Hines Ward retired after 14 years in the NFL...

"There was chatter that they would go after Gruden or Cowher."

 

Holy crap, this is meaningless nonsense. It really is. You're trying to criticize them for that? Wow.

 

The Broncos have reportedly given Peyton Manning 5 years, $95 million with up to $55 million guaranteed. Not only could the Dolphins in no way fit that into their salary cap picture, but that's also an absolutely atrocious contract.

 

They didn't strike out on Manning and Flynn. Manning wanted more money than they were capable of offering, and I'd say there's a very good chance that if Philbin wanted Flynn, they would have gone harder after him. It says a lot about Flynn that the guy who has seen essentially every practice he has had in the pros didn't seem all that enthused about pushing for him.

 

If they look foolish for not giving Peyton Manning that contract and not giving Matt Flynn $8 million a year and not giving up three first rounders and a 2nd for the RGIII pick, I hope they continue to look like fools to outsiders. Because every single one of those non-moves has been the absolute right one from the perspective of the long term health of the franchise.

 

I hope the Dolphins continue to give not one single, god-damned flying f*** about how people perceive them, if the opposite means being reactionary and stupid and making poor personnel decisions. You don't make a move to look good. You make a move to be good. People criticizing them for not selling the farm for RGIII or giving Manning everything he wanted are criticizing them for not looking good, regardless of whether they are the right moves.

 

You make moves to look good if you want to try to save your job for the next 6 months. But it's not how you build a winning team.

 

Also, the Dolphins didn't trade their best player. Brandon Marshall is not the Dolphins' best player. Not by a long shot. He's really not in the discussion.

 

They got two third rounders for him two years after the Jets gave up a fifth rounder to get Santonio Holmes. What's wrong with the trade the Dolphins made? Especially coming, what, 24 hours after he reportedly struck a woman in a club? Yeah, but kill the Dolphins for that move.

 

 

This is the definition of being a homer.

 

#1 The Peyton Manning deal was not about money, he just did not want to play for the Dolphins. Twelve teams contacted him once he became a free agent, but he only entertained a handful. This move was not just about money.

 

#2 "I hope the Dolphins continue to give not one single, god-damned flying f*** about how people perceive them, if the opposite means being reactionary and stupid and making poor personnel decisions. You don't make a move to look good. You make a move to be good. People criticizing them for not selling the farm for RGIII or giving Manning everything he wanted are criticizing them for not looking good, regardless of whether they are the right moves. You make moves to look good if you want to try to save your job for the next 6 months. But it's not how you build a winning team."

 

I agree you don't just make a move to look good, but these would have actually been good moves. People, including me, are criticizing the Dolphins because they have been bad for a while. Jeff Ireland does not have a track record of making good decisions, as evidence by a third losing season in a row. Couple that with the fact that the team stuck out on Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher, Peyton Manning, etc... asking Dez Bryant if his mom was a prostitute, NFL players claiming that "no one" wants to play for the Dolphins... doesn't exactly like management is capable of building a winning team.

 

#3 Brandon Marshall was their best player. The only other person in the discussion is Jake Long. Now that he is not longer on the team, it is easy to say he wasn't that good, but he was. Striking a women only matter if he misses substantial playing time. The Bears and NFL were aware of the report before he was traded. It wasn't like the Dolphins pulled the wool over their eyes. If Marshall racks up a 1,400 yard 14 td season then what?

1. Manning was about the money. It's ALWAYS about the money.

 

2. We didn't strike out on Jeff Fisher or Flynn. We may have struck out on Harbaugh and Manning, but guess what. So did a lot of other teams.

 

3. Trading Marshall was a brilliant move for multiple reasons. First, his salary combined with his mental disorder is not a good match. Second, in Philbin's system he relies more on having multiple receiving targets rather than just one receiver. Rather than throwing the ball 160 times to Marshall, we'll spread it out between the other receivers. Third, this draft is deep in terms of receivers. Very deep.

 

Dolphins struck out Harbaugh. That much is true. You want to say we struck out on Manning, then sure. But you're just making sh!t up when you say we struck out on Fisher, Flynn and Smith. We didn't. If we wanted Fisher, we would have given him more personel power and he would be a Dolphin. If we wanted Smith or Flynn, we would have increased our offers and signed them. But we didn't. You're either watching too much ESPN or intentionally trying to talk about Miami because they're a rival.

