Dolphins hiring Mike Tannenbaum as executive V.P. of football operations

Getty Images

After employing ex-Jets G.M. Mike Tannenbaum as a consultant last year, the Dolphins are adding him to an executive’s position in the front office.

The Dolphins will hire Tannenbaum as executive vice president of of football operations, PFT’s Mike Florio reports.

Tannenbaum will start his work in Miami on February 1.

Fox’s Mike Garafolo and Alex Marvez first reported the Dolphins would be hiring Tannenbaum to an executive’s role.

According to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, General Manager Dennis Hickey will work under Tannenbaum.

Tannenbaum has long known Dawn Aponte, the Dolphins’ executive vice president of football administration, with both working together in the Jets’ front office. Aponte oversees the Dolphins’ salary cap and handles contracts.

Tannenbaum and Aponte would be the Dolphins’ lone executive vice presidents, according to Miami’s front office organizational chart.

Since being let go by the Jets at the end of the 2012 season, Tannenbaum has worked as an agent for coaches. Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is among his clients.

61 responses to “Dolphins hiring Mike Tannenbaum as executive V.P. of football operations

  1. How does this guy ever get another front office job again? VP of custodial operations I can see, but was anyone paying attention to his tenure with the Jets? Smh.

  2. I hope my beloved Phins did not need to meet Rooney Rule criteria on this one. It would be just like them to screw it up. Hoping since he was already on board this is a way around it.

  3. Wow condolences from a Pats fan. Tannenbaum wrecked the Jets personnel that Mangini had left them with and left them in cap hell with that horrible Sanchez extension and other bad contracts.

    Looks like just when things were starting to look up for the Fins they decided to dive back into a black hole of suck.

  4. Is there some rule that requires teams to re-hash the same employees of other teams? Get some new blood with new ideas.

  5. Remember when he and Mangini couldn’t get their stories straight about whether they had permission to tape the Pats during the 2006 playoffs, or whether they do that at all? That was pretty cool that the coach said one thing, then the GM said another.

  6. Ross: Glancing over your resume here, Mike. It says you drafted Darrell Revis in 2007, but the rest of your resume is just a big ink smudge.

    Tannenbaum: Yeah *cough* damn printer must’ve… ahhh.

    Ross: Well that’s good enough for me. When can you start?

  7. Lol I love hires like these cause you guys pretend like it harms your life in some way. Grow up. Just like any other NFL hire, maybe it works out. Maybe it doesn’t. Only time will tell.

  8. Any team from outside the AFCE might have an excuse… but good lord Miami – you’ve had a front row seat to his clown show with the Jets and the aftermath!

  9. Can’t believe the dolphins would hire a guy who helped build a team that went to a few AFC championship games and the playoffs 5 times with mark Sanchez as the qb. And then when he left the jets went back to being the joke of the NFL. What is Miami thinking.

  10. When are the Dolphins going to announce or do something positive? Being a dolphins fan has been a real bummer the last 20 years.

  11. Wait, some of you are saying he sucked in New York…show me where they got better after he left? Is the problem the GM or the Owner there?

  12. seriously? Dolphins are(were) headed in the right direction.

    I never liked his work with the Jets. maybe ha matured, because just watching hard knocks the lack of maturity between the GM/HC and starting QB was just appaling.

    I don’t quite understand how he gets ANOTHER chance. I hope it works out, I just don’t think I’d bet on it working

  13. from a jets fan, tanny is not nearly as bad as most in here are saying. the whole cap mess was a total media fabrication. he also got the jets to the playoffs more times than any gm the dolphins have had this century. i also never understood why mangini got so much credit for the great drafts the jets had during his tenure. the jets have had the same scouting personnel for years. they just hit big while tanny was gm so he should get some credit at least. anyway, he is an aggressive gm. expect the fins to make some big trades and get some big free agents.

  14. If you ever have seen this guy on NFL network he is a complete buffoon. Ross please fire yourself – please be excused. You are a horrible owner.

    terrrrrrrrrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Ross needs to stay in real estate- he can’t make a football decision to save his life.

  15. On the bright side at least he is not the GM. Now it will be interesting to see how the current GM and this clown work together.

    Also please FIRE COYLE!!!!

  16. What exactly will his duties be? Maybe he will force Philbin to fire Coyle and go after Wade Phillips or Mike Nolan. Is it Parcells’ old job? That worked out so well the last time. I thought Hickey did a decent job but this seems like Ross wants someone over him. I’m not sure how the structure works but usually, adding executives just means another person is on the payroll and another voice is heard to add confusion on decisions that matter.

    It would be nice if Dolphins fans could get some good news every once in a while.

  17. Some people don’t like Mike, but I think he’s alright. Ya he whiffed on re-upping with Sanchez, but technically the Jets had money to spend anyways.

