My take on the Manning debate is this - it wasn't about the talent on the team or the record. It was about confidence in the organization - from the owner (Bolen) to the GM (Elway) to the Coach (John Fox). All three of those dominated Miami's at the time (Ross/Ireland/Philbin). And if Ross trashed Ireland prior to Manning signing, then what would have happened to Philbin? What kind of GM would they have gotten? Very tricky. On another note, we did have another GM turn down an interview. I have to think that for some of these GMs the Dolphins gig is poisoned. There is no control over the staff and it is, again, more of a glorified personnel guy. And, with Ross being someone incompetent, it creates problems being attractive. And, I think Finrunner is spot on with the analyzing the challenges for any GM coming in. Plus, those guys who are looking ahead to being GMs in the future know there will always be 5-6 new openings each year. in some ways, if they are doing a good job with their team, they can wait. But, when a Vikings personnel guy turns you down - there is something bad there. It's bad that we even thought about going after the guy. Did the GMs we interviewed last weekend just turn us all down? What happened to Jason Licht? He has a very good track record in terms of organizations he's worked with. Not perhaps Gamble's record of being in and out of the Patriots and Eagles in their good years, but still very good. Did we turn him down? If so, I just don't think that was wise. Is Ross just too slow and uncertain?
I agree with you, Da Fins. I probably think even less of Ross than you do, in fact. But not really interested in discussing it. Unlike debating the football games and players, which we see on the field, it gets harder the further you get from the field. This is why the Jeff ireland debates were neverending. It's hard to really know what's up behind the scenes so it made it hard to persuade anyone to change opinions on the GM. I think that's even more so the case with the owner. Some are fine with Ross, some aren't Ross's actions are mostly out of our view, so it's all about what each fan is inferring. We come to differing conclusions. It's no fun trying to convince someone to come to a different inference based on indirect evidence. Too rare an occurrence for that to work.
Did not read through the entire thread so my apologies if this has already been brought up about why Manning never really put any serious consideration into playing for Miami. Denver without Manning was already the strongest team in a weak division. With Manning there they had a pretty good shot at sweeping their division. 6 wins is 37% of the season. That is a good spot to not only seeing the playoffs but setting up in a top seed position. I can see where something like that would be a part of Mannings thought process. On the other side of it by coming to Miami he is garunteeing himself in having to face the Patriots twice and fighting them for the division title. Not saying he is afraid of them but why put himself into that situation. Manning wants a Superbowl and Denver is a pretty good spot to make a run at it. I really doubt it had anything to do with Ross, Ireland or Philbin.
I did laugh. It is funny when someone makes fun of someone by doing the exact same thing that they are making fun of them for. However as of sense of humor, I have a more dry sense of humor. I am not a fan of the "Wakka Wakka, poop fart, look at me," type of humor. If that is what you like, more power to you.
Agreed. Why WOULDN'T he pick the team that went to and won in the playoffs with Tebow?! That's plenty more than reason enough all by itself.
Any time the things that alledgedly transpired with this team happen in the Quitcells/Ireland era is basically the owner's fault. That's where the buck stops. He is responsible, period. That said, he's taking steps to resolve those issues with new personnel in there. I'm pretty sure that if you could ask Mr. Ross that question, he'd readily admit that the failure was his. The resolution of that failure is also his responsibility...He can't be 'fired' like his subordinates, all he can do is take steps to rectify the situations that have occurred... Let him do this...
They had a team that was able to overcome the lack of one piece, and he believed he was that piece. Also, Denver had the most cap flexibility of any team that year. A lot of people just assumed Peyton went for the money, which may or may not be true, but who cares? He had earned the right to whatever money he wanted at that point. I was a bit confused by his decision, especially with the way their season ended last year: why would a QB who grew up and played in the South, who then became a great pro in a dome, choose to go to a place where home field advantage means practicing by soaking your hands in buckets of icewater? IMO, either Elway is a hell of a salesman, or Peyton didn't think about that part. Thankfully, the forecast for Denver this weekend isn't so bad.
Do you think he's really rectifying the situation? The situation is bad because he is continually failing to rectify the situation by creating a fiasco of a front office situation of three heads. No one is comfortable with Ross except those who really have no other prospects. The multiple turn downs indicate this is a failed owner. And, he's not making serious monetary offers, imo. He knows nothing of what it takes to run the franchise. Any success that happens will be pure luck (something the Dolphins have not had for decades). He is just the opposite of those owners, even some bad ones, who basically get their guy (coach or GM) because they open the pocket book and convince guys to get there (like Kraft did - he got Belichick to walk way from the Jets when they had just announced him to be head coach; Ross can't even get guys in promotion).
Actually, it has everything to do with Ross, Ireland and Philbin. If they were getting the job done and had a playoff caliber team that had a shot at a SB and Manning had confidence in them like he did in Fox and Elway - Miami would have had a shot. You're missing the point that the relative quality of teams / organizations between Miami and Denver are in fact directly linked to the leadership of owner, GM and coach. And, now, the owner is very much the failure as he cannot get the top GM candidates to even consider Miami; then the next tier are turning down offers. Ross does not know what he is doing. Had Ross picked a GM candidate and gone after him strong - rolled out the red carpet; given him more power and offered him significant money for 5 years - he'd likely have a guy in the fold. As it is, any thinking that Miami is being smart and calculating after being turned down so many times is just wishful thinking at best.
If Denver was in the AFC east I don't see Manning joining them. Put Miami in Denvers place and he might of become a Dolphin. I Imagine the AFC south looked attractive to him too.
