Linebacker Kyle Van Noy signed a four-year deal with the Dolphins last year, but he reportedly won’t be making it to the second year of that pact. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Dolphins have informed Van Noy that they will be releasing him. Van Noy’s contract calls for his base salary of $12.5 million to become guaranteed on March 20. Van Noy was set to count $13.9 million against the cap. The Dolphins will get $9.775 million of that space back by parting ways with him. Van Noy had 69 tackles, six sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in 14 games for Miami last season.
This is just stupid. Typical Dolphins' front office BS. Instead of filling holes, we create new ones.
What the hell. LBs play good last year so unsurprisingly the dolphins want to start over from scratch minus Baker.
Screw the analytics, Kyle was our team leader on defense. And how much did his presence affect Van Ginkel's opportunities/performance? I still trust Coach and Grier but I really hate this move.
I can't say that I understand this move, but I am guessing it's due to the salary cap reduction and the desire to get younger. Van Noy served his purpose I guess in being a much-needed leader and to set the tempo for a young team...I doubt we cut him if it was any other year. Unfortunately, I see a similar move coming with Fitzpatrick. HOWEVER, this move also gets me a little excited- we didn't HAVE TO clear cap space since we were already in good shape for the draft. So why cut someone who's clearly a productive leader? Maybe it's to sign a highly-paid free agent QB. Rumors are that Houston is getting close to giving in and making something happen....could this be a sign that we're about to move all-in on Watson?
Yeah I don't understand this. I think he was a little pricey but not by much. He was a seemingly a key piece to how the defense works.
As everyone is saying, this doesn't really make much sense on the surface. We are cutting him one year into a 4 year deal? It's not like he was a bum. It definitely makes Grier look "not good" and probably doesn't reflect all that well on Flores either to let a team leader like that go. He was kind of THE guy we brought in to get a young team to buy into Flores' message, and we cut him after one year in which he was pretty good? That all said, we have to see the offseason in totality. If we are clearing cap space for a reason ... let's see that reason. (Watson/Wilson, cough cough). If we want to bring in several marquee guys and feel AVG+draftee can fill the void, then I guess that's something.
Fitz is a free agent, and I doubt he wants to return to be a pure backup, nor does the front office really want him back to just do that at a high salary. I would agree with your Van Noy take except for how he was signed for a 4 year deal - that's not a bridge contract. Ogbah and Lawson were bridge guys, KVN seemed like he was supposed to be a core player, Flores' captain and field general. It's a weird move, but I totally 100% agree with your take that if we are clearing that space, it's for a reason. We are either lining up on a QB trade, or Grier and Flores made the decision to go BIG on an Allen Robinson, or a Corey Linsley/Aaron Jones combo or something along those line. They better have something up their sleeve, otherwise this just doesn't look good.
I agree, there was definitely a sudden change in direction for whatever reason. That tells me moves are coming at the start of free agency and I doubt it will be a replacement linebacker. It could be premium WR, RB, or QB...to me, no other move makes a lot of sense. Maybe edge? And for the record, I really hope we aren't paying a premium for a running back- I just don't believe in that approach anymore.
Actually, this makes the most sense. If not for Watson, then for another player who can add more than we lose by cutting KVN. We don't make this move on spec.
Actually, it's terrible reporting by Cameron Wolfe since it screws us over in a possible trade. Once you report that we're cutting him if we can't get a trade, then nobody is going to bite. Meanwhile, Van Noy finds out on Twitter that he's being fired, he shows up to work pissed off, then all possibilities about taking a reduced salary are out the window. Other than getting the gossip out to the masses a few hours early, this hurt everyone involved all the way around.
I think there's two things here... Van Ginkel is probably ready to take over the ILB/OLB role that KVN was holding. He's simply a better athlete, and his instincts, play re-cognition, size, etc. might certainly make a compelling argument that it's a better role for him. That shifts KVN as more of an OLB, and he's subject to a little bit different kind of roster math there. You've got $40m tied up between Lawson, Ogbah, and KVN... and your 4-man rush sucked in 2020. KVN is the easy out- he's the oldest, had loads of nagging injuries, and is the easiest contract to get out of. It's also probably going to be easiest to find a guy who is a higher quality rusher at OLB than DE in 2021.
Right, and it's not like he was playing up to his contract, he was pretty good but this is also a numbers game + the draft seems to have some nice LB projects this year.
This is also a likely possibility. It just sucks that we were the leaky ship who made the first "big" surprise cut and let the media and Fandom go crazy over. It's just not a good look that we couldn't keep it wrapped up until all the other cuts start coming and they don't stop coming.