    I think he had a good tenure with the Jets, if you look back at the draft history they did well.

  18. The AFC East is weakest division in pro sports. Anyone else tired of watching Bill Belichick do layups ?

  19. To those of who say “The Jets fell off after he left”: They fell off because this ass-clown left them in a terrible financial situation! This guy has never proven himself. He’s responsible for the awful Sanchez extension and the Tebow trade. He was fired by the lowly Jets, for God’s sake. What the hell would we want him for? Bring in some heavy hitters for once! Hickey is doing great so far and Aponte has also done well; don’t undermine it by scraping the dregs for failed NFL has-beens. Long live mediocrity!

  20. So… Does this mean Mark Sanchez is getting a new contract this offseason to come play QB for Miami? 🙂

    In all seriousness, I don’t understand this move for Miami. Tannenbaum wasn’t that good as the Jets’ GM. He didn’t appear to be a salary cap wizard while he was there – that is for sure. There were probably better options out there, but hey, what do I know?

  21. The Jets were doing great with this guy running the show, now look at them. I think this could absolutely work out and who knows maybe Quinn comes to Miami as the D coordinator and if Philbin starts slow next year immediately takes over.

  22. Well, his agent career clearly failed.

    Now, the clients can go to a real agency CAA and Rex Ryan’s and Bill Parcells’ agent Jimmy Sexton.

    They can go far that way.

  23. How is anyone defending his NJY tenure? Drafted, resigned Sanchez, signed Favre, traded for Tebow. Have to give him credit for Revis and Mangold way back when. Other than one other hit on his way out the door (Wilkerson) his drafts were a series of disasters – Kyle Wilson, Jeremy Hill, Ducasse, Coples, Vernon Gholston, Dustin Keller, and no late round diamond in the rough stars. Rex got those teams to AFC title games despite the rosters he was given, not because of them.

  24. IY’S A GREAT HIRE..Tanny is familiar with the AFC East and has been in a GM position..More experience never hurts..He understands every facet of a NFL franchaise..Oh..Rex gets the credit for reaching 2 AFC Championship games..I think Mangini And Tanny set the table quite nicely for Rex..I don’t think Rex would deny that..Just saying..

  25. Redskins sign mcloughan to a 4 year deal. Cheers!
    ———————————————————-
    as long as he stays clean and does well picking players and drafting, then that’s a good move. Washington’s issues for years have been (as many people point out to) their lack of having a GM.

    as for Tannenbaum, i don’t understand the hire. he wasn’t that good for the Jets and doesn’t come off as a good player picker. thankfully, they are keeping Hickey as GM as i think he’s done a better job than expected.

  26. Wow…absolutely wow.

    What are Dolphins thinking?????

    Maybe…he knows how to add & subtract. Maybe his looks and personality will help draw better halftime shows.

    They could NOT have hired him from his football or GM accomplishments, as there are zero.

    Oh, I get it..he’s going to make sure highest priced concessions in NFL do not run out.

  27. Tanny and Mangini picked a few decent players along the way..4 guys there are probably HOF players..Just Sayin

    Mangold
    Ferguson
    Revis
    Harris
    L Washington
    D. Woodhead
    Brad Smith

  28. This is the greatest hire of all time made by Ross as long as he fires this schmuck tomorrow.

  29. nobody actually cares, ever cares, even fake cares about the deadskins…

    everything wrong with football begins and ends with the deadskins….

    hard to believe this team ever won anything in fact I think its documented on the dead sea scrolls it was so long ago…

  30. After digesting this move for a while, here is what it looks like to me. Ross did not get the GM he wanted last year and settled for Hickey and still isn’t sold on him. He did not like the coaching candidates available this year so he kept Philbin after determining Harbaugh was not interested in Miami/probably going to Michigan. Again, not sold on Philbin but not willing to start over and possibly get worse. Hickey did better than expected and firing him now would look pretty bad so he hires the GM of the future. If the Dolphins fail to turn things around Hickey and Philbin will be gone and Tannenbaum will hire Philbin’s replacement. That still leaves the possibility for getting a coach who wants coach/GM responsibilities to replace both Philbin and Hickey. Tannenbaum was an advisor to Ross this year and essentially turned that into a season-long interview. Ross is hedging his bets on next year and Tannenbaum is part of the plan moving forward should Philbin fail. If Philbin gets the team into the playoffs with a respectable season, the move still looks OK and Tannenbaum just waits. If anything at all goes awry, Philbin and Hickey are gone. That is the only reason I can see for hiring a new boss for Hickey and then letting him “control” the roster.

  31. Reading this just makes me want to cry. Stephen Ross needs to go. I am giving the Dolphins another 3 seasons to make an AFC championship game (25 seasons since their last appearance) before I quit watching the NFL altogether. Guess this hire means I will stop watching the NFL in 3 years.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.