2011 Miami Dolphins Off-season thread (1 Viewer)

[Darrinll40]

I like where they are at WR and RB, though hopefully Ricky is back and productive But they must get a new QB, the Chads have to go.

Plus there will probably be a new HC although I do like Sparano.

When Fisher leaves Tennessee I would like to see him in Miami, plus maybe McNabb.

 

[GoFishTN]

I like where they are at WR and RB, though hopefully Ricky is back and productive But they must get a new QB, the Chads have to go.

Plus there will probably be a new HC although I do like Sparano.

When Fisher leaves Tennessee I would like to see him in Miami, plus maybe McNabb.

God no.

 

[Darrinll40]

I like where they are at WR and RB, though hopefully Ricky is back and productive But they must get a new QB, the Chads have to go.

Plus there will probably be a new HC although I do like Sparano.

When Fisher leaves Tennessee I would like to see him in Miami, plus maybe McNabb.

God no.

So you want to keep Henne? Do you know of any alternatives for QB?

 

[Hanz]

Ronnie Brown will most likely be gone unless he gives us a very generous discount, in other words, he is gone. Ricky will take over at RB and we will most likely draft another RB to groom in the 3rd-5th rounds. QB will be interesting because if Sparano stays, I think he will feel the pressure to draft a Jake Locker or Cam Newton just to make the fans and the ownership happy. If another HC comes in, I think we'll see Kolb or Orton starting for us in 2011. At this point everyone knows that the two Chad's are done in Miami.

 

[Darrinll40]

Ronnie Brown will most likely be gone unless he gives us a very generous discount, in other words, he is gone. Ricky will take over at RB and we will most likely draft another RB to groom in the 3rd-5th rounds. QB will be interesting because if Sparano stays, I think he will feel the pressure to draft a Jake Locker or Cam Newton just to make the fans and the ownership happy. If another HC comes in, I think we'll see Kolb or Orton starting for us in 2011. At this point everyone knows that the two Chad's are done in Miami.

I didn't realize the Brown situation. There seem to be a lot of decent FA RB's available. Link

I would like to see Orton reunited with Marshall, that could be fun.

 

[GoFishTN]

I like where they are at WR and RB, though hopefully Ricky is back and productive But they must get a new QB, the Chads have to go.

Plus there will probably be a new HC although I do like Sparano.

When Fisher leaves Tennessee I would like to see him in Miami, plus maybe McNabb.

God no.

So you want to keep Henne? Do you know of any alternatives for QB?

No, Henne needs to go, but McNabb would be almost as bad.

 

[mike9289]

Besides the obvious need for a QB, we also need a TE and a Safety.

 

[BuckeyeChaos]

a lot of Mocks have Mark Ingram coming to the Dolphins. What say you Miami homers?

 

[Big B]

Ronnie needs to go...Ricky needs to stay.

Dump Sparano and Hire Gruden for a good offensive mind. I like Cowher but because he is a defensive coach I fear he would let Nolan go and Nolan has done an amazing job there.

Henne will stay for 1 more year but they need to pull the trigger on a QB (1st round talent) this draft

and brining in a McNabb or a Palmer is not the answer...enough with the old trash

 

[zamboni]

Ronnie Brown will most likely be gone unless he gives us a very generous discount, in other words, he is gone. Ricky will take over at RB and we will most likely draft another RB to groom in the 3rd-5th rounds.

Ricky may still be valuable in a timeshare situation, but no way is he able to take over at this stage of his career.

 

[SwampDawg]

I like where they are at WR and RB, though hopefully Ricky is back and productive But they must get a new QB, the Chads have to go.

Plus there will probably be a new HC although I do like Sparano.

When Fisher leaves Tennessee I would like to see him in Miami, plus maybe McNabb.

God no.

So you want to keep Henne? Do you know of any alternatives for QB?

No, Henne needs to go, but McNabb would be almost as bad worse.

Fixed

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This thread is as lifeless as the team. This is the "off season" thread...I like what we have at WR and RB???

Have you watched Ronnie and Ricky all season? Are you out of your mind? This team needs a complete overhaul at RB and I can almost promise you that Ricky will retire and a ripe 29 year old Ronnie Brown is moving on.

I have an entire list of problems with Miami from top to bottom including the fans which are pretty nonexistent on this board and most others throughtout the NFL. I can remember when Shula was the coach and you would see a lot of Miami fans on the road in places like New England. Phinsfans are no going to like ths thread much I am putting together but it's the truth and will be as painful for some as The Passion by Mel but its got to be told truthfully.

 

[Darrinll40]

This thread is as lifeless as the team. This is the "off season" thread...I like what we have at WR and RB???

