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2014 Offseason Manifesto/Let The Speculation Begin!!

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Phoenician Fan, Dec 30, 2013.

  1. Phoenician Fan

    Phoenician Fan Well-Known Member

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    This is an offseason scenario with a bent toward a team culture change. I still like Incognito as a football player, but when he is one of your team leaders? then yes, you do have a problem.

    So ya, I agree with totally blowing up the OL. I am a strong proponent of switching to a base 3-4/hybrid defense.

    New GM....your guess is as good as mine, but wow! Ireland has to go; probably the coaches as well. Sean Payton is getting 8 mil a year. If I was Ross I would offer Gus Malzahn 10, or even 12. Genius doesn't come around every day.

    In the spirit of changing the team culture, almost all of the draft picks and FA's mentioned will be either high IQ guys,high character guys, outstanding leaders, or 2 of the 3, but most will be all three.

    A few things: 1.) Dolphins are caring over close to 18 mil in cap from last year. With the trades and releases I propose here there will, however be over 10 mil in dead money, but most of it is from last years release of Dansby and Burnett. 2.) I believe the Dolphins surrender a 6th for McKinnie. 3.) Free agency will be handled with the view that Ellerbe,Wheeler, and perhaps Wallace and even Jones will all be cut in 2015. Seeing as how I intend to max out the cap in 2014 some contracts may have to be formed on the same order as Wallace's was this last year with the bulk of the hit taking place after the 1st year. 4.) Taking a 6th round comp pick for Jake Long,Reggie Bush and Sean Smith.

    Cuts/Trades: Matt Moore's 5.5 salary is too much to bear. Try to get a pick, but his salary is probably prohibitive.(4 mil cap saving) Dmitri Patterson is quite good but just can't stay on the field.(5.4 mil in cap saved) I like Garner but I'm going to cut him for the 1.5 million in cap and draft his position. Wilson and Trusnik result in another 1.4 mil.

    Two very controversial trades: First, the Dallas trade: Please bear with me and think this through. Trade Olivier Vernon,Jonathan Martin, and Daniel Thomas to the Cowboys for their 1st and 4th round picks. Why? Because I am not comfortable with Vernon playing in space as 3-4 OLB,Martin is going somewhere and I hate Thomas.
    Why would Dallas make this move? The Cowboys are projected to be 25 million over the cap. That's right, TWENTY FIVE MILLION!. This move would allow them to replace Anthony Spencer,cut Doug Free,and actually have something at RB besides DeMarco Murray. All for a couple mil in cap. Not only that, but they avoid having to pay the bonus money to a mid 1st round pick, which, even with the new rules is still significant. With all things considered, especially their dire cap situation, this is a sweet deal for the Cowboys. Dolphins could actually throw in Trusnick or Wilson or Garner if they want them as well. They may actually want Wilson, he is only getting 665,000 or something on his current contract.

    Second, trade Pouncey. I think Pouncey's value is now greater than #15 pick alone, but for argument sake I will look only to recover that value in a trade. Hypothetical partner: 49ers for their 1st, one of their 3rd's and a 4th and two 7ths. Why? I think he is a really great player but a dumazz. I don't want him to be the defacto leader of a new OL, and he will be if he remains. Why would the 49ers do this? Jonathan Goodwin is 35 and considering retirement, and he was a weak link this year especially yesterday. He is done IMO. Pouncey is still on his rookie contract. How often can you acquire a pro bowl player for a couple mil a year contract? 49ers are bonafide Super Bowl contenders, this is a good move for them; they have 14 picks again it's not like they can't spare the picks to do the deal.
    Like most teams who contend often they are tight on cap even if they cut Carlos Rogers. One more reason I want this pick is that their is a very good chance that a team will want to trade up into the late 1st to grab one of the QB's who slide. It's a good way to add more picks.

    I am signing only Clemons out of the top FA's. I love Grimes, but I think their may be some serious pipedreaming going on considering what he will cost, and it is a foregone conclusion that he will be signing with the highest bidder; unless he gets a divorce. I see Starks and Soliai getting grossly overpaid. The DT market is void of big names and Henry Melton is coming off an ACL.

