Nicks and Dahl would be welcome additions as well. I like Nicks a touch more than Mankins.

 

I do agree with the consensus on this one, and that is to make a hard push for the player, not only is he good and aggressive, hes still young, and I dont think we can afford to have another rookie starting along the front...Plus his leadership would be a welcome addition.

 

Hmm, allow me to explain this yet again:

The patriots DO NOT let their top players walk without getting some draft picks for them, what they will do is use the "Franchise Tag" on them, as in the offseason they can use it without having to actually pay them, they then seek trade offers, once they have the trade in place, they take off the Franchise Tag and make the trade.

They use the FT to freeze a player into place with no intention of paying them anything like what the FT calls for, and then remove the tag when it suits them, like "trade up for Andrew Luck" this is yet another scenario that is not going to happen.

 

Same with Carl Nicks. Nicks has only 3 years in the league and under the best agreement, he will still be a restricted free agent in 2011. All New Orleans has to do is put a first round tender on him to keep him. If another team wants him fine, it will cost that team a first round draft pick. Good business.

 

Well, obviously we'd have to see what plays out with the CBA and then New England vs. Mankins before we can speculate about that. Obviously I'd love to have Mankins, but we'd have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

As for the draft, some interior players I like are Mike Pouncey of Florida, as a G prosepct; Stefan Wisniewski of Penn State at C; I believe Orlando Franklin of the U played some LG in the past; Danny Watkins of Baylor and John Moffitt of Wisconsin are also early round G prospects I'd really like to see in a Dolphins uniform. Will Rackley from Lehigh might be a steal in the mid-rounds.

That said, if/when Mankins does become available, I'd break the bank for him. Long and Mankins on the left side together just sounds right.

 

Does that still work if there's no new CBA?

 

I think they'll probably try to be in the market for a big-name left guard if they can get one. Putting a guy like Mankins or Nicks next to Jake Long is an instant high quality run game with halfway serviceable runningbacks.

There are other options, but I don't think there are any two guards who played as well as Nicks or Mankins did this year.

 

Hmm, I'd heard he is a FA though, and they already paid their other G big money, so it was thought he will hit the market.

Football's Future has him listed as a FA this yr anyway (?)

 

Jermon Bushrod the Saints LT is also a FA according to the Football's Future list. Having drafted Charles Brown, I'd guess they'd let Bushrod shake free and try to retain Nicks for the right price.

 

How was our OL "horrid"?

 

Asante Samuel, Lawyer Malloy, Ty Law and Adam Vinitiari, among others, were allowed to walk, so it's not as much of a given as you might suspect.

 

The run blocking was pretty putrid across the board this past season. And towards the end it appeared as if the pass blocking started to fall apart too. I think a lot of that had to do with Long being injured pretty significantly.

We can get by with Carey at RT again if need be, but an upgrade is absolutely needed inside. Incognito has earned himself another deal if both sides can agree. His versatility as a guard/center is something you need. Adding a top notch guard via free agency seems to be a must (assuming FA exists) and spending another high draft pick on an offensive linemen should be in the plans as well. You can rebuild and revamp that unit in one offseason if you really want to. It just means that resources for other positions (like a safety) will have to be put on the backburner or downgraded on our upgrades.

 

Yeah but the key is they were not let go and allowed to come to us.

I dont think BB gives a crap about the Bills but us and the Jets he watches very closely and in cases like these wont give up such a player without compensation.

All the talk last season about Wilfork and in the end didnt he get tagged and that was that?

I dont remember right now but what I do remember is that we didnt get him because the Pats closed the door early on that one.

 

What pick did they get for Asante Samuel?

 

would be a strategic solution if the right deal could be negotiated
no doubt it would be the pro-bowl guard we need, the we'd need to only find (draft) the center

 

I know, a lot of these so called " informed " sites have him as a free agent. Technically, he is a free agent but restricted. He signed a three year contract out of Nebraska in 2008 and played 2008-09 and 2010.

He was taken in the 5th round, pick 168. Thats three years of service. I seriously doubt under the new CBA that owners grant player unrestricted free agency after only 3 years. If they go back to the original 4 years to be an unrestricted free agent, he will have to play the 2011 season first. I attached his stats from NO website. It states 3 years of service, 2010 included. I do not know why it keeps coming up that he is an unrestricted free agent. New Orleans is going to tender him as a restricted free agent as soon as the CBA is signed. Free agency starts , I believe, March 3rd 4th or 5th and thats for restricted and unrestricted free agents. I know in 2009 the teams were permitted to use the franchise tags starting on Feb. 5 and that ran thru Feb 19th. Not sure what that date, if any, is this year.

Whats really really strange is for the first time the NFL is allowing teams to sign players that are released on Feb 5 of this year and can do it right up until or IF a lockout comes. Technically these guys are FREE AGENTS and should not be able to be signed by teams other then their own.