I just don't see how you can see he would have taken less when he didn't. Maybe he would have, but he didn't have to sign for $18. He did. He also signed for $20 for each of the next two seasons.

 

He wanted to win, but he also didn't seem particularly interested in missing out on money.

 

(Also, the Dolphins were a better team than the Broncos last year by almost any measure outside of W/L, so I don't think they'd have naturally been a better talent fit.)

 

 

That's crap. The Denver defense was phenomenal last season. The Dolphins were not a better fit.

Our defense was very good, too.

That's crap. The Denver defense was phenomenal last season. The Dolphins were not a better fit.

 

 

So if the Broncos' defense was 'phenomenal' last season, what would you consider a defense that allowed 77 fewer points?

 

Whatever word you decide to go with, that would be how you would describe the Dolphins' defense.

 

 

---------------

 

#1 The Peyton Manning deal was not about money, he just did not want to play for the Dolphins. Twelve teams contacted him once he became a free agent, but he only entertained a handful. This move was not just about money.

 

So he signed for well more than the Dolphins could have hoped to have offered him because he wanted to be ironic? He actually really hates money?

 

It certainly wasn't just about money. But, given what he actually signed for, there was no hope that the Dolphins could match that.

 

I agree you don't just make a move to look good, but these would have actually been good moves.

 

Giving old, potentially broken Peyton Manning 5/95 with $58 million guaranteed is probably not a good move.

 

Giving Matt Flynn $8 million/yr when the man who coached him for most of his career wasn't pushing for him all that hard is probably not a good move.

 

Giving up three first round picks and a 2nd to move up 6 spots in the draft is unquestionably not a good move.

 

Maybe it's a simple disagreement on how to go about utilizing your resources, but I don't think these were unquestionably good moves. They're incredibly risky moves that have the potential to further cripple the franchise.

 

Couple that with the fact that the team stuck out on ... Jeff Fisher

 

They didn't "strike out" on Jeff Fisher.

 

Jeff Fisher wanted control of personnel, the Dolphins did not want to give it to him. It's not like they offered him everything he wanted and he just walked away. That is what "striking out" on someone is.

 

That's why I think it's silly to say they "struck out" on Manning or Fisher. They simply didn't/couldn't offer them what they wanted. That's not what "striking out" means.

 

NFL players claiming that "no one" wants to play for the Dolphins...

 

You mean a single NFL player claiming that, two years after he admitted that he really wanted to play for the Dolphins, but ended up going back to the team he won a Super Bowl with when they matched the Dolphins' contract offer? And the same one that praised their handling of the situation and admitted it came down to money and nothing else?

 

“They were definitely straight forward with me. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Bill Parcells team. I thought that I was going to be paid like a starter, but unfortunately for me the negotiations didn’t reflect that.�

 

Clark insists he wasn’t insulted by the Dolphins financial offer as much as he was just merely disappointed.

 

 

“It wasn’t an emotional response. There just comes a time in negotiations where you have to give a player reasons as to why you won’t stretch yourself financially. In the way that they responded to me, I could tell that they were being honest so that’s why I can’t be insulted, but I just didn’t agree,� said Clark emphatically."

 

Hmm, funny how much his story has changed since then, huh? But keep believing what you want.

 

#3 Brandon Marshall was their best player. The only other person in the discussion is Jake Long. Now that he is not longer on the team, it is easy to say he wasn't that good, but he was. Striking a women only matter if he misses substantial playing time. The Bears and NFL were aware of the report before he was traded. It wasn't like the Dolphins pulled the wool over their eyes. If Marshall racks up a 1,400 yard 14 td season then what?

 

 

Brandon Marshall really wasn't their best player.

 

He led the league in dropped passes over his time with the Dolphins and had only nine touchdowns. He dropped a ton of touchdowns as well.

 

Really, not their best player. Maybe their best talent, or something like that, but the results on the field didn't speak to him being the best player.

 

I would say last year Jake Long, Reggie Bush, Matt Moore, Karlos Dansby, and probably Paul Soliai were all arguably better or at least as good.

 

For a guy who has a long history of off-the-field issues and who has already been suspended once for off-the-field issues, it's almost a lock that he is facing a suspension for this. I'm not claiming they pulled the wool over the Bears' eyes. I'm claiming that it almost certainly affected his trade value.

