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2015 Miami Dolphins thread


MadDog2020

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On 1/9/2016 at 5:10 PM, NJDevs4978 said:

Five-year deal and control of the 53-man roster, that's going all-in :blink:

Meh, the term and whatever money we're talking about doesn't bother me so much.  They can fire him after week 1 and the money and term won't stop the team from doing anything else it wants to do.   I think the 53-man roster control that's being referred to is ultimately who gets cut out of training camp, and he doesn't have control of the draft or free agent signings.  That's also more or less ok with me. 

Edited by Daniel
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Some good Dolphins news today, as far as that goes:

Jason Fox was waived today.  The blurb on RotoWorld sums it up nicely:

Quote

...Fox was extraordinarily bad on Ryan Tannehill's right side. It's unusual for a team to release an 11-game starter at this stage of the (off)season, but Fox wasn't in the Dolphins' 2016 plans. His release creates $1.4 million in cap space. Fox turns 28 in May. He'll search for swing work on the open market.

Also, Vance Joseph, former Bengals DC, will take the same position in Miami.  He's a discipline of the 4-3, so our personnel groupings will stay as-is, which I think is a good decision considering the investment made in a 4-3 DT.  Considering how good the Bengals were on defense (11th in the league in 2015 in total yards, 2nd in scoring in the same time), I think this is an overall good hire so long as he doesn't bring any of that undisciplined Cincinatti bull from this weekend with him.  He's got his work cut out for him personnel-wise, though he can build on Suh, Vernon (if resigned), Wake (if healthy), and Jones.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Vance Joseph is pretty highly regarded around the league, hopefully he lives up to the billing (he was the Bengals' DB's coach though Hi, not the DC). I like that Gase shapes his scheme to his players and not the other way around... Too many coaches are married to scheme and try to put square pegs in round holes too often. Gase tries to play to the strengths of his players- that's a point in his favor IMO. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Floating some Dolphin news about Free Agency, most of which is no-brainers:

  • The Dolphins are expected to make re-signing Olivier Vernon their #1 priority.  Considering he finished the top 4-3 defensive end in PFF's ratings, I suspect his contract will be huge.  How they MAKE that salary happen, however, I'm not too sure.  I'd imagine the franchise tag may be in play here if they can make the money work.
  • Some potential cap casualties include Greg Jennings and Koa Misi.  
  • Jordan Cameron is expected to be asked to take a pay cut, though the article stops short of an outright release.  At his stats, I wouldn't balk at the release if he refuses, although theire's precious little talent on the TE roster.
  • Lamar Miller and Rishad Matthews are likely gone - Miami has bigger holes on the roster to fill, particularly at running back where Miami will probably go into the season with Jay Ajayi at the top of the chart.  I don't hate the idea of keeping Matthews, but he's going to be too expensive to hold onto, and I expect him to get (over?)paid.
  • UDFA Zack Vigil is expected to see first-team snaps at MLB in the offseason, though there is a wide expectation that either a veteran or a high draft pick will also be brought in to compete for the spot.  Related: Kelvin Sheppard is as good as gone.
  • If Dion Jordan is clean and reinstated in April when first eligible, it looks like he'll get another chance.  Probably his last one - Miami will likely exercise Jordan's 5th year option, but since it's guarnteed for injury only, I don't necessarily expect them to honor that contract.
  • And finally, there appear to be no plans to draft a replacement for Ryan Tannehill this year.  Seems like it's make or break for Ryan this year, but we're already seeing signs of a much better coaching staff around him.  Also related - Joe Philbin campaigned for the Dolphins to take Derek Carr in the 2014 draft, but he was obviously shot down.

I expect this year's first rounder to be a linebacker - there seems to be a lot of top-level LB talent this year in the draft - or a cornerback, both positions of obvious need.

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2 hours ago, Hi, I'm VALUE! said:

Floating some Dolphin news about Free Agency, most of which is no-brainers:

  • The Dolphins are expected to make re-signing Olivier Vernon their #1 priority.  Considering he finished the top 4-3 defensive end in PFF's ratings, I suspect his contract will be huge.  How they MAKE that salary happen, however, I'm not too sure.  I'd imagine the franchise tag may be in play here if they can make the money work.
  • Some potential cap casualties include Greg Jennings and Koa Misi.  
  • Jordan Cameron is expected to be asked to take a pay cut, though the article stops short of an outright release.  At his stats, I wouldn't balk at the release if he refuses, although theire's precious little talent on the TE roster.
  • Lamar Miller and Rishad Matthews are likely gone - Miami has bigger holes on the roster to fill, particularly at running back where Miami will probably go into the season with Jay Ajayi at the top of the chart.  I don't hate the idea of keeping Matthews, but he's going to be too expensive to hold onto, and I expect him to get (over?)paid.
  • UDFA Zack Vigil is expected to see first-team snaps at MLB in the offseason, though there is a wide expectation that either a veteran or a high draft pick will also be brought in to compete for the spot.  Related: Kelvin Sheppard is as good as gone.
  • If Dion Jordan is clean and reinstated in April when first eligible, it looks like he'll get another chance.  Probably his last one - Miami will likely exercise Jordan's 5th year option, but since it's guarnteed for injury only, I don't necessarily expect them to honor that contract.
  • And finally, there appear to be no plans to draft a replacement for Ryan Tannehill this year.  Seems like it's make or break for Ryan this year, but we're already seeing signs of a much better coaching staff around him.  Also related - Joe Philbin campaigned for the Dolphins to take Derek Carr in the 2014 draft, but he was obviously shot down.

