Maybe, keep in mind Wheeler was waived by the Colts and has one good yr under his belt, Ellerbe was an afterthought in Baltimore for most of his time there. We got younger, we also got less proven, those guys were not 3-4 yr starters with track records.
So we essentially swapped Ellerbe/Wheeler for Dansby/Burnett salary wise. So basically all we did against the cap this season was sign Mike Wallace. So that should leave us with what? $22-23 million left?
This is true, but I like Jeff being a riverboat gambler this year. He's for lack of a better description.....ALL IN
As someone tweeted, now Mr Kevin Burnett is free to kick Omar's *** on his way out of town. Would almost buy tickets
Makes sense to me. We haven't been able to cover RB's or TE's with our LB's for awhile. With the weapons the Pats have at TE we should be able to match up with them better. Younger and faster. A gamble sure, but a good bet to me.
Aaron Wilson @RavensInsider Phillip Wheeler's five-year, $26 million deal with the Dolphins includes a $7 million signing bonus, per a league source
I think he was pretty solid here, but I want better than solid. We get a good CB and I'm giggling over our defense.
Actually our LBs were good in coverage last year. This is all about pass rush. Burnett and Dansby struggled there while Ellerbe and Wheeler are far better pass rushers.
From a cash flow stand point, this is a swap. There's some dead weight loss that hurts the initial cap situation but it's still a cash flow swap. They prefer Ellerbe and Wheeler to Dansby and Burnett at the same cost and so they've made the swap.
How do you know when you are getting released? When the brass are talking up your back up. Ireland talked up Lamar Miller and Philbin talked up Josh Kaddu and now both Reggie Bush and Burnett are gone.
It should make the blitz throught the A gap much more effective. Dansby and Burnett just couldn't get it done despite having a lot of great chances.
lets be honest burnett was gone after the raiders game this year this play was all time sad [video=youtube;M4_t0LhW04I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4_t0LhW04I[/video]
With the glut of quality Cb's still on the market, Patterson and Marshall are probably going to get the take the paycut or be cut offer in favor of Cb's who will work for less.
Yes, and I don't think we're done with the pass rushers. I've been saying all along that I thought pass rusher was the most likely pick at #12 and I still believe that.
Did you watch the last game against NE? Bowel movements require more effort than he gave that game. I thought he was terrible all year, my LVP for the season.
I definitely think they are looking to upgrade on Misi, probably not happy with him missing time last year, which probably means Dion Jordan and Jarvis Jones are in play at 12. Same with Bess, which I hope they look towards the draft to upgrade.
Wow, I go to a work event from 6 - 9pm and feel like I missed a major, world-changing event. At least as it pertains to Dolphin-land. Pretty much swapping Ellerbe and Wheeler for Dansby and Burnett; I like it so far.
I think this makes sense but it's really kind of surprising. I'm not holding my breath that it's an upgrade, but it seems like a pretty sound salary cap decision. Both of them are really high quality blitzing linebackers, I need to look at their coverage skills a bit more. That's really the main element. I know both players have been put in more "aggressive" positions in that regard.
Wheeler had only signed a 1 year deal last year with the Raiders. That looks to have paid off now eh? Anyway, I had a feeling cuts were coming. I mean normally leading up to the start of free agency, the last few years, we're cutting guys to make room for the additions. This year, we already had cap room to sign Ellerbe and Wheeler. So the cuts came after we had them inked. It's an interesting approach because it obviously protects the team in the event that we can't sign who we want to sign (the assumption is that if we get outbid on either of those guys... or both, that one or both of Dansby/Burnett are still on the roster). Fascinating.... not used to seeing this from our team.
And not a damn Dolphin fan anywhere could have mapped out these LB moves before they happened. Crazy day.
IMO, they are going to be equipped better to get out into the flats in coverage than Dansby/Burnett. But I definitely agree with the pass rush. The Double A Gap Blitz just got opened up in Miami, IMO.
That's easy, just sign Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas for two games a year. I would totally do it just to troll the hell out of Brady.
That is why I respect Boldin for essentially telling the Ravens FO: "If you and other owners/FOs are going to hold the players to their contracts, then we as players have the right as well" ie no restructuring of my contract. Fortunately for him, they threw him a bone and sent him to a contender, which is not always the case.