I honestly feel like this is the biggest move of the entire offseason for us. This is another one that Tannenbaum botched. He should have already signed an extension when we had the leverage. Now, he has the leverage. My guess is that he will command a pretty penny. If we choose to be fiscally conservative and let him walk, we will have a big hole to fill.

Personally, I would just pay him. I am sick and tired of having a sub-par offensive line. I am okay with moving on from Tannehill, but I also understand that some of his failures were directly correlated to having a bad offensive line for his entire career. I really think we need to take a "never again" approach to the line and address it no matter the cost.

I think back to all those times that we went out and broke the bank for some flashy free agent. How would things be different if we had overpaid for an o-lineman? Even if they disappointed and were only average, it would still be better than the Dallas Thomases of the world.

 

That's the Parcells blueprint. Can't say it is a bad idea to build the trenches if you can't find a QB this year.

 

I edited that for you....because it's all you really need in the NFL these days. With an awesome line, you have an awesome run game by default.....which opens up the passing game for average QB's.

 

We haven't achieved a good OL in a long, long time. Let alone a dominant one.

I would say that the 2003 lineup was probably the last one i was comfortable with. They weren't great. No real Pro Bowlers, just solid guys that were together for a short time:

Wade Smith
Jamie Nails
Tim Ruddy
Todd Perry
Todd Wade

The 1999 lineup was better, though some of these guys were on the decline at that point:

Richmond Webb
Mark Dixon
Tim Ruddy
Kevin Donnaley
James Brown

When you go back to 1996, then you get into where some of these guys were at their peak:

Richmond Webb
Keith Sims
Tim Ruddy
Chris Gray
James Brown

Then when you get to 1994, then you find a really, really good line. No surprise that we lead the league in offense that season, and it was the last time that we were competitive in the Div Round of the playoffs:

Richmond Webb
Keith Sims
Tim Ruddy
Bert Weidner
Ron Heller

 

2009
Jake Long
Justin Smiley
Jake Grove
Donald Thomas
Vernon Carey

This line was excellent until Smiley and Grove got hurt.

 

A fair point! I was at the Carolina game when Grove went down. I remember watching them working on him on the sidelines, and him hobbling around on the sidelines behind the bench, and just shaking my head. This was just after Ronnie Brown had broken his foot and went out for the year the week before.

 

No way I would pay him whatever he wants. Nor would I pay him as a top 10 lineman especially in this team when the object is to slow grow

 

I'm halfway sure I was at that game too! I've seen Panthers/Fins there 4 or 5 times over the years!

 

It's NEVER a bad idea to build your trenches. Football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage

 

I've only been able to go to three NFL games. That was the next to last. Went to Cincy the following season. I'll try again when my kids are older. Or might end up going alone at that point, lol.

 

I”ll be happy when we get a good OL Coach. OK a dominant line would be nice, but what I really want is an OL where the backups don’t allow the QB and RBs to get killed 1 second after the snap.

 

I don't go to games much anymore either, but I will go when Miami comes to Carolina. Most of their recent trips here have been pre-season but that's okay...I think I've seen 1 regular season game up here over the years & it was the game you were talking about.

 

We need to do this anyway because realistically I don’t think we have a shot at Murray and I don’t want to pull a Ditka and sell the farm to get him. I would guess that, in the end, we will probably be stuck with just an average QB, so we better do a good job protecting him. Since I think our record will be better than people think, we might have a chance to get Fromm next year.