Sign them or sell them

need to sign all of them to reasonable & timely contracts

 

are all of those players on the last year of their contract? I know Long, Bush, and Starks were but didn't know we needed to worry about the others yet.

 

You've got to keep Starks IMO

 

Weird, I agree with you

 

Jake - If he continues to under-perform all year, let him go. This draft has a **** ton of OTs in the first and second round. I love Jake though, and if he can start to regain his form by December I keep him.

Bush - Keep. 27 is not old. He has one contract left in him.

Starks - this depends on Ireland's plan for Starks. If Ireland plans to let Starks leave if the market goes above what we expect, then we should trade him for value now to a playoff contender with DL holes. If we plan to make a serious bid to retain him (not a Matt Flynn type bid) then I say we keep him.

Fasano - Keep.

Hartline - Here is the conundrum. Hartline could easily rack up a massive season since we have few WR options. Then we pay him a premium. Then we draft and/or sign WR talent. Next year we pay Hartline as if he is leading the league while we spread the ball more to the new talent. That would not be value. I think with Hartline, you almost want to get Gaffney the ball as much as possible this year. Lol. If Hartline wants top five receiver money, I don't resign him. If he wants 6-15th best receiver money I consider it. It's about what production he will offer us next year more than what he does this year.

Sean Smith - if he continues this way you pay the man. Front load it, since cap space will be at a premium in a few years I suspect.

 

Bush, Fasano, and Hartline can walk, especially the latter two because there are plenty of upgrades available in free agency. everyone else we got to keep.

 

I have zero interest in paying Brian Hartline 5 mil per.

 

Jake Long - Franchise Tag
Reggie Bush - Sadly, I'd let him walk. You've got Lamar Miller looking good, Jonas Gray comes back, and of course, Daniel Thomas. Money's better spent elsewhere.
Starks - Re-Sign
Hartline - Re-Sign
Smith - Jury is still out for me. The Arizona game has been a microcosm for him. He's good right up until the point when you need him to be great. And then he's not.
Fasano - Re-Sign.

 

I think you'll find Egnew lacks the disposition to block properly. Even once he is taught technique I wonder about whether he is averse to the violence of the blocking game.

Would definitely be nice to see who this new staff wants, moving forwards.

Expect half to go.

 

Long- I think it depends totally on how he plays the rest of the year. He has not been the same dominant LT the past two years which he was in prior years. This obviously is because of the injuries he has suffered over the past two years. If he shows signs of returning to the player he was before the injuries, sign him. If he continues to regress as the teams LT because of injuries, I just don't see how they can justify spending ten to twelve millions a year to re-sign him.

Bush- If he is willing to sign another contract for similar dollars to what he has received the past two years, the Dolphins should be happy to sign him to another contract. If he is looking for a big bump up in pay. He just may end up playing for another NFL in 2013.

Starks- I love Starks and would love to see him stay in Miami. Unfortunately I think Starks will be looking for top dollar after this season and he will probably get it from one of the other teams in the NFL. He just won't be getting it from the Dolphins, IMO.

Hartline- This is another case of signing a player to a contract which is beneficial to both the player and the team. If he is looking for a huge contract next year, I don't see the Dolphins signing him. He and Bess are the only reliable options at the WR position on the team. I think Hartline has proved he is a very good #2 receiver on most NFL teams. Right now he appears to be the Dolphins primary receiver and he might decide that he wants to be paid as much money as the #1 receivers on most teams get paid. I am not sure any other team would pay him top dollar, but I think right now it is 50-50 that Hartline will be a Dolphin in 2013.

Smith- I agree that Smith plays well for the majority of each game, but he always seems to give up too many big plays to the opposition. I still don't see him as a top CB in the NFL, but just a very good one. If he is looking to be paid as a top CB in the NFL, I don't think it will be the Dolphins signing him. Hopefully he will be realistic in his demands and the Dolphins will come to an agreement with him.

Fasano- I am not a big fan of Fasano. He is a decent blocker as a TE, but he is slow and plotting when running his routes. I just can't figure out how he is still the starting TE for the Dolphins after 5 years. Other teams have drafted all-pro TE's during this time, while the Dolphins have drafted TE's like, Egnew. If Fasano is willing to sign for a reasonable contract, sign him,. If he is looking for a big raise, bid him adios.