I expect this year's first rounder to be a linebacker - there seems to be a lot of top-level LB talent this year in the draft - or a cornerback, both positions of obvious need.

I don't follow college football, so I generally know a lot less about the NFL draft prospects than the NHL ones.  And I've followed this year's NFL draft class even less than others.  What I will say though is that I really hope that Miami doesn't use its first rounder on a corner back.  Maybe some statistical analysis will prove me wrong, but it just seems like corner backs drafted in the top 10 or 15 have this tendency to bust or be very pedestrian pros.  Maybe go with the best linebacker or interior offensive lineman.  Trade down if necessary. 

I agree that the Dolphins should not re-sign Lamar Miller unless he's willing to give a discount, which he has no reason to do. 

I'm glad that it appears they're giving Dion Jordan another chance, but I'm not holding my breath that he ultimately makes any impact one way or the other.  When you've been sitting out as long as he has, you really have to do a lot to stay in shape, and it doesn't appear that he has the stuff to do that.  Not to mention that he may not have been all that good even if he didn't have all the extracurricular issues. 

Looks like it's really "in Gase we trust."  Talent-wise, the roster isn't going to be any better or worse than it was last year.  While they're not adding any talent, and should be losing some, the improvement you would expect from players like Parker, the fact that anyone should be better than Jason Fox, etc., should make the cap casualties a wash.  So let's hope Gase is the genius he's hyped to be... or that we find out that Philbin was, in reality, one of the worst coaches in NFL history.  If someone like that could lead a team to a close to .500 record despite having a rookie QB in one of those years, imagine what a competent coach could do. 

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1 hour ago, Daniel said:

I don't follow college football, so I generally know a lot less about the NFL draft prospects than the NHL ones.  And I've followed this year's NFL draft class even less than others.  What I will say though is that I really hope that Miami doesn't use its first rounder on a corner back.  Maybe some statistical analysis will prove me wrong, but it just seems like corner backs drafted in the top 10 or 15 have this tendency to bust or be very pedestrian pros.  Maybe go with the best linebacker or interior offensive lineman.  Trade down if necessary. 

Most mocks tend to pen Miami in with Vernon Hargreaves (Florida CB).  Myles Jack (UCLA LB) would also be someone I'd consider there just because his coverage skills are so good and his athleticism (assuming he recovers successfully from knee surgery) is off the charts, but he's got some football IQ questions he has to answer as part of the draft process.

I'm not sure anyone's as high-up as Jack on the linebacker prospect chart, but there's a slew of 1st round talents there if mock drafts are to be believed: Reggie Ragland, Jaylon Smith, Leonard Floyd, and Darron Lee are all people being talked about as first round guys, and if you want an S/LB prospect you could always throw in Su'a Cravens too.  If linebacker is the target, then there will be plenty of options to trade down if that's what the franchise wants.

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If Zach Vigil is getting first team snaps at any point this offseason, we're fvcked at MLB again. While CB is a huge need as well, I want a MLB in the first round ideally. 

Would you take, say, a Danny Travathian instead?  

Little bit of what I'm reading has the Dolphins interested in Travathian and Trumaine Johnson if neither is resigned with their respective team (Broncos and Rams, respectively).

And no, I have no idea HOW they do this, but those two seem to be targets along with Olivier Vernon.  Considering the highest paid ILB this year had a cap hit of 5 million, I don't think its unrealistic to see a FA signing for an MLB.  

The good news is that Free Agency is coming before the draft, so we'll see what needs still exist before the draft even comes around.

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Would you take, say, a Danny Travathian instead?  

Little bit of what I'm reading has the Dolphins interested in Travathian and Trumaine Johnson if neither is resigned with their respective team (Broncos and Rams, respectively).

And no, I have no idea HOW they do this, but those two seem to be targets along with Olivier Vernon.  Considering the highest paid ILB this year had a cap hit of 5 million, I don't think its unrealistic to see a FA signing for an MLB.  

