Dave Hyde: Don’t start annual Cycle of Hope with Miami Dolphins just yet

So now they’re tougher than before. So now they’re deeper than before. So now that the Miami Dolphins have finished spackling their big holes of free agency it’s fine and dandy to admire the changed landscape and plot their Super Bowl path again.

Please.

Can we set aside the annual Cycle of Hope in another change-of-philosophy offseason until everything at least plays out?

Dolphins know the Cycle of Hope by now: Regular season with some positive drowns in December, no playoff win in January, depressed state of the franchise, anger and threats followed by free-agency and a fresh layer of optimism, draft build-up and more optimism and …

“I like the potential of being a Super Bowl champion,” newly signed defensive end Shaq Barrett said. “I think this team has the potential for sure.”

Potential is a dangerous word. How many teams reach theirs? How many of us actually do?

The Dolphins haven’t earned any benefit of the doubt like the Miami Heat have for decades and the Florida Panthers have in recent years. The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, the longest active stretch in the NFL. Their five-year rebuilt has nothing substantive to show for it.

They were in such a salary-cap jam this off-season they threw a star like Christian Wilkins, an important piece like Robert Hunt and an interesting player like Andrew Van Ginkel overboard. Yet all is good? Start the Super Bowl talk even?

There’s a plus-minus game Dolphins legend Don Shula used to play each offseason to gauge his roster’s changes. It’s a simple game every front office plays in some form. Did you add or subtract at positions? Let’s go:

— 1. Defensive tackle. Minus. Losing Wilkins for a third-round compensatory pick is the signature of this suddenly changed front-office workings. For the past three years, they scoffed at such ideas. Now they’re gold? They lost Wilkins in not signing him last offseason. In Wilkin’s absence, can the likes Da’Shawn Hand, Benito Jones or Neville Gallimore elevate their names?

— 2. Linebacker. Plus. Jerome Baker was a valuable piece starting every game for five years before getting hurt some this past season. Baker signed a one-year, $7-million with Seattle, meaning the Dolphins really traded him for former Seahawks linebacker Jordy Brooks (three years, $30 million). Brooks is a big tackler and, by all analysis, a good cover player in the proper scheme.

— 3. Safety. Minus. You lost two in-their-prime starters in DeShon Elliott and Brandon Jones and got a cheaper wild card in Jordan Poyer. How couldn’t you like Poyer in Buffalo all those years? But he comes for $2 million for a reason. He will soon be 33. There’s lots of wear-and-tear on his body. It’s not just how he plays in September. Like so many on this roster, how will he look in January?

— 4. Offensive line. Incomplete. The time to re-sign Hunt was a year ago because Carolina’s $20-million-a-year deal was good-for-Hunt crazy. Center Aaron Brewer is a good system fit at $7 million a year. Brewer was needed for with Connor Williams a free agent and his health status uncertain for next year. Does newly signed Philadelphia reserve Jack Driscoll step in for Hunt? Maybe. You also need a tackle to cover for the games Terron Armstead will likely miss. Look to the draft to complete the line’s issues.

— 5. Receiver. Incomplete. A third receiver is the biggest piece left on this offseason. Odell Beckham Jr.’s 16.1-yard average could be another, stretch-the-field fit to this offense. Tyreek Hill had 170 and 171 passes thrown to him the past two years to rank behind only Las Vegas’s Davante Adams. Hill is 30. He’s been hurting in the past two Decembers for a reason. Tight end Jonnu Smith will help give another target. So will a necessary third receiver this team needs to adds to the mix.

— 6. Cornerback. Less. But not by much. The Dolphins had to move on from Xavien Howard if he wouldn’t come off his $25 million cap hit. Kendall Fuller is a nice signing that comes with crossed fingers as he’s 29 with lots of play on his body.

— 7. Edge Rusher. Even. Set aside the injury status of Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb. Would you rather have Van Ginkel, 28 this year, at two-years, $20 million or Barrett, 31, at one-year, $9 million? Their stats are comparable. Van Ginkel would give more versatility, Barrett the more sure edge rusher. I’d take Van Ginkel because his game rose last year, but understand the idea of Barrett.

Add it all up and you have a roster that isn’t as good in late March as it was last season. Let’s not over-do that. There’s still time to go. Draft. Signings. Just this past week the Dolphins re-did Chubb’s contract to free up some cap money.

There’s also no need to rush the Cycle of Hope. Let it breathe. Let the offseason play out. As long-time Dolphins fans know, there’s an entire summer for their optimism to bloom anew, just as it always does.