A pair of former Dolphins are discovering an uncomfortable truth as the 2025 season winds down — the grass isn’t as green as they’d hoped in leaving Miami
Greener in money? Yes. Everything else? To be determined.
It is hard to believe anyone was looking over at the Miami Dolphins during the first two months of this season with any envy for what was going down in South Florida. Fresh off an offseason filled with talk about culture, rebuilds, and accountability, the Dolphins started this season 1-6 with some ugly losses packaged at the front of the year.
But as we are reminded every single year, these seasons are marathons. And a lot can change from September to December. A pair of former Dolphins are learning this firsthand in 2025, with a sobering reality check: the grass may not have been greener like they’d hoped when changing teams amid disputes with Miami this offseason.
Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith’s experience with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025 isn’t looking so hot, after all
“When there’s film sessions, everybody shows up. When I check to a route, you do the right route. Like Jonnu and I just weren’t on the same page. I checked to his in breaker, and he ran (an) out breaker. Jonnu is a true professional. I’m sure he’s sick about that…We have our meetings every week. We have other opportunities outside of the facility. Look forward to seeing all the boys there.”
— Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a missed connection with TE Jonnu Smith in Week 13
You mean to tell me the starting quarterback of the team, in the postgame press conference after a loss, inferred that players weren’t doing what needed to be done outside formal meeting times and laid down the gauntlet for his teammates? Why Pittsburgh, how so very Miami of you!
The Steelers sit at 6-6 after a 4-1 start. They’re fresh off of giving up more rushing yards to a team (the Buffalo Bills) than any team has posted in the history of Pittsburgh’s home stadium. The Steelers loaded up on veteran players this offseason to try to break through a glass ceiling of being a competitive team enduring an extensive playoff win drought. Gee, that sounds familiar, no? Their season teeters on the brink with a matchup against the Baltimore Ravens next week.
After that? A date with the Dolphins in primetime.
Miami’s former players in Pittsburgh have had a mixed experience in 2025. Safety De’Shon Elliott, who couldn’t bash Miami quickly enough this offseason, is out for the season with an injury. Jalen Ramsey made a mid-season position switch and has been living at free safety in a bid to extend the ceiling of his career. It’s been a success, but the Steelers’ defense still ranks 24th in scoring and 28th in yards this season.
Jonnu Smith has nearly caught as many strays from Rodgers in press conferences as he has touchdowns this season. Jonnu is averaging a career-worst 6.3 yards per reception and 0.81 yards receiving per route run in 2025 — he averaged 1.95 yards per route run with Miami in 2024, which ranked fifth-best among qualifying tight ends at the end of the year.
No, the grass isn’t always greener. It was greener in the way of more cash for both players — and for this season to date, it’s been greener in the way of wins. But Miami’s recent stretch, paired with Pittsburgh’s catastrophic November, has the Dolphins firmly on the Steelers’ tail as we enter the final stretch.
Both teams are on the doorstep of another season gone by without that elusive playoff win. The difference between the two, of course, is that Miami took its bad medicine to transition away from a veteran-heavy, big-name roster approach. Whereas Pittsburgh saw the model Miami laid and said, “Yeah, let’s do that!”
Jonnu Smith’s 2024 season with Miami versus his 2025 season with Pittsburgh
- Touchdown receptions: 8 in 2024, 2 in 2025
- Yards per reception: 10.4 in 2024, 6.3 in 2025
- Yards per route run: 1.95 in 2024 (fifth-best among TEs), 0.81 in 2025 (second-worst among TEs)
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