    Priority 1 FA: Charles Tillman CB....Peanut causes turnovers and I love that, but this is a veteran leadership move first of all. As far as people go, they don't come any better than Charles Tillman. I could write three pages about the guy. Ross would have to give him more than money to get him to South Florida. He would have to use all his connections and resources to see that the Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation could expand to South Florida. There is probably no other FA available that could help the Dolphins image and team culture more. Character,IQ,Leadership

    Priority two: OT Jared Veldheer....Everyone knows he is strong up and comer and will be hot on the FA market but this is the kind of guy you give the big money to. This guy is as sure a thing as it gets. Antithesis of Wallace. As far as his availability issue, understand a couple of things. He may say nice things about his current situation but he probably doesn't want to be there for a lot of reasons. Veldheer was recruited by big schools but he attended tiny Hillsdale college. Hillsdale is one of, if not thee most conservative college in the country. It is where young conservatives with political ambitions go. The Bay area is about as left wing as you can get, not a good place for a young conservative with political ambitions to put down roots. He may still get franchised but I seriously doubt if he will sign a long term deal. He might prefer the upper midwest but I don't see much need in any of those teams for LT. Character,IQ,Leadership

    Priority three: Michael Johnson OLB...I wouldn't go here if I didn't think it was absolutely necessary because this will be a huge contract and I hate them. He is just the perfect compliment to Cam Wake's game, and this will also allow Jordan more freedom at the Joker position. Johnson played OLB and DE at Cinci and I always thought it was obvious he was a better fit in a 3-4. He is sooo long and sooo athletic, I can only dream about the chemistry he might develop with Jordan at the will. This may have to be the contract similar to Wallace's last year. Character,IQ...high wonderlic score,heavily involved in charity work

    Jon Asamoah/Slauson/RG Position....I prefer Asamoah of coarse but Slauson is another super high character guy who has had a great year.

    I like A.J. Francis a lot at 5-technique. AJ is a smart kid who was all academic acc three years in a row. He had some excellent workout measurables as well. Ton of potential but I'm signing Ropati Pitoitua to start opposite Odrick at 5-technique. Dude had 4 sacks and 4 PD in limited snaps. He would rotate with Shelby,Francis and Mauro.

    Al Woods NT/5-technique...Al is a bit of a freak athlete with that 37 inch vertical and great times on the shuttle and cones. He was very impressive at both NT and DE for the Steelers this year when injuries afforded him playing time. His time is now.

    Toby Gerhart RB......A great improvement over Thomas IMO. Character,leadership,genius IQ

    Lawrence Sidbury OLB....Speedy edge rusher who was buried in Atlanta, went to Indy on a one year deal and blew out his knee in camp. Could be a huge steal. Another smart guy who carried over a 3.0 while getting his degree in computer science.

    Zach Bowman CB ...played well in Tillman's absence this year. good ST's and another smart as whip former academic award winner.

    Blaine Gabbert QB... #3 clip board holder. Mysterious failure. Guy has all the tools. Strong arm,great athlete, genius level IQ. Maybe a couple years holding the clipboard will somehow get him on track. He will come very cheap.

    Draft:
    1st (Cowboys)................Cameron Erving OT.....Huge upside,vicious run blocker,character,leadership. IMO, the best OT prospect in this draft.

    1st................................Louis Nix NT.........Slipping because of the knee surgery. A GREAT locker room personality.

    1st (49ers)........Trade down into the second and add a 3rd and 4th. draft........Jack Mewhort/James Hurst swing tackle position

    2nd...........Trade down again add a 4th and draft LG Joel Bitonio...Two time academic all conference and finalist for the Campbell award(scholar athlete)

    3rd...........Josh Mauro 5-technique...Character,Leadership,IQ

    3rd...........Marcus Smith OLB....Character,Leadership,IQ...Former QB is rocketing up the boards, academic all conference, sack machine

    4th...........Ross Cockrell CB....One of the drafts biggest steals if he is here. Leadership,Character,IQ http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/12/02/4514884/blue-devils-secondary-credits.html#.UsE-ffRDt34
    This kid can start day one. This is as real as it gets. Pure gold.

    4th............Gabe Ikard OC....The scouts are crazy!! Ikard is being overshadowed by a bunch of hyped up centers. Good! I hope he is available in the 4th or 5th round, steal of the draft if he is. A converted TE, he was a little undersized but he went on a new program last offseason and bulked up to 312 without losing athleticism and his play proved it. An academic all american with a 4.0 GPA and a team leader for years. Another kid who can start day one!

    4th........Caraun Reid DT/DE Princeton's highest pick in decades. A campus minister and musician. Kid can sing, really good. Everyone is amazed at how such a gentle, kind soul with a voice like velvet can be so vicious on the football field. The next Reggie White??http://www.nj.com/collegefootball/index.ssf/2013/11/princetons_caraun_reid_destruc.html

    5th.......Trey Millard FB/H-back/RB Academic all american, blew out his knee or he probably would have been the 1st FB taken perhaps as high as the 3rd round.
    Awesome blocker with great hands and he can carry the rock well. Their were a lot of complaints about him not getting the opportunity to carry the ball. Ikard's old roommate.