 

If we think it's probable that Starks leaves at the end of this year, would you rather have him for the next 12 games or a second round pick from a playoff contender (probably be a pick around 20-30).

 

I firmly believe you never let talent walk out the door without getting some value in return. That's good GMing in a talent-scarce league.

 

I think anyone just letting our good young talent walk is overvaluing cap space. The answer to all of these is the same - If they want reasonable but fair contracts according to their actual skill then we should resign all of them. These guys are the core of our team. Long, Bush, Smith, Starks and Hartline are 5 of our best 10 players (along with Wake, Tannehill, Pouncey, Dansby and Soliai). They're all young. We finally have a coaching staff that seems to be developing our own players and now we're going to let them all go now that they're finally reaching their potential? Why would we do that?

Long may want an unreasonable salary considering his performance of late, but that's what the Franchise Tag is for. We really just need him to prove that he's a top LT. Franchise tag gives you time. I understand the arguments for getting rid of him, I'd just prefer to hold onto him until either (i) you know he's the Jake Long of old (and still improving!) and you go ahead and pay him, or (ii) he keeps not showing it and the franchise tag is too expensive or you need it for someone else.

Bush will be reasonable I think. Him getting a little nicked up this year may be to our advantage in the long term. Even the best RBs (A. Foster, etc) have been signing much more reasonable contracts lately. If Bush is the 10th highest paid RB in the league would you guys have a problem with that? I wouldn't. Everyone in the league knows you can't overpay for RBs anymore because they break down. But he's young enough for one more contract from us and he's THE leader on the offense. He sets a good example and I think he could explode this year if he stays healthy. Why can't he be our Marshall Faulk? I bet the Colts regret letting him go.

Starks is WORTH a big contract based purely on performance. He's playing at a pro bowl level. He's the exact kind of guy we'd be searching for if we didn't have it! Why mess with a good thing? Just pay him. Having Odrick around for depth until his contract is up isn't bad. Our DLINE is dominating. I want that to continue!

Smith is worth a bottom tier #1 CB salary. That's what he is and I bet that's exactly what he'll get. If he gets more then obviously let him go. I like him and he's improving but I also wouldn't match a ton of crazy offers for him (and I could see him possibly getting them and going for them).

Hartline might command more on the market than what he is really worth but I bet he'll take a more reasonable deal to stay here. This system is clearly great for him.

I'd be good to pay Fasano a low end #1 TE deal as well. You know what to expect from Fasano. If Philbin wants someone more explosive then I'm ok with that too, but I see no problems having a moderately paid TE like Fasano on the roster. His blocking is undervalued too probably.

Obviously if any of these guys are getting contracts well above their actual worth then let them go, but I think we should all be begging them to stay. I'm worried about this offseason. I like this team right now. This team is young, exciting AND most importantly improving. I'm getting a kick out of this because most years I feel like people overvalue a lot of our players but this year it seems like people are undervaluing them. 3 of the guys we're talking about letting walk could legitimately make the pro bowl this year.

 

I hope this ends well...I don't know man, that's a lot of players..this is a pivitol offseason.

I wonder if all the players all want to be here, guess well find out soon enough.

I really don't think we can afford to lose any of them..

 

I don't see any Naanee's on the list that make us worse. I say sign them all. We need to get better not worse. We are headed in the right direction, if we start letting people go we will get worse IMO

 

No need to create more needs in the next draft and free agency is no certainty.

 

so does this all mean that dolphin fans are only interested in medicore players instead of bringing in some real stud players ?

only dolphin fans would want to keep average players instead of going after a bigtime player . i hope we keep Reggie but not Fasano and half the wr corp

 

I think Starks is a keeper, lock him up and maintain our depth. In retrospect it almost seems like we could have kept Langford and gone in a direction other than Odrick based on performance so far...

We got a good deal on Soliai, lets spend money on Starks and Soliai can get paid the following year if he continues his dominance. Pay them and we dont need to focus on DL early in the draft.

 

Long - I wouldn't mind trying to trade. He's having a down season and maybe his contract demands go down a bit, if they do keep him. If not, goodbye.

Bush - Greatly depends on how much he is after. I'd like to see more of Miller this season before I decide but Id generally say sign.

Starks - Is a man among boys. Sign.

Fasano - Should take a pay decrease IMO and if he is unwilling to I would let him walk and sign a cheap veteran TE in free agency. This also depends on where the staff feels Egnew is by seasons end.

