Former Miami Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott hasn’t been shy about his disdain about his old squad. The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back called the team “soft as [expletive]” last year and took more shots at the Dolphins this week.
On an episode of the Not Just Football podcast, Elliott told a couple of his Steelers teammates that being in Pittsburgh “is way better than Miami.” When defensive lineman Cam Heyward asked him about talk that the Dolphins “have no culture,” the safety said that’s obvious.
“Duh,” Elliott told Heyward. “Everyone knows that though, bro. It’s funny. Look, we have two guys that just left the team and came here. Everyone knows that. Even the players, they know that.”
Those two players, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith, were traded to the Steelers in a deal that sent safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back to Miami. While Ramsey had some clear issues with the Dolphins that led to the trade, Smith made it clear that he hoped to stay in Miami on a new contract.
Either way, concerns about the Dolphins’ locker room culture have been a subject of discussions since essentially the second the 2024 season ended. Head coach Mike McDaniel even admitted in January that he was hunting for a way to deal with the team’s discipline issues.
According to Dolphins tight end Tanner Conner, one of the answers was parting with troublemakers.
“Mike [McDaniel] hasn’t changed at all,” Conner said in July, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I think maybe the emphasis around him and respecting him more as players has changed as we’ve gotten some players out who might have not been as respectful…. The team is very bought in. They believe in Mike and what he wants to do.”
The Dolphins say that there’s been a big difference this year.
“The sidelines have been different all preseason,” McDaniel. “I think it was on display in Detroit and that’s a result of enhanced connectivity that’s real, not just saying, ‘Hey, we want to be a closer team.’ I think you’re seeing defensive players celebrate with offensive players and vice versa.”
