The Miami Dolphins know better than most that sustaining success can be elusive in the NFL. A few teams, such as their AFC East rival the New England Patriots, are able to consistently put together postseason and championship runs over the long period of time. But most teams go through various levels of inconsistency and ineptness.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, 40 percent of teams (24 of 60) since 2011 that make the playoffs fail to do the same the following year. The Dolphins, who were 10-6 and made the wild-card round last season, are trying to avoid being a part of that rotating door. It has been 16 years since Miami accomplished that feat in back-to-back seasons (2000-01).

To combat this, Miami’s power trio of head coach Adam Gase, general manager Chris Grier and vice president Mike Tannenbaum took a different course compared to recent years where the focus was mostly on paying to keep its in-house players, as opposed to outside free agents. The Dolphins believe building and investing from within is the best bridge to long-term success.

The Dolphins took care of their own this offseason, including a $60 million extension for S Reshad Jones. Steven Senne/AP Photo

The Dolphins spent a majority of their salary cap this offseason retaining starting wide receiver Kenny Stills ($32 million) and starting defensive end Andre Branch ($24 million) in free agency, in addition to big extensions for safety Reshad Jones ($60 million) and linebacker Kiko Alonso ($28.9 million). The team also re-signed starting right guard Jermon Bushrod to a one-year contract and is expected to work out another extension with two-time Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry before the start of the season.

In recent years the Dolphins spent too much money and resources chasing other team’s big free agents, such as Ndamukong Suh, Branden Albert and Mike Wallace in hopes that they could turn around their team. That method didn’t work. This year Miami’s biggest outside free agent was linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who signed a team-friendly, two-year contract worth $12 million.

“To have sustainability, we want to take care our own,” Tannenbaum said in January. “We want to care of our locker room. We ask a lot of our guys. There was a lot of improvement this year. So be it Reshad, Jarvis, there are a lot of other guys that are going to be UFAs [unrestricted free agents] starting the league year in March of 2017, that we want to look at to try to keep some of our own.”

Stills was one of several free agents who cited Miami’s new culture under Gase as a reason he re-signed with the team. Stills and Gase developed a strong rapport in their first season together, and that wasn’t lost on Stills during the free-agency process as he reportedly received interest from other teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Our relationship is unique, because of him, and he allows that with this team and with the guys on this team,” Stills said recently. “He really, genuinely cares about us and is looking out for us and wants what’s in our best interest. So it makes it easy to play for a guy like that.”

Jones was unhappy about his contract last year and held out of some offseason activities. The Dolphins spoke to Jones about ending his holdout, playing last season out and going to the negotiating table next year.

The Dolphins held up their end despite Jones getting injured and playing just six games. Jones noted after the signing that Miami “kept their word."

“I think we’re building something special here,” Jones said. “We have to give credit to our staff and Coach Gase putting the right pieces of the puzzle together. I think it’s shaping up pretty well. We just have to continue to work, focus, put our head down and build off what we did last year.”

The NFL is a year-to-year league and nothing is guaranteed. But the Dolphins deserve credit this offseason for thoroughly evaluating their roster and rewarding their players.

Now, it is up to the players to hold up their end and prove 2016 was not a fluke.