Hartline: If he wants to be paid more than slightly above your average #2 receiver let him walk.

SS24 - Sign him back.

 

They all have roles, and future roles can be defined as the markets sets itself.

 

Long- I don't think you have a choice. Franchise or re-sign. You give Tannehill the security he needs even if Long get slightly overpaid.

Starks- You let walk if his demands are too high. Odrick steps in and Randall looks promising with McDaniel a capable player.

Smith - Again there's no choice. Re-sign him.

Fasano - Shouldn't be a problem to re-sign. His blocking is underrated and a reliable pass catcher.

Hartline - If he demands big time money he's gone. I have feeling he will be back with a decent contract both sides can live with.

Bush - Re-sign. You don't let game breakers walk. Him and Miller make a great backfield. We have 2 good young backs with him. I don't count Thomas as an asset.

 

I think the fact that:

A) Reggie doesn't take a beating in general due to his running style
and
B) He wasn't a feature back in NO

Makes it more likely he can stay successful into his 30's

 

I think what you worry about is how difficult they are to replace.

Jake Long is difficult to replace. If we end up moving more in the style of offense of 3 and 4-wide, which I think pretty strongly might be the case then he'll become more valuable than he's ever been here.

This will get push-back, but Anthony Fasano is arguably difficult to replace. It's difficult to find people who can block like he can who aren't pure blockers, or can catch much better and can block worth a ****. The only other real guy on the market next year in this context is Martellus Bennett, and I'm not sure he's a better receiver. He might not be prohibitively expensive, and we have other irons on the fire in terms of blocking.

Brian Hartline I think is somewhat difficult to replace. Regardless of what you think of his talent level, he's likely going to be quite productive this year and he's excellent on bread and butter routes in this offense.

Randy Starks I think is easier to replace. There are several other pass-rush friendly DT/3- DEs due to hit the market this year, and it might be more cost effective and/or beneficial to shift Odrick to 3-technique and replace him at DE(and try to find someone who is a better edge rusher at DE) than to just re-sign Odrick.

Sean Smith I think is easier. He's a pretty good starting cornerback, and you can find those. If he doesn't take the step up to star this season then he's fairly replaceable.

Reggie Bush isn't chopped liver, but I think he's probably the easiest/most likely to be replaced.

 

I would re-sign #'s 3 through 6, franchise tag #2, and let #1 walk unless he took a deal that would pay him only $9 or $10 million a year.

 

Can Jeff Ireland "afford" to let Jake Long walk?

The man is on a trajectory to the hall of fame. His biggest success, goes into the HOF as a "Cowboy, Redskin, etc.."?

 

I say we spend our money on the players the we have developed and groomed. We have seen what we get in free agency and honestly its not pretty. The way both of these lines look this year I think you have to get Long and Starks back.

Reggie is one of those things, if its for the right price. Running backs seem to be a dime and dozen in this league, I think you can find the talent to replace him either through FA, the draft, or even our own depth.

Hartline is one of those players that is going to be hard to get rid of, he and Tannehill obviously have some good chemistry. I think he could really be good as a number 2 reciever, we just need that dominant number 1.

Fasano I could really care less if we resign or not. I dont think he would be that hard to replace.

Sean Smith I think needs to be brought back at the right price, you just see the money Nande got from the Eagles and you wonder what is Sean going to be getting offered in the open market.

 

Sounds like the perfect plan unless Long wants 10.1 lol. We need to keep all of them. Like I said earlier in the thread there is absolutely no reason to create more needs. We need to fill the needs we have without creating more needs! That's the only way we will get better. We are young and we only need a WR, DE, S, & CB. Once we get those pieces to the puzzle then we need to focus on depth and upgrading some positions then giving people the boot.

 

Just for reference, PFF has Jake Long ranked 43rd among OT's after 4 games.
That is pretty damn sad for all the pub this guy gets. He is way over rated.
I would let him walk and move on. He is not the same player at all.
Let's look to the future. Jake's feet and hips have never been dominate against speed rushers anyways.
He isn't going to get younger or better. It seems each week he is giving up more big plays. Time to face it folks.
He was never all that he was hyped up to be.

 

Hes 27 Nez, sometimes you gotta wait these little slumps out that the great ones go thru..I always thought he deserved the hype, injuries are the only reason IMO for drop off, and the body can heal itself at 27.

 

You don't really have any idea what you are talking about on a variety of elements here.