The 2025 NFL season will be incredibly important for the Miami Dolphins . Miami had a disappointing 2024 season , winning only eight games and missing the postseason. The Dolphins suffered some major injuries, including a scary concussion to QB Tua Tagovailoa that put the future of his NFL career into question.

Tagovailoa is now healthy and the Dolphins are ready to win some games this fall. The organization seems to understand that big changes could be coming if the team has another losing season. In other words, it is now or never.

As such, the Dolphins have put in a ton of work this offseason to upgrade the roster around Tagovailoa. The Dolphins signed guard James Daniels in free agency and added depth on both sides of the football.

Miami also got a solid rookie class from the 2025 NFL Draft. The Dolphins desperately needed defensive linemen and made some key additions, led by Kenneth Grant in the first round.

Unfortunately, the Dolphins lost one of their best starters this offseason as well. Veteran left tackle Terron Armstead officially retired from the NFL back in April, weeks before the 2025 NFL Draft. The Dolphins did not replace him with a starting-caliber left tackle, which is admittedly a big question mark heading into training camp.

The Dolphins accomplished quite a bit this offseason, but it was far from perfect.

Which offseason move was the biggest gamble? And will it end up hurting the Dolphins during the 2025 season?

Below we will explore the riskiest moves made by the Miami Dolphins during the 2025 NFL offseason.

Artie Burns signing highlights Dolphins' desperate situation in defensive secondary

This may look like a surprising pick for riskiest offseason move. But bear with me.

The Dolphins signed cornerback Artie Burns during free agency. On the surface there isn't much to this signing. Miami signed Burns to a veteran minimum contract and brought the former Hurricane home.

Miami entered the offseason with its secondary as a huge need. That should make the Burns signing a good one, especially because he costs so little.

However, there are a few reasons to not like this move.

First, let's not pretend that Artie Burns is a Week 1 starter for the Dolphins.

Burns is a former first-round pick, drafted 16th overall by the Steelers back in 2016. But his best days are long behind him.

Burns fizzled out during his final season in Pittsburgh in 2019. He left the Steelers and has bounced around to different teams ever since, rarely staying for longer than a full season.

At this point in his career, Burns is nothing more than veteran depth.

Another problem is that Miami did not do much else aside from signing Burns.

The Dolphins did draft Jason Marshall Jr. in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He is another local player who played high school ball at Miami Palmetto High School. Marshall is nothing more than a developmental cornerback.

All of this is circling around the biggest story surrounding the Dolphins heading into the summer.

The Jalen Ramsey situation is Miami's biggest blunder of the offseason

Let's finally address the elephant in the room.

The biggest issue with the Burns signing is not necessarily the player himself. It is what he was brought to Miami to accomplish.

Realistically, the Dolphins brought in Burns as depth at cornerback to help mitigate the eventual loss of Jalen Ramsey.

The Dolphins have not been shy about exploring the idea of trading Jalen Ramsey . Dolphins GM Chris Grier put all his cards on the table back in April.

“After a couple weeks of discussions between ourselves internally and Jalen Ramsey, we've decided it was probably in the best interest of all parties to move forward,” Grier said. “These decisions aren't done quickly, and they're not taken lightly. At the end of the day, Jalen did not ask for a trade… We just felt that, after numerous conversations and talking last week, [a trade] was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins and Jalen Ramsey.”

The rumblings around Ramsey are far more than just rumors. The Dolphins seem to have the perfect landing spot in mind for Ramsey.

Sean McVay and the Rams seem determined to get Ramsey back to Los Angeles. The Rams have a huge need at cornerback and adding a veteran like Ramsey would complete the room.

Dolphins fans should begin closely monitoring the situation after June 1st. If Miami trades Ramsey after that date, they can easily spread his dead cap hit out over multiple seasons.

But where would a Ramsey trade leave Miami?

Without Ramsey, the Dolphins would be left with Storm Duck and Kader Kohou as their starting cornerbacks. Cam Smith, Artie Burns, and Jason Marshall Jr. would be depth behind them.

Ultimately, the Dolphins shot themselves in the foot by publicly announcing their intention to trade Ramsey.