Random News: JT, Carey and Crowder
No point in making 3 different posts for these stories since they really aren’t that big (well you could say the Carey on is), but I’ve seen some news stories on Jason Taylor, Vernon Carey and Channing Crowder and thought I would share them. The Crowder one is old and covered it in another post but it goes somewhat with the Carey story.
A little Jason Taylor news first, Jason Taylor didn’t do very well last season on the Redskins and well theres a very likely situation in which he will get released rather than take a pay cut. But could he come back to the Dolphins if he gets released. There was a little tidbit in the Washington Post…
As for ends, there was some discussion about Jason Taylor possibly adding some pass rush as more of a linebacker, and there was talk about keeping him. However, his $8.5 million salary is very steep and he will be approached about coming back at a lesser salary, according to a source. That’s quite unlikely to go down, though. Several of Taylor’s teammates and others who know him well say they do not expect him to accept a reduced rate. In that case he’d rather be a free agent, they say, able to sign where he likes, preferring a system with less rigid responsibilities. He’s a better fit in a 3-4 scheme and would rather play in a warmer area, they say. Some believe he would even go back to Miami at a discount, if Bill Parcells would take him, to finish his career there.
I would welcome back JT in a backup roll, Jason really only left because we were a struggling team and he wanted to be on a contender. But it was the complete opposite this year, the Redskins didn’t make the playoffs and the Dolphins did. Could JT want to come back and help the Dolphins go further in the playoffs, thats a question once we see what the Redskins do.
As for Carey, Harvey Fialkov said that a source told him that the Dolphins want to resign Vernon Carey. More than likely the source would be his agent, because you never get leaks from the Dolphins unless its from Parcells media friends. Securing Carey would be the best situation because more youth on the line wouldn’t help the synergy as well, their are 2 OT’s that excel at RT who could go in the first 2 rounds. It would be better to lock up a Miami native in Vernon Carey.
As well the Channing Crowder news is about 11 days old but still it has to do with resigning and its that he is more than likely not going to be back. Some of the non Miami papers reported that the Dolphins won’t use the franchise on him and thats one of the real “no shit” moments. Crowder would need back up money if he were to stay with the Dolphins because thats really all he is, is the 2nd ILB. He doesn’t have the playmaking ability and thats what the Dolphins need.
Thats all there really is, There will be a Looking Forward segment soon.
Looking Forward: Senior Bowl Report
We are running a feature as we near closer to the Offseason Looking Forward to what the Dolphins will do this offseason. We’ll try to get in the mind of the trifecta of Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano. This segment we’ll be talking about who the Dolphins could go after in the Draft who were in the Senior Bowl.
The list of players from the Senior Bowl that the Dolphins could go after is…
- Ramses Barden
- Brian Robiskie
- Antoine Caldwell
- Herman Johnson
- Andy Levitre
- Phil Loadholt
- Alex Mack
- Max Unger
- Eric Wood
- Ron Brace
- Larry English
- Clint Sintim
- Brian Cushing
- Alphonso Smith
- Louis Delmas
- Coye Francies
- Victor Harris
I could list more but those are the main players I believe Ireland, Parcells and Sparano were watching at the Senior Bowl. Scott Wright specifically said we scouted Louis Delmas so their has to be some interest their. Other than that most of these prospects are safeties, OLB’s, NT’s, G/C’s and big WR’s.
As for the WR’s at the Senior Bowl the only two that were of interest were Brian Robiskie and Ramses Barden. Ramses Barden is a physical specimen with his size, hes 6′ 6″ and weighs 227. But thats the big story that makes people interested in him. But the fact is that he showed in this weeks practice that he doesn’t exactly have the speed to break away from CB’s, he has the size and the catching abilities but doesn’t have YAC abilities, Barden will be there in the 4th or some team will fall in love with him and take him fairly early.
Robiskie broke out in the latter part of Senior Bowl practices, showing great routes and could get seperation. He did have some drops though but looked overall impressive. He is only 6027 in height (6027 translates to 6′ 2.7″) but it is adequate enough for a tall receiver. Robiskie has seen his stock shoot up, so he can be had in the second round.
At the offensive line, there are many that impressed. It was the strong point of the North and South teams. Alex Mack was the lineman who most saw his stock shoot up. He was the best of the Centers agains B.J. Raji and Ron Brace in the trenches and seperated himself from the other centers. The others were decent and did well but didn’t do anything spectacular to make their stock go up or down.
Brandon London revealed that the Dolphins recently tendered him a new contract.
London was an exclusive rights free agent, so he couldn’t have left anyways. He’ll make $385,000 in 2009 and be eligible for restricted free agency in 2010. Miami now has five WRs under contract; London, Greg Camarillo, Ted Ginn Jr., Davone Bess, and Ernest Wilford. Wilford will likely be cut shortly. — [Palm Beach Post]
Looking Forward: Who could the Dolphins sign in Free Agency Part II
We are running a feature as we near closer to the Offseason Looking Forward to what the Dolphins will do this offseason. We’ll try to get in the mind of the trifecta of Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano. This segment we’ll be talking about who the Dolphins could go after in free agency if some players due for free agency are not signed. The draft will not be taken into account for these scenarios.
The first scenario for who would we sign if we don’t resign players would be if Renaldo Hill and more importantly Yermiah Bell do not resign. I tend to put safety into one bag although Yeremiah Bell is the better one of the pair, but even though the likelyhood of both not getting resigned isn’t very high we’re going to need atleast one safety.
