Contract Extension for Joe Philbin Commitment to Mediocrity by Dolphins

In 2014, the Miami Dolphins went 8-8. It was the second straight season that the team posted that record, and the sixth straight season that the Dolphins have missed the postseason.

Apparently, in the eyes of team owner Stephen Ross, that's a success.

According to Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald, the Dolphins plan to approach head coach Joe Philbin about a contract extension:

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Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin's status for the 2015 season was not in doubt once team owner Stephen Ross publicly endorsed him before the season ended. But that endorsement raised the question whether the Dolphins would commit to Philbin financially beyond that '15 season, which was scheduled to be the final year of the coach's contract.

That question is now answered because a club source close to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said this evening the team will indeed offer Philbin an extension.

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Philbin, who is 23-25 in his three years at the helm in Miami, was set to enter the last year of his contract with the team. An extension would remove Philbin's lame-duck status for the upcoming season, and new Miami team VP (and de facto general manager) Mike Tannenbaum told Omar Kelly of the (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel that it's an extension Philbin has earned:

"There is a good foundation here," Tannenbaum said. "You've got a head coach who has been there for a while. I love his attention to detail, preparation, and player development."

Now, before we go any farther, it's worth pointing out that in many ways an extension is little more than window dressing, at least in Kelly's opinion:

It may well be that the Dolphins aren't making a long-term commitment to Philbin, but an extension for the 53-year-old would also demonstrate that the Dolphins aren't interested in a commitment to something else.

Winning football games.

Mind you, this isn't to say that Philbin's done a bad job. In fact, Philbin himself told the Sun-Sentinel's Chris Perkins after the team's Week 17 loss to the New York Jets that he felt his club was headed in the right direction:

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I think we were a better football team this year. I do think we were better until (Sunday's loss). I don't think we had lost to a team with a losing record (this season). Obviously that's not the case anymore, but I thought that was a positive thing that things were headed in the right direction. We have to finish the season better.

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Unless that direction is spinning in circles, I don't see it.

Yes, the Dolphins didn't lose a game to a team with a losing record in 2014 until Week 17. They also went 1-5 versus playoff teams and hovered around the .500 mark for a third straight season.

It wasn't that long ago that Salguero was reporting that this water-treading act looked set to cost Philbin his job:

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Philbin has improved the Dolphins over the past three seasons. There’s usually nothing embarrassing about their game-day performances anymore. But the improvement has so far failed to cross the line between mediocre and good.

And the problem for Philbin is that when boss Ross looks at his team, he sees talent that should definitely be good enough to get it into the playoffs.

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And that's hardly an unfair assessment. Take a look at the Dolphins roster. Now look at the roster for the Arizona Cardinals.

Now show me the difference in talent that explains why the Cardinals have 21 wins and a playoff appearance over the past two years, while the Dolphins have 16 and a fat bag of nothing.

If you can't find it, it's because that talent gap doesn't exist among the players.

It's on the coaching staffs.

Still, it appears Ross had a change of heart. Perhaps he decided that Philbin isn't solely to blame. After all, there was the bullying scandal in 2013. A carousel of assistants and front-office personnel that would give a professional figure skater vertigo.

Of course, as Salguero pointed out last year in an open letter to the coach, Philbin's hands aren't clean there either:

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This year you helped author a disaster. No, I'm not talking about the on-field collapse the final two games of the season. I'm not talking about your desire to keep offensive coordinator and friend Mike Sherman when the entire rest of the planet understood he had to go. I'm not even talking about your failed relationship with Jeff Ireland and curious business relationship with executive vice president of football administration Dawn Aponte.

I'm talking about your harassment scandal and all the issues that scandal has given birth to.

The scandal has presented you with problems about what to do with an offensive line coach who apparently lied to you. It has created a delicate situation with some players who may never again play for you and some that almost definitely will remain on your roster and in your locker room.

And that scandal, coach Philbin, has brought you a public relations nightmare the likes of which began last October but is not nearly close to being over.

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We're still waiting for those reasons to extend Philbin to become evident.

Once again, this isn't to say that Philbin is a bad head coach. He's just not an especially good one either. He's an average tactician. And unless Philbin is a madman behind closed doors, as a motivator he has all the fire of a wet roman candle.

There may be something to be said for the Dolphins attempting to establish some organizational continuity. But, where Philbin is concerned, given everything we've seen from him since taking the job in South Florida...

What it says isn't good, and that continuity will just be a continuation of the team's mediocrity.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.