http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/08/dolphins-bring-back-andre-branch-on-long
A little mixed about this. Our DE situation was paper thin. I just hope Andre Branch is more than a one-year wonder on the last (only?) year of his previous contract.
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I don't mind the idea of retaining one of our own. That's a good thing. Hopefully it's not a huge money deal though. I don't think he's worth big bucks. Have to wait and see the terms, but I do like the idea of bringing back our own guys and not creating more holes. Get Stills done now too. Fill two spots with starters, they're you're own guys who by all accounts have done it the right way while here and are getting rewarded (assuming we keep Stills) and that sends a good locker room message too I'd think.
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vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member
Not sure if already posted...we resigned Mike Hull, Lafeyette Pitts, Anthony Steen, and Thomas Duarte.
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Not sure of the financials yet but if they are agreeable then I'm ok with this move. Still need to draft a pass rusher but at least we don't have to expect the draftee to come in and contribute straight away now.
I liked branch at times last season but do wonder if he was putting it out there in a contract year. Guess we will find out this season.
Overall for me the pluses are that he's 2 years in the scheme now and showed talent in flashes, negatives are his play against the run and we've probably seen his ceiling. -
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It's a good signing because it fills a need and the hole it would have caused would have been too much to fix in this draft.
I hope we still draft a DE, but it's not as important as LB and OL now.SocaCasualuk likes this. -
Ouch. I'm happy to have him back, but I don't know about that price tag. His play will have to continue to elevate if he's going to earn all that money.
Of note:
invid likes this. -
3 yr $27M for Branch
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Terrible deal for a flat out bad player. Not sure where this idea is coming from that he is a good player at all, but he was part of the problem last year. He has graded out poorly in every single year he's played in the league on PFF. From his rookie year to last year, his grades have been 43.3, 58.7, 62.8, 41.7, and 56.4 last year. He is a flat out bad player. I dont care that we have a need at DE, signing a bad player at DE and saying we helped fill a need doesnt help fill the need. It means we further exacerbated the problem we have there. And he was even worse as a run defender then he was as a bad pass rusher. Just a horrific deal.
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Second, he's an average DE with the ability to get better.
Third, we would have either drafted (and may still) a DE or picked one up in FA. They know what they have in Branch.
Fourth, this is no where near a "horrific deal"...even if it turns out to be $9 mil per year. (Which I'd bet my dog it's not)Redwine4all likes this. -
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2- No, by PFF who actually watches and grades every player and every play, he has been a bad player every single year he has been in the league, including last year when he was part of the problem along with Williams at that other DE spot.
3- Ya, we are going to add other players at DE, i'd certainly hope so. But Branch as a bad player for a 3 yr 27 million deal is absolutely horrible value in a cap controlled sport. It is the complete opposite of what the patriots do at just about every position.
4- We just re-signed a bad player for at the very least, a significant amount of money. That is a horrific deal. Sorry to break it to you guys, but IDK what you were watching, but this guy was a bad player last year and has been his entire career. -
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If you've never seen me criticize a Dolphins player or coach you're not paying attention.vt_dolfan likes this. -
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Branch's pass rush grade per PFF was just average not above average. He is not worth 9 million per year.
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My guess would be "no" to all of those questions.
Even so, Branch was given a contract that I would say is a little more than I would have guessed or wanted. However, it's not horrible. -
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Way overpaid. Kudos to him, I guess.
The only silver lining in this is that we won't be in a must-draft-DE-mode during the draft, like we were in 2014 with RT.
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Like what about what this guy did last year, forgetting the PFF grades, makes anyone think he is a competent DE? We had 2 guys requiring double teams on our DL and our DL still sucked because of how bad Branch, Williams, Mitchell, and Phillips were. The fact that people thought he was worthy of this deal absolutely blows my mind. And its not even like this guy has previous years of success to fall back on. He has literally only shown himself to be straight up bad in the NFL.Last edited: Mar 8, 2017 -
Salary cap is much higher this year so it's not as bad of a signing as it looks. Also, not everyone is Wake or Suh. Let's wait and see the guaranteed $$$ first.
Tin Indian likes this. -
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I'm not a huge fan of this deal. Seems like alot of money to give a player of his caliber. More than I would have paid him anyways. Glad he's back though. Fills a hole on a starting basis. Shows the locker room that if you come in, do your job the right way, you'll be rewarded.
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