The first option is Oshiomogho Atogwe, which may be the hardest name ever to spell right ahead of Nnamdi Asomugha. If Bell is resigned and Atogwe is signed that would be one of the better safety duos in the NFL. But the fact is, is that the Rams have their franchise tag open and more than likely if they can’t resign him will tag it on him. So hes taken out of the equation.
The second option would be Sean Jones, but that would mean that the Dolphins did not resign Yermiah Bell since Jones is a strong safety. Jones is younger than Bell and thats a plus, but Jones had somewhat of a down year last year with injuries. He could be a good pick up, but he has said he would love to retire a Cleveland Brown but he has no clue what the future holds. He wouldn’t be bad but I think I would rather keep Yeremiah Bell.
And the last option at safety would be to get a second tier safety and just resign Bell, probably the most likely of all options. There are some RFA’s in Jarrad Page and Dawan Landry and UFA’s in Atari Bigby and James Butler. Bigby and Butler would more than likely be the targets with not wanting to give up a draft pick and Bigby has been good on a good secondary so he wouldn’t be bad.
Jake Long Headed to the Pro Bowl
Miami Dolphins rookie offensive tackle Jake Long has been named in the AFC Pro Bowl squad as an injury replacement for Jason Peters of the Buffalo Bills.
The number one overall pick in April’s draft, Long will join teammates Ronnie Brown and Joey Porter in Honolulu for the Pro Bowl on February 8.
“It’s a huge honour to be named to the Pro Bowl team,” Long said. “I am excited about the opportunity to join so many other great players in the game, and I’m looking forward to representing my teammates and the Dolphins organisation out in Hawaii.”
Long started all 16 games for Miami, who rebounded from a 1-15 record in 2007 to an 11-5 mark and the AFC East title this season. — [Sporting Life]
Huizenga set to sell the majority of the Dolphins today
It should be a sad day for many Dolphins fans in that after today Wayne Huizenga will no longer be the majority owner of the Miami Dolphins. Huizenga has been the majority owner of the Dolphins since 1994 and has brought forth the renovations of Dolphin Stadium and made it the great stadium that it is today.
As well he introduced baseball and hockey to the Miami area, He was the initial owner of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers. However though, the Marlins have had a bad relationship with Huizenga and don’t havevery good relations with him and some Marlins fans may be happy he is not the owner anymore.
Huizenga put all his money forth to make the Dolphins a better team, He flew Nick Saban in on his private jet. He flew to Puerto Rico to see if Pete Caroll would want to be the coach of the Dolphins. He has done anything in his power to make this team better and although sometimes it didn’t work, money was never a problem.
Ross can all but learn from what Huizenga has done and I hope he has. Ross becoming majority owner of the Dolphins does leave Parcells clause open for 30 days to leave the franchise but after him and Ireland attended the Senior Bowl. I believe Parcells will stay and will lead this franchise to good things.
First on Ross’ list should be to find a new CEO, Since Joe Bailey has been a complete failure, he has not been able to secure naming rights to Dolphin Stadium. A new CEO could possibly make the Dolphins much more money.
Dolphins sign Kilmer
The Dolphins also signed safety Ethan Kilmer, who has been with the Cincinnati Bengals the last three seasons.
The 25-year-old Kilmer was a seventh-round draft choice of the Bengals in 2006. He played in all 16 games in his rookie season and finished second on the squad with 18 special teams tackles, while also recovering a fumble. On defense, he posted four tackles and an interception, which came off a Drew Brees pass at New Orleans on November 19, and that he returned 52 yards for a touchdown. He split the 2007 season on Cincinnati’s 53-man roster and the injured reserve list. He also spent the first five games of 2008 on injured reserve. Kilmer was a two-year letterman at Penn State (2004-05), who began his collegiate career as a walk-on. He played safety in 2004 before moving to wide receiver the following year, when he caught 15 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns, including six receptions for 79 yards and a TD in an Orange Bowl win over Florida State. Born January 31, 1983, Kilmer attended Wyalusing (Pa.) High School. — [Sun-Sentinel]
Dolphins sign Cameron Wake
Coming off 2 consecutive CFL Defensive player of the year awards, The Dolphins have signed Cameron Wake. Heres some youtube videos of him since I’m sure most of you have not seen him play before.
Heres the downlow from Adam Schefter
In the richest contract given to a Canadian Football League player jumping to the National Football League, the Dolphins signed DE Cameron Wake to a four-year deal that could be worth up to $4.9 million, including close to $1 million in guaranteed money, a league source said Sunday night.
Seventeen NFL teams expressed interest in Wake. He wound up visiting eight, and his decision came down to the Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts.
Miami gets a pass rusher who posted prolific numbers in the CFL. During the past two seasons for the BC Lions, Wake had 39 sacks. The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder played at Penn State, where he was known as Derek Wake before he began using his middle name, Cameron.
Despite running the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds at Penn State Pro Day, Wake was an undrafted free agent whom the New York Giants signed shortly after the draft. He went to the CFL in 2006, began to dominate and drew league-wide attention that resulted in him signing a record deal with the Dolphins.
I would expect Quentin Moses not to get tendered and Charlie Anderson possibly get cut, I have heard rumors of Charlie possibly getting cut. But it will be exciting to see what he can do in the NFL.
Introducing our New Mock Draft Database
To make some Dolphins fans life easier, I’ve decided to create a database of all of the good mock drafts on the net and compile them all into one area. You can find it here . We’ll have some draft features as we approach it as well, so that won’t be the only thing concerning the Draft.
Best of Ronnie Brown
A video via the NFL Network, It shows Ronnie Browns high points, but its kind of short. Also there is the weird wildcat noise in the background, but ultimately a pretty good video.
