The Miami Dolphins' slide to the bottom of the NFL began on March 8, 2002.
That's when they gave up two first-round draft picks for Ricky Williams. They got 3,225 yards rushing from him in two seasons before he "retired," then got himself suspended for marijuana use.
Now the Dolphins are 0-6, a floundering team without the solid starters those picks might have brought, and without much hope anytime soon to become the annual playoff contender they used to be, even in a league where up-and-down is the norm.
"If you look at our roster, you've got a lot of disparity," coach Cam Cameron said this week.
"There's not a lot in between. You've got a lot of young guys, and then there's a core of veteran, older guys. ... We know we've got some holes to fill. Philosophically, the philosophy of building through the draft, the only way you can do that is with draft picks."
The Dolphins are one of two winless teams.
The other is St. Louis, which won a Super Bowl after the 1999 season; went back to the title game two years later; and has been at least a playoff contender until this season, when the bottom fell out.
Their awful state is due in great part to injuries. Orlando Pace, Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson, three of their best players, have been out. But they've been fading gradually for the past few years, partly because of front-office squabbling and (see Miami) bad drafting in an eternal quest for defensive players that has turned up few of them.
Up-and-down has been a fact of life in the NFL for the 15 seasons since the advent of the salary cap.
"There are a couple of teams who seem to stay at the top and a couple of teams that seem to stay at the bottom," says Mickey Loomis, the New Orleans general manager. "Then there are the rest of us. Up one year and down the next. That's the NFL."
Loomis runs a team exemplifying that. It was 3-13 in 2005, went to the NFC title game last season, and started 0-4 this year before winning in Seattle last Sunday night.
Right now, the couple at the top are New England and Indianapolis, able to stay there because they have the game's two top quarterbacks and because they draft and sign players who fit their schemes so well. Credit the Colts' Bill Polian, and Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli of the Patriots for that.
Detroit and Arizona have been at the other end, but look this season like they're coming out of it. Miami and St. Louis have taken their place - the Rams, perhaps, for the time being and the Dolphins for a while.
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