 

And if Brandon Marshall racks up 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns, he would establish new career highs in both categories. And that wouldn't have any sort of impact on how I feel about their decision to trade him, unless you think the Dolphins had a chance to acquire Jay Cutler to be their quarterback next year? Because that's about the only way that would be relevant.

The Dolphins had a QB who didn't leave their team out to dry every flipping game.

The Dolphins had a QB who didn't leave their team out to dry every flipping game.

 

 

And a good defense.

Okay... if you think the Miami Dolphins + Manning are a better team than the Broncos + Manning... you're just... off.

The Dolphins had a QB who didn't leave their team out to dry every flipping game.

 

 

Doing a quick calculation, the Broncos averaged 30:08 TOP under Tebow. Dolphins averaged 30:22. The Broncos allowed 22.7 points allowed per game in Tebow games. The Dolphins averaged 19.6 points allowed per game.

 

Find a better reason, please.

Okay... if you think the Miami Dolphins + Manning are a better team than the Broncos + Manning... you're just... off.

 

 

Dolphins were 3rd in rushing defense, 25th in passing and 15th in total defense. 6th in scoring defense.

 

Broncos were 22nd in rushing defense, 18th in passing and 20th in total defense. 24th in scoring defense.

 

When you remove Tebow's rushing yards, the Broncos had 1,972 rushing yards as a team last year. The Dolphins had 1,987.

 

Why is it crazy to say this?

 

The Broncos have a ton of cap room, so I get why he went there. But I don't think that Denver, pre-Manning, was a better team than the Dolphins.

http://nmsn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Miami-Dolphins-Jeff-Ireland-quarterback-mess-NFL-laughingstock-David-Garrard-Matt-Moore-George-Costanza-Jennifer-Lopez-032012

Okay... if you think the Miami Dolphins + Manning are a better team than the Broncos + Manning... you're just... off.

 

 

I didn't say that. You're just giving horrible reasons as to why Denver was a better fit.

http://nmsn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Miami-Dolphins-Jeff-Ireland-quarterback-mess-NFL-laughingstock-David-Garrard-Matt-Moore-George-Costanza-Jennifer-Lopez-032012

 

 

You're just being a troll now.

We struck out on Fisher. Just because we didn't offer him the GM position and the Rams did didn't mean we didn't go all out to get him. Our owner wanted him and he failed (even if not giving him the GM job was the right move).

 

Flynn was a pass. Fisher, Harbaugh, and Manning were all swings and misses.

We struck out on Fisher. Just because we didn't offer him the GM position and the Rams did didn't mean we didn't go all out to get him. Our owner wanted him and he failed (even if not giving him the GM job was the right move).

 

 

 

So if you enter negotiations with someone and they make it clear that they will require something you are unwilling to give up, that's a strike out? I just don't see it.

The other team outbid us (power wise, not money wise). We technically struck out.

The other team outbid us (power wise, not money wise). We technically struck out.

 

 

 

But the way people are making it out to be, it's that Fisher chose to go to St. Louis instead of Miami because of the ownership situation or whatever.

 

His decision was 100% based on the team's unwillingness to give him personnel control. It doesn't fit in at all with the narrative people are trying to portray.

 

He did not pick St. Louis while faced with a similar offer from the Dolphins. He picked them because they gave him more.

 

But that doesn't fit in with the "lololzo Dolphins everyone hates them" narrative.

 

I also like that everybody is just taking Ryan Clark at his word now and nobody gives a sh*t that he is playing revisionist history since it, again, fits in with the narrative people want to create.

Jets interested in Tebow...

 

 

The New York Daily News and the Newark Star-Ledger report the Jets have "legitimate interest" in trading for Tim Tebow.

A source inside the organization tells beat writer Manish Mehta the Jets will be a "player in the Tebow race." Tebow's selling points are two-fold in the Jets' eyes: He could be a great influence on a locker room that had grown poisonous last season, and new coordinator Tony Sparano has designs on utilizing Tebow in Wildcat formations. According to NFL Network's Michael Lombardi, the Broncos have already received five phone calls on Tebow. The Jets could be the clubhouse leader.

Dolphins NOT interested in Tebow (doesn't fit west coast scheme offense)...

 

http://profootballta...d-in-tim-tebow/

I think that was well assumed...

Just go to Jacksonville and get it over with

Aw, no TeBlow for Barkley.

ugh please no. unless they want to make him a tight end or something.

Please go to the Jets.