The Rebuild of 2018

[masterfins]

Well it's very apparent that the Dolphins are in full rebuild mode, given they are getting rid of all of their quality players.  What annoys me, still, is that they used $10M of salary cap space on Cutler last year.  Someone must have thought they had a playoff caliber team to spend that much money on a questionable QB; yet they are now gutting the team.    The moves being made currently are undoing several seasons of plugging holes and upgrading positions, now they are filling the slots with washed up players that are just there to pick up their last paychecks of their careers.

The only hope the Dolphins have over the next four seasons is to somehow hit on all of their draft picks from last year and the next couple years, which given their track record is not inspiring.  I fully expect the Dolphins to give up this year's #1 pick and next year's #1 pick to move up and draft a QB that will end up rivaling Ryan Leaf as the one of the biggest draft busts of all time.  Very very frustrating.

[masterfins]

At this point it really doesn't make much sense to keep Tannehill around if the Dolphins are going to draft a QB in the first round.  Tannehill is going to cost almost $20M against the cap, with only $4.6M of dead cap money if they cut him.  The Dolphins would be better off investing that money elsewhere.

[Phishfan]

I'm fine with the moves mostly. This was not a good team last year.

[Pappy13]

I'm ok with all the moves EXCEPT for Landry. I REALLY liked him. I understand why they did it now, but they could have been honest and told us they NEVER intended to have him on the roster in 2018. Maybe they didn't want to tip their hand too much with him so they would have a better chance at a trade, but honestly would they have gotten anything less for him if the Browns knew they were rebuilding? I doubt it. They got peanuts. What were they gonna do, remove one of the peanuts?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'm ok with all the moves EXCEPT for Landry. I REALLY liked him. I understand why they did it now, but they could have been honest and told us they NEVER intended to have him on the roster in 2018. Maybe they didn't want to tip their hand too much with him so they would have a better chance at a trade, but honestly would they have gotten anything less for him if the Browns knew they were rebuilding? I doubt it. They got peanuts. What were they gonna do, remove one of the peanuts?

Applying the franchise tag with the intention of trading is a violation of the CBA.  Applying the franchise tag and thirty seconds after the player signing it deciding to trade the player is legal.  So while we know what they did if they admitted to it, it would force Goodell to punish them. 

[Phishfan]

I'm ok with all the moves EXCEPT for Landry. I REALLY liked him. I understand why they did it now, but they could have been honest and told us they NEVER intended to have him on the roster in 2018. Maybe they didn't want to tip their hand too much with him so they would have a better chance at a trade, but honestly would they have gotten anything less for him if the Browns knew they were rebuilding? I doubt it. They got peanuts. What were they gonna do, remove one of the peanuts?

The writing was on the wall way back. I kept telling everyone.

[Pappy13]

Applying the franchise tag with the intention of trading is a violation of the CBA. 

And yet almost every single news media outlet said that's EXACTLY what they were doing. So why is it's a violation of the CBA to SAY you are gonna do it, but it's fine to actually do it? That makes zero sense. Course it is the NFL and the collective bargaining agreement, guess we shouldn't expect it to make any sense.

[Dolphster]

And yet almost every single news media outlet said that's EXACTLY what they were doing. So why is it's a violation of the CBA to SAY you are gonna do it, but it's fine to actually do it? That makes zero sense. Course it is the NFL and the collective bargaining agreement, guess we shouldn't expect it to make any sense.

Having lived through the shenanigans that the Marlins have pulled multiple times over the years of making enormous salary dumps, calling it "rebuilding" and then pocketing all the money they saved by cutting salary with no intention of spending that money to make the team better, I REALLY hope the Dolphins aren't looking to do the same thing.  As one of the "old men" (54) here, I have been a fan of the Fins since I was a little kid during the early 70's glory years.  Stuck with them through all the good and bad.  But the last 15 years of stupidity from the organization (I can overlook losing, but not stupidity), if the team gets rid of all of the best players they have and don't show a real effort to rebuild with the purpose of winning a Super Bowl, then I will probably just pull the plug and find some other team to root for.  No matter how much you love a woman, if she treats you like crap long enough, you eventually have to walk away.   

[CF DolFan]

And yet almost every single news media outlet said that's EXACTLY what they were doing. So why is it's a violation of the CBA to SAY you are gonna do it, but it's fine to actually do it? That makes zero sense. Course it is the NFL and the collective bargaining agreement, guess we shouldn't expect it to make any sense.

It's exactly like murder. Everyone can know you did it but unless it can be proven you are safe.

I have no issue with the moves they are making. Seems like Landry was the first victim of them actually getting a little more intelligence. Like Phish said we were a bad team last year and weren't going to make huge strides being cash strapped and overpaying for guys who were doing their job. I don't know who realized it but obviously someone figured out this wasn't working. Kudos to them for having the balls to make changes instead of running status quo.

[Dolphster]

It's exactly like murder. Everyone can know you did it but unless it can be proven you are safe. 

So you are saying that the Dolphins are going to hire OJ Simpson as a special consultant?

[CF DolFan]

So you are saying that the Dolphins are going to hire OJ Simpson as a special consultant?

LOL ... that wouldn't surprise me one bit as clueless as Ross seems to be at times. 

[masterfins]

For better or worse this is going to be a completely different Dolphins team in 2018.  With all the new players they are going to have to have a really productive preseason.

Today's/yesterday's changes have actually made me a little hopeful after the losses of Landry & Suh.

[Spider-Dan]

Looks like the Dolphins have hit the full-on "Not a Philbin guy" phase of this coaching staff.  I hope it turns out better than last time.

In the last 6 months, MIA has traded or released players with 8 combined Pro Bowl appearances as Dolphins, and it's arguable that none of those moves were made for game-performance reasons.  This "we need high character players" stuff rarely works out well for teams that are not already good to start with.

[masterfins]

  This "we need high character players" stuff rarely works out well for teams that are not already good to start with.

Agreed.  This is professional sports, the players that make it to this level have been glorified throughout their lives, and as a result many have huge egos.  You can't put 50 guys on a team and not have a couple arrogant players - it's the coaches job to manage the egos.  Joe Torre did a heck of a job doing it when he coached the Yankees.  You can't just get rid of guys because you don't like them.  Not to mention you need some cocky guys on the field, they're not afraid to make plays.

[Fau Teixeira]

i can't say a dislike the offensive line moves .. seems like it's an upgrade overall