017,000	$3,017,000	2011	16
Kris Jenkins	5	$30,250,000	$9,500,000	2008	23

He also negotiated some of the most absurd contracts in recent history, including that of quarterback Mark Sanchez, wide receiver Santonio Holmes, linebacker David Harris and others, and left the Jets with a barren cupboard and a busted salary cap.

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Some of Mike Tannenbaum's greatest hits: Vernon Gholston, Stephen Hill, Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene, entire 2010 draft, trading for Tebow.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) January 6, 2015"

Tannenbaum has served as a consultant to Ross this season, which served as the basis for his hiring.

"During his time as a consultant this past season, I was able to see his impact firsthand through his commitment and passion for innovation and using every possible avenue to find competitive edges," Ross said in a statement.

And now, the Dolphins' front-office structure is more convoluted than the storylines of your mom's favorite soap opera.

Not only has head coach Joe Philbin been left twisting in the wind, so to speak, in that he now answers directly to Ross and not to Hickey or even Tannenbaum; Hickey has also been neutered by Tannenbaum's presence in the front office, in that he no longer answers directly to Ross, but instead to Tannenbaum, who is in essence a supervisor for Hickey.

"I'm hoping that, with me coming on board, it's going to give him more time to spend running the scouting department, watching tape and, being in his shoes, I know there are a lot of different things that you have to deal with," Tannenbaum said in a conference call on Tuesday.

Hickey started off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a personnel evaluator. He came to the Dolphins and got a promotion to general manager. After a year on the job, he's basically been demoted back to his old job. The Dolphins are saying Hickey will still oversee the draft and free agency, but he will be answering to Tannenbaum in doing so (let me know when you figure that one out, because I haven't yet, and my head is about to explode).

And now, Hickey has no job security.

Couldn't possibly blame him for being more than a little miffed at that.

A long history of half-measures by Ross has led to the Dolphins muddling in mediocrity for years, without any clear shot of powering their way into playoff contention.

Ross is always searching for the quick fix, the change of the channel, but now, it appears he's destined to channel surf once again in 12 months.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.