MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito and star forward Matthew Tkachuk know a thing or two about winning. They have, after all, helped deliver back-to-back championships in South Florida.
For them, the formula goes beyond talent on the ice. The key is team camaraderie.
That's the message they gave the Miami Dolphins during an offseason visit, bringing the Stanley Cup along with them. For a Dolphins franchise looking to reach the Panthers' level of sustained success, the importance of closeness in the locker room stood out most to general manager Chris Grier from the visit.
“Hearing that reiterated everything that we’ve been talking to the players about,” said Grier, who along with coach Mike McDaniel has used this offseason to usher in a culture of accountability that both have acknowledged had been lacking.
That started with bringing in the right players that fit — and buy in — with the culture that the Dolphins are aiming for. Last season, player tardiness and apathy toward accountability in part contributed to Miami's on-field disjointedness, which resulted in missing the playoffs.
One of the most notable changes the Dolphins made this offseason was trading All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to Pittsburgh. Grier said Wednesday that he was happy for all departing players, but noted that the trade of Ramsey was about “getting the right group of people for the changes that we wanted to make.”
Grier added that issues with Miami's culture over the past few seasons were a result of signing various players who despite their on-field dominance, weren't necessarily the right locker room fit.
“You have your expectations, but you’re winning,” Grier said. “But you look at it and you’re like, ‘Hey, I don’t know if we’re winning the right way.’”
McDaniel fined players who were repeatedly late to practices, but “at times, it didn’t matter to them,” Grier said.
“When you have a year like we did last year — we had gone to the playoffs the two previous years— and at some point you say: ‘OK. All right, enough is enough,’" Grier added. "We just missed the playoffs by a game last year. That's not good enough. The whole goal was to win a lot more games than we did last year, so this is our time now in terms of doing everything to move forward.”
Grier said the Dolphins intend to be aggressive on the waiver wire on Wednesday, with plans to at least add a couple of veteran running backs to the practice squad.
De’Von Achane, who has been sidelined with a calf injury, is expected to be available for Miami’s opener at Indianapolis on Sept. 7, but rookie Ollie Gordon II is currently the only healthy running back on the roster.
Another move the Dolphins are open to making is a reunion with standout defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, Miami’s 2019 first-round pick who was the Las Vegas Raiders' marquee free agent signing ahead of the 2024 season.
The Raiders released Wilkins in July over the recovery plan for his broken foot. Wilkins was injured in Week 5 last season and had a setback that landed him on the physically unable to perform list.
“I don’t think we’d ever close our mind on anything,” Grier said. "Christian, while he was here, did a good job. I don’t know all the things that have gone on and haven’t had any conversations with him, but yeah, we’d be open to it.”
Cam Smith, Miami's 2023 second-round pick who has yet to blossom into the standout starter the team hoped he would be, is going on the NFL's non-football injury list. Grier declined to give the specific injury or say when Smith might return but added that the cornerback was coming off “some of his best ball the past two weeks.”
The Dolphins also will re-sign veteran swing tackle Kendall Lamm, who played three seasons in Miami. Lamm signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles but was released on Tuesday. Lamm's 2024 season ended prematurely because of a back injury, but Grier said there were no concerns about his health.
After placing kicker Jason Sanders on injured reserve Tuesday with a designation to return this season, Grier added that Miami will sign kicker Riley Patterson to the practice squad and elevate him for three games. Sanders will be eligible to return Week 5.
The Dolphins made official their signing of veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas as they aim to shore up their secondary.
Douglas, who has started 30 games over the last two seasons and turns 31 on Friday, will become Miami's most experienced cornerback. He has played for four teams over his eight-year career, including the past season-and-a-half with Buffalo.
He had 58 tackles, five tackles for loss and five pass breakups for the Bills last season.
The Dolphins made room for Douglas by waiving safety Jordan Colbert.
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FILE - Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, left, and head coach Mike McDaniel take questions during an NFL football news conference on April 25, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