    6th.........Zac Kerrin....OG/OC Academic all mac engineering major 3.65 GPA

    7th..........Perry Simmons OT/OG..Academic all american two years another Duke guy

    7th........Travis Carrie DB another potential steal Character,Leadership

    7th........Isaiah Johnson SS If healthy, a real steal

    FA's:
    Conner Shaw QB Phenom???
    Mike Milburn WR 6'4" 224 National scholar athlete
    Beau Allen DT Academic all big tenn
    Kendall James CB scholar athlete
    Grant Olsen ST's/LB/SS A poor man's Luke Kuechly, once had 29 tackles in one game
    Tenny Palepoi DT
    Andre Debose WR/KR

    Roster:
    QB.....................Tannehill,Shaw,Gabbert
    RB......................Miller,Gerhart,Thigpen,Cam Marshall
    FB.....................Millard
    TE.....................Clay,Simms,Egnew
    WR.....................Wallace,Hartline,Gibson,Matthews
    OT.......................Veldheer,Erving,Mewhort,Simmons
    OC/OG.............Ikard,Asamoah,Bitonio,Brenner,Kerrin,Dallas Thomas

    NT..........Nix,Woods,Allen
    DE..........Odrick,Pitoitua,Mauro,Shelby,Francis
    ILB.........Misi,Jordan,Jenkins,Ellerbe
    OLB........Wake,Johnson,Smith,Sidbury,Wheeler
    S...........Clemons,Jones,Bowman,Don Jones
    CB.........Tillman,Cockrell,Taylor,Davis,Michael Thomas

    K........Sturgis???
    P........Fields
    LS......John Denney
     
  2. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    you had me at malzahn...i didnt even need to read any more. get him and our culture instantly changes for the good. i dont care what it takes, just get him.
     
    djphinfan likes this.
  3. CaribPhin

    CaribPhin Guest

    Has freedom of speech gone too far?
     
    Steve-Mo and Irish Phin Fan like this.
  4. sonn

    sonn Black Mamba Club Member

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    I don't think those trades are even possible in Madden.
     
    Clark Kent and Irish Phin Fan like this.
  5. scotty_irnbru

    scotty_irnbru Well-Known Member

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    I like your ideas however it must be viewed as massively unlikely any team will take Martin or Thomas. Never mind pony up some picks for them. A lot of wishful thinking and dream scenarios.
     
  6. Phoenician Fan

    Phoenician Fan Well-Known Member

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    The pick was pretty much for Olivier Vernon; Martin and Thomas would make for the 4th round pick and ya, that might be too much. It is noteworthy though that Daniel Thomas is thought of much higher outside of the Dolphin fan base. Much higher.
     
  7. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'd look at both Shane Skov and Ty Montgomery very closely...Stanford boys, toughness and smarts..identity..gonna take special players to win in this town and in that building.

    Gus Z is a no brainer go after prospect, guy has the leadership one covets.

    Ham sandwich for martin if your lucky,

    Check into Cowher.

    I really like Jim mora jr..

    Pouncey is a dumass..

    I can't believe this fu&$in team lost to the bills in a blowout and the jets at home, with playoffs on the line..

    I'd like to line up the coaching staff up in a line and slap the sh&$ out of them...how do you allow that to happen, I'll tell ya how, cause you didn't lead them properly, you didn't win them over,you didn't get them to play with confidence, and you didn't move the freakin pocket all freakin year..

    There was enough talent on this roster to go 11 and 5...folks can scream at Ireland all they want, and he warrants some of it, but he wasn't responsible for that debacle...disgusting performances by a team and it's coaches.
     
    P h i N s A N i T y likes this.
  8. crkranz

    crkranz New Member

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    No there wasn't. It is average or below at every position.
     
  9. Clark Kent

    Clark Kent Fighter of the Nightman

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    And we have a winner.








    *** And even if they were possible, the Pouncey trade is a terrible idea ****

    Besides the trade in which the Cowboys acquire our garbage in exchanged for terrible players, this whole mockup of the offseason is terrible.
     
  10. fins104

    fins104 New Member

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    While we weren't talented enough to be 11 and 5, what you just said is an even more ridiculous statement. That is simply not the case.

    Our DL was great this year. Both against the run and against the pass. Our team couldn't stop the run because of our LB's, not at all due to our DL. Our CB's were actually pretty solid in coverage. Tannehill was not average this year and his numbers because of the last 2 games don't accurately describe his year. I know the last 2 games count but the buffalo game had the worst weather we could have gotten as well as he had to deal with the worst offensive line in the league. Also our WR's were actually pretty above average. Definitely could be improved but I think our weapons are pretty above average.
     
  11. PhinsRock

    PhinsRock Premium Member Luxury Box

    Link for the Daniel Thomas statement please . . . I just can't see it.

    Getting rid of a Pro Bowl Center in Pouncy when your OL gave up 58 sacks this season, understand the character issues, but can't justify getting rid of the best player you have when he's the only good player out of 5 on the OL.
     

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