The good news is that Free Agency is coming before the draft, so we'll see what needs still exist before the draft even comes around.

Travathan is better than anything we have, so I'd be interested if the price was right... Don't really know much about Trumaine Johnson. I just don't want overpay for FA's. It never works, and Travathan will get paid based on the fact he was part of that Denver defense. I'd honestly prefer to draft a LB and a CB and go the FA route for a guard or two.

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Travathan is better than anything we have, so I'd be interested if the price was right... Don't really know much about Trumaine Johnson. I just don't want overpay for FA's. It never works, and Travathan will get paid based on the fact he was part of that Denver defense. I'd honestly prefer to draft a LB and a CB and go the FA route for a guard or two.

Can definitely see that working out too, depending on the picks ahead of us.  Dallas and Jacksonville both have defensive needs and both pick ahead of Miami, so that could complicate the pick.  

Jahri Evans was just released by New Orleans - that could be a name to watch for in Free Agency for Miami.  Honestly the Dolphins should be in on every free agent guard except Incognito.

EDIT: And the reason I have come to like Travathian as a target is two-fold:
1) he's one of about 6 free agents on that Defense, including Von Miller, that need to get PAID.  Denver may not have enough money to pay them all
2) Travathan also doesn't have the "sexy stats" that people typically get paid for - I think he has 0 sacks and 1 INT.  Eval grades do matter more and more, but he's not going to get paid like a pass-rusher because he isn't a pass rusher.  He's better suited for that 120-150 tackle season and some coverage duty.

Edited by Hi, I'm VALUE!
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  • 2 weeks later...

Some more Fin news just ahead of the new league year:

  • Brice McCain was cut last week.
  • The Miami Herald expects Miami to retain Olivier Vernon, and pegs his salary at around 14-15 million per season.  No idea what the franchise tag is for DEs, but it's in play here.
  • Walt Atkins wants a bigger defensive role - he was good on special teams but couldn't hold onto starting Free Safety duties early alongside Reshad Jones
  • Brent Grimes and Jordan Cameron are both candidates for pay cuts, and if they refuse, releases.  Earl Mitchell may be a cap casualty altogether.
  • It's likely that both Suh and Cameron Wake will restructure/extend their deals, lowering their cap hits.  Good on Miami for retaining Wake, he's been a good Fin and they must like what they see in rehab.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Fins are using the transition tag on Vernon, meaning they can match any offer, but risk losing the player with no compensation. fvcking stupid, because someone will give OV a jacked up offer that we won't/ can't match. fvcking moron Tannenbaum...

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Agreed, this is asinine.  I would have highly preferred the non-exclusive franchise tag in this case, depending on the price.  If they can't lock up Vernon by March 7th, I fully expect him to get a stupid offer from someone that has defensive needs and lots of cap space (Jacksonville?  Atlanta?).  Even a 1/15.7 would have been palatable over losing him for nothing.  

Also, the Wake extension talks are going horribly, so there's a real chance he plays out the year on his 9.8 million dollar cap hit and the Suh cap hit can gets kicked down the road.

I hope Tannenbaum has a plan B.

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One week away from the start of the new league year (and 5 days away from Legal Tampering), here's a nice little article of the kinds of players that Miami will need to be shopping for in free agency with the cap situation they have.

Of the listed athletes, I like Derrick Shelby, although he's possibly gone (I don't think the transition tag on Vernon automatically kills Shelby's viability as this article says), plus there's a couple of other defensive pieces that could come relatively cheap and play significant snaps: Ian Williams to replace Earl Mitchell, William Hayes to play one end spot assuming that Shelby and Vernon are both gone, Tahir Whitehead to play one of Miami's LB spots, and Sterling Moore as an outside corner.  In theory Jeff Allen makes sense at left guard, but when your cap space is limited and you're making a stars-n-scrubs roster, you can't afford for your free agent signings to not pan out.

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Some back of the roster moves - Miami tenders contracts to all of the following:

TE Jake Stonenbruner
S Shamiel Gary
WR Matt Hazel
OL Ulrick John
CB Tyler Patmon
S Michael Thomas

They also re-signed WR Christion Jones, non-tendered TE Brandon Williams, and (much earlier) signed Cleyon Liang, who was a good pash rushing end on the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (9 sacks, 2 FF).

This is probably put up or shut up for Hazel.  Year 3, with Matthews gone and Jennings likely cut, there's some holes in the WR depth chart and the #4 WR job is up for grabs.

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2622035-why-transition-tagged-de-olivier-vernon-will-be-giant-free-agent-bust?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=web-mob-art-mid-145

Interesting article that Olivier Vernon might be highly overrated, especially at the price he's demanding.

in perhaps related news, Mario Williams is meeting with the Dolohins this morning. 

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