recent podcast<\/a> with longtime NFL writer Clarence Hill Jr. of DLLS Sports, said, \u201cI think the Dolphins were wise in understanding my relationships around the league. And knowing that I have information that they don\u2019t have or can\u2019t get. And I think they were smart in taking advantage of that \u2014 whether it was through me or through somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\nInformation that the Dolphins \u201ccan\u2019t get\u201d is the key phrase.<\/p>\n
To be clear, this is a NFL problem, not a Dolphins problem. The Dolphins are playing by the rules.<\/p>\n
Much like the situation with Tom Brady, the Las Vegas Raiders partial owner and Hall of Fame quarterback who also serves as a Fox analyst, the NFL has to resolve this perceived conflict before it grows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I\u2019ll add this: I\u2019m not concerned about a conflict in Aikman\u2019s dual role as an analyst\/Dolphins advisor.<\/p>\n
In the 2026 season, if other coaches and players are dumb enough to share exclusive information with Aikman knowing that he\u2019s a Dolphins advisor, well, they get what they deserve.<\/p>\n
As for Aikman possibly leapfrogging Marino, my understanding is that Marino, special advisor to the president and CEO, isn\u2019t seeking an expanded role.<\/p>\n
Again, the big thing to me is that it appears that Aikman is possibly the loudest voice in the rebuild.<\/p>\n
You get the feeling that all of the biggest rebuilding moves \u2014 hiring Sullivan, hiring Hafley, and, perhaps, signing quarterback Malik Willis \u2014 required Aikman\u2019s approval in one way or another.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note, however, Aikman won\u2019t be advising the Dolphins on who to draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, he seems to be greatly influential.<\/p>\n
How did we get to this point?<\/p>\n
Aikman said toward the end of the season he got a call \u201cout of nowhere\u201d from Sillman asking if he\u2019d be part of Miami\u2019s general manager search committee. Sillman, according to Aikman, had reached out to some people and Aikman\u2019s name came up quite a few times.<\/p>\n
Aikman said he\u2019d been asked over the years about head coach candidates, but he\u2019d never been asked about general managers. Aikman gave it some thought and decided to join the GM search committee. That led to the Dolphins asking Aikman to serve in the head coach search committee.<\/p>\n
Aikman said he sees no conflict in his dual roles with ESPN and the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have any ownership,\u201d Aikman said. \u201cI don\u2019t have the influence, if you will, that Tom seemingly has there with the Raiders. It looks similar, but I\u2019m not so sure that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aikman said the Cowboys never asked him to serve in an advisory role. And then he gave the quote that could raise questions about his objectivity on NFL broadcasts, especially in games involving Miami\u2019s AFC East rivals \u2014 Buffalo, New England and the New York Jets.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I will say that I\u2019m pulling for the Dolphins because now I have something at stake, and I think they hired two really talented, wonderful people and I think that\u2019s going to prove itself out,\u201d he said, adding that 2026 will be a tough season because of salary cap issues. \u201c\u2026but I\u2019m pulling for them, I want to see them do well because I feel like my fingerprints are on it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an interesting dynamic between the Dolphins and Aikman, to say the least.<\/p>\n
By the way, if anyone questions whether this is a rebuild, consider Aikman\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m remodeling a house in California so I know all about stripping it down to the studs,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing in Miami.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, as Aikman said, his fingerprints are on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 I like the move by Dolphins owner Steve Ross to utilize Troy Aikman, the Hall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,1763,125,124,119,110],"class_list":["post-227364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}