The Dolphins have played against running back Brandon Bolden for the last six years, but they’ll get him on their side this season. According to multiple reports, Bolden is signing with the Dolphins on Tuesday. The move comes four days after he was released by the Patriots as part of their cut to 53 players. Bolden got some run on offense over the first four years of his career, but he has had just 14 carries and three receptions over the last two seasons. The bulk of his work has come as a special teamer and that figures to be the case in Miami as well given the presence of Frank Gore, Kenyan Drake, Senorise Perry and Kalen Ballage on the roster.
He will clearly play mostly on special teams. He would only be used as an extra running back if say 2 of the top 4 starters get hurt. Depth at every position is key.
I get that he will primarily be a Special Teams guy, but were we hurting at ST enough to give up a player in a group where we already need more help?
Okay, I just got some additional info on Bolton and this was a VERY GOOD signing. Almost better than Falk to be honest. Here's the deal; he's been a special teams leader in NE for the past 5+ years and they cut him temporarily while shuffling people around. He was one of their main leaders in the locker room and the plan all along was to re-sign him before their first game this week, but Miami saw the name and instantly offered him a contract. As soon as the Pats found out though, they started scurrying to add him back...offering him even more money than a few days earlier. There were a couple of counters back and forth from both teams and Bolton decided to take his talents to South Beach. Bottom line- We completely caught NE with their pants down. Bolton was one of NE's top special teams players and one of their favorite locker room presences leading the team. This was a huge blow to them from a culture standpoint and a huge win for us in the "real trenches". We got a very solid all-around contributor and he can only help these first few weeks. Miami's scouts are freaking killing it this first week!
I'd prefer Michael Bolton. For my money, his rendition of When a Man Loves a Woman is as good as it gets.
Not saying any of ya'll aren't, but I'm all for boosting our special teams play. I view it as the low hanging fruit of hidden yards, which in my simple mind can help us win some ball games. :-)
Unless Gase is now using bellichecks strategy to bring in someone from an opposing team and get as much info from them as possible than letting them go in a few weeks