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DE Situation

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by hitman8, Mar 15, 2018.

  1. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article203860294.html

    We now have a logjam at Defensive End. We traded for Quinn and resigned hayes. We have a first round pick invested in Harris, a new contract already invested in branch which makes it prohibitive to cut him, and we also have our best pass rusher by far in Wake.

    That is 5 starting caliber DEs on the team with significant resources invested in them. Something has got to give, the only one that could realistically be cut without a lot of dead money is wake, but he is the best one of the five and not at all overpaid. Branch cant be cut because of a new contract, and I doubt anybody would want to trade for him as he is definitely overpaid and underperforming.

    T-baum's mismanagement keeps putting us in these stupid personell situations. I cant wait for the day that Ross wakes up and fires this guy.
     
  2. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I completely disagree with you- five starting caliber DE's is perfect given that we want to get after the QB. Send them crashing down every play and swap em out often to keep fresh legs on the field....that was always the goal.
     
  3. Hoops

    Hoops Well-Known Member

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    It’s odd but they needed a run stuffer. The branch contract is the worst one on the team.

    Not sure what we paid Hayes
     
  4. Redwine4all

    Redwine4all Well-Known Member

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    I think Wake is the odd man out. He saves us 8 million dollars by cutting him. He's 36. I can't see him staying on the roster--not at that number.
     
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  5. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Wake, most likely, will not be cut. You always want a 4-man rotation at DE. Having 5 ensures depth, should someone get injured. No doubt the Branch contract is a blemish, but we're likely done getting any more DEs at this point. We'll just have to ride the Branch contract out until after this season, I don't think anyone is going to want to deal for him at this point.
     
  6. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    Branch was playing hurt nearly all season. He's not going to come in and be an All-Pro, but he's better than he played last year. A 3yr $24m contract isn't bad. Sure, you'd expect more than he produced last year for that contract, but again, he was injured. The fact that he played through those injuries shows me a lot.

    BTW, here are all DE in the league who average $7m or more per year.

    upload_2018-3-15_7-35-7.png
     
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  7. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    Stop with the excuses. The way branch played last year is pretty much the way he has played his entire NFL career, injured or not. He is good for about 5 sacks a year. That is not worth 8 million dollars per year. He is overpaid, a career backup caliber DE and tbaum decides to pay him starter money. Go figure.
     
  8. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    Wake is still the best DE on the Team and he is the only one of the bunch who is not overpaid and earns his money on the field. I would hate to see him get cut.
     
  9. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    Yes, its great to have 5 starting caliber DEs on the team, but not with the amount of resources we have invested in them. They are all getting paid money that we desperately need to fill several holes elswhere. And it also means at least one or two of them is going to be on the bench most of the time producing nothing.
     
    KeyFin likes this.
  10. Hoops

    Hoops Well-Known Member

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    I can’t wait to get out of that branch contract. I don’t see any movement on wake either.

    Next years draft class looks much better at 43 de talent wise we need to get one

    This class is Bradley chubb and everything else ideal 2 point stance players in terms of the round 1 grades. And we weren’t sniffing chubb

    Too bad on chubb cause he’d have been an ideal 3 down left side de
     
  11. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    I think we should trade harris. He is the only one of the bunch who still has some trade value.
     
  12. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    lol....Typical reply. "Sacks!! That's all that matters!" And injuries are "excuses". I guess you think Tom Brady sucked in 2008 because he threw no TD's? I mean, he tore his ACL, but hey, that's just an excuse.

    Let's look at a few of these other DE's and their sacks. Now, I realize that there is more to a DE than sacks, but I'll humor you.

    Demarcus Lawrence had 8, 1, and 14 sacks, respectively, in his first 3 seasons starting and gets $17m per season.

    Olivier Vernon averages about 6-7 sacks per season and gets $17m per season.

    JPP averages about 7 sacks and gets $16m per season.

    JJ Watt averages about 15 sacks per year and gets $16.5m per season.

    Calais Campbell averages about 7 sacks per season and gets $15m per season.

    Branch averages about 6 sacks per season and gets $8m per season.

    Mario Addison averages about 7 sacks per season and gets $7.5m per season.

    Cliff Avril averages about 7 sacks per season and gets $7m per season. (More money guaranteed than Branch)

    Myles Garrett, a rookie, had 7 sacks and averages $7.6m per season (But gets more money guaranteed than Branch)

    Solomon Thomas, a rookie, had 3 sacks and averages $7m per season. (He also gets more guaranteed than Branch)

    Branch is getting paid about right...
     
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  13. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    :stupid:
     
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  14. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    If Branch doesn't live up to what the FO thinks he's capable, he can be cut after the season with a cap savings of $7m with only $2m in dead money.
     
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  15. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    Wake is the only "moveable" piece here via trade or release, but that's hard to see. I can see him moving almost entirely into a specialist role though.

    Also, I suspect we play with 3 of these guys on the field a fair bit.
     
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  16. Hoops

    Hoops Well-Known Member

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    Yeah Harris kicked inside in the sub either over the centers face or matched up with a guard

    Quinn and wake on the edge
     
  17. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    The thing is, we moved him into that specialist role two seasons ago and the darn guy kept outshining the starters. I'm not saying he won't slow down in 2018 or in the very near future, but so far he hasn't showed a single hint of it.

    As far as trading him goes, I would throw an absolute temper tantrum. He's spent his entire career in Miami, hasn't demanded outrageous money and he's still highly productive. I don't know if he has one year left or five, but he deserves to finish out in a Miami uniform.
     
  18. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    It's more about keeping him fresh all season and maximizing his pass rush, which is his most valuable commodity imo. Keep those old man legs fresh into weeks 10+. :)
     
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  19. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    Another thing that should be considered is that with Suh gone Hayes may be moved inside more often than not. That would make it possible to get a rotation of 4 DE's instead of 5.
     
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  20. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    First of all. We don't have 5 starting caliber DE's. That is ridiculous. We have two in Quinn and Wake. Wake needs to have his snap count tailored back. Hayes can rotate inside during obvious passing downs. Its not ideal to have so many resources tied up at defensive end. But we needed to get better there. Period. As stated, Branches contract is something we can't get out of. So just roll the season with what we have. Keep everyone rotating.

    If they cut Wake or trade Harris it would be the dumbest moves possible.
     
  21. ripper1961

    ripper1961 Active Member

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    Its not a bad thing to have a rotation at DE.:zoom:
     

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