IF there is a lockout on the date they are saying, March 4th and no agreement before the draft, teams cannot even sign drafted players until there is a cba agreement. The players released in Feb being able to be signed is very weird.


http://www.nfl.com/players/carlnicks/profile?id=NIC723945

 

I think the Dolphins are going to have trouble bringing in any of the top name free agents. Most of these players have been in the league for several years and while they are ceratinly looking to get as much money as they can. They are also looking to go to a team which is a legitimate playoff contender. With both the Patriots and the Jets in the same division as the Dolphins. Free agents are most likely going to hesitate to come to a team which is no better than third in its own division. Also with all the questions concerning how solid Sparano is as the head coach, these top free agents may be very concerned with coming to a team which may be looking for a new head coach after the season is over next year. While I would certainly love to see the Dolphins sign Mankins and a few of the other top free agents on the market. I just don't think it will happen.

 

He is a great talent and could help us but also note that this draft is very deep in OT talent which could allow us to shuffle people into guard spots. Here are the five OT's that could be taken in round one.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2011OT.php

By comparison it is not as good of a year for OG's and C's, but it is a banner year for OT's. This might be the year we find a Jake Long for the other side. Yaahoo. . . . !

 

There is some really good guard prospects also. I dont think theres a top 10-15 guard, but you get into the 20s, after that there are quite a few very good guard prospects.

 

Jake Long deserves it..

Mankins is on the record in saying he would be pissed off he the pats put the tag on him...not sure what that means really but the more tension the better....

 

Huh? They were free agents. They could have gone anywhere they wanted.

You don't keep players to keep them away from division rivals. It's still a business, after all. They didn't keep Wilfork to keep him away from us. They kept Wilfork because he's one of the best players at a position that's hard to find and replace, and therefore worth the investment. Whether they keep Mankins is a matter of their own finances. He's going to command near 9-10 mil per year. If it works for them, and they don't have a player waiting in the wings, they might franchise him. If they think 9-10 million per is too much for a guard, and that it might hamper a possible salary cap when a new CBA is reached, they might let him walk. Also keep in mind that they have a lot of draft picks early, and might decide it makes more sense financially to draft a guard early on that can start for them. Mankins is very good, but the team still did quite well in his absence.

And for all this talk about franchising and trading the player, it's not done very often, and no one knows yet what groundrules the new CBA might entail.

 

You're wrong.

Asante Samuel

 

would be two good acquisitions, especially mankins

 

Richard Seymour:

Randy Moss:

And trade him they did the patriots do not let their all pro caliber players walk without getting draft picks in exchange, like the Andrew Luck nonsense, this is a pipe dream fellas, Samuel was the only one to escape NE for "free" and no one else has since.

Unless you wish to count Ben Watson, but he was never very good in NE anyway.

 

your not willing to go with incognito at center?

That one game he played there against top competition, he played well, and things just looked different..

Something I noticed when watching and Boomer actually pointed out after the game, but it seemed like a reverse triangle was goin on out there on the line...He was getting major push on those dtackles...It was a very bizarre sight..

 

Padre , you're wrong.

You said that they DO NOT.. implying that they never do.

They fact is they DID.

They've done both. And with 6 picks in the top 3 rounds this year, with plenty of ammunition to bring in a couple good O-linemen, they'll likely let Mankins walk (after the big publicized squabble Mankins had with them this season already)..

 

No, the only one who escaped was Samuels and only because he had it added to his Franchise Tagged contract, has any other NE player had such a codicil written into their deals?

If they had, they were traded before their contract expired, Mankins has no such deal in his contract, he is not going anywhere without the Pats getting draft picks, stop with the Fairy Tales Belicheck does not play that stuff.

They will tag Mankins as it costs them not a single penny to do so, then they will shop him for draft picks anything else is fantasy land thinking.

 

Yes.

 

Logan Mankins is a good guard but certainly not worth being paid as much as Jake Long is paid and Mankins is looking to be paid more. Besides, NE will not let him walk and will use the Franchis tag if necessary.

 

Yes they will put the franchise tag on him and if Mankins wants to play piss *** football in 2011 because he is not happy, then in 2012 no team will give him anything close to the money he thinks he is worth. The best way for NE owner to screw him is to keep him with a franchise tag and no way Mankins will under perform during the season. It would spell his demise in the NFL and then his worth would drop faster then a rock.

Then again, there may be some team stupid enough to pay the two first round draft picks for him but he would still play in 2011 under the money dictated in the frachise tag, Which, is not bad money.

 

Other than Brady which player have they paid a lot of money on? We do not know if there is going to be a franchise tag

 

I agree
having said that
I was very disappointed our idiot head coach didn't give him a crack @ the position against the Patriots
could have been a defining moment
as things stand, we really don't know

 

if he wants to be paid more than The Premiere Left Tackle in the game than he can go fu$# himself...

How do you know that?

 

He'd be a great pickup but I just don't see it happening.

 

nobody is stupid enough to give 2 first round picks for logan mankins...I wouldn't give 1.

 

You don't give up first rounders for O line guys unless they are named "Munoz" and the play OLT.

 

mankins would be worth a third

 

I'll give you a fourth.