Have you watched Ronnie and Ricky all season? Are you out of your mind? This team needs a complete overhaul at RB and I can almost promise you that Ricky will retire and a ripe 29 year old Ronnie Brown is moving on.

I have an entire list of problems with Miami from top to bottom including the fans which are pretty nonexistent on this board and most others throughtout the NFL. I can remember when Shula was the coach and you would see a lot of Miami fans on the road in places like New England. Phinsfans are no going to like ths thread much I am putting together but it's the truth and will be as painful for some as The Passion by Mel but its got to be told truthfully.

Well, looks like there is no problem with Ricky being around.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5987009

Is it time to rebuild? New coach, new RB, new QB? If so we had all better get used to a 1 or 2 win season.

 

[GoFishTN]

Well, looks like there is no problem with Ricky being around.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5987009

Is it time to rebuild? New coach, new RB, new QB? If so we had all better get used to a 1 or 2 win season.

Yikes. Unless we can sign Hershel Walker and trade him for a bunch of picks, that's could take awhile.

 

[mike9289]

Well, looks like there is no problem with Ricky being around.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5987009

Is it time to rebuild? New coach, new RB, new QB? If so we had all better get used to a 1 or 2 win season.

Yikes. Unless we can sign Hershel Walker and trade him for a bunch of picks, that's could take awhile.

I don't think the whole team needs to be rebuilt. The defense is solid. Don't forget that a couple of high picks on defense ended up on the IR. We do need a safety.Back to the offense. A lot of problems with both the passing game and running game would go away if we had a competant QB. Its impossible to run the ball when nobody respects your QB's ability to take advantage of 8 guys in the box.

 

[Wilbur Wood]

Per John Clayton on Mike and Mike this a.m., Sporano will be back at the helm for the 2011 season.

 

[Slapdash]

Well, looks like there is no problem with Ricky being around.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5987009

Is it time to rebuild? New coach, new RB, new QB? If so we had all better get used to a 1 or 2 win season.

Yikes. Unless we can sign Hershel Walker and trade him for a bunch of picks, that's could take awhile.

I don't think the whole team needs to be rebuilt. The defense is solid. Don't forget that a couple of high picks on defense ended up on the IR. We do need a safety.Back to the offense. A lot of problems with both the passing game and running game would go away if we had a competant QB. Its impossible to run the ball when nobody respects your QB's ability to take advantage of 8 guys in the box.

It certainly isn't time for another rebuilding phase. As always, QB play is the main problem. A new OC has to be the top priority.

 

[Darrinll40]

Updated at 11:53 on ESPN Rumors page.

UPDATE: Following a lengthy meeting with Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and CEO Mike Dee, head coach Tony Sparano is still employed, according to Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald. There's no guarantee that this is a permanent decision -- especially given recent rumors on team interest in Jim Harbaugh -- but at this point, he appears safe.Even so, Herald columnist Armando Salguero writes that "It is now clear [sparano] is the fall-back position," and that ESPN analyst Jon Gruden and current Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher are other potential targets. In other words, Sparano's safety could be fleeting.

So maybe Sparano is safe if everyone else says no.

 

[Darrinll40]

As for what the Broncos expect in return for Orton, Mike Klis of the Post reports that the Broncos "will ask for a second-round pick."

Is Orton worth a 2nd rounder? Maybe if they could get someone like Mark Ingram in the 1st?ETA: I guess it will be hard for Miami to give up a 2nd when they don't have one.

 

[eddy13]

As for what the Broncos expect in return for Orton, Mike Klis of the Post reports that the Broncos "will ask for a second-round pick."

Is Orton worth a 2nd rounder? Maybe if they could get someone like Mark Ingram in the 1st?ETA: I guess it will be hard for Miami to give up a 2nd when they don't have one.

Well reports are that the Dolphins are set to talk to Jim HArbaugh for coaching job and no timetable has been made to talk about Sopranos Future.. So these r conflicting reports..

 

[Sweet Love]

This thread is as lifeless as the team. This is the "off season" thread...I like what we have at WR and RB???Have you watched Ronnie and Ricky all season? Are you out of your mind? This team needs a complete overhaul at RB and I can almost promise you that Ricky will retire and a ripe 29 year old Ronnie Brown is moving on. I have an entire list of problems with Miami from top to bottom including the fans which are pretty nonexistent on this board and most others throughtout the NFL. I can remember when Shula was the coach and you would see a lot of Miami fans on the road in places like New England. Phinsfans are no going to like ths thread much I am putting together but it's the truth and will be as painful for some as The Passion by Mel but its got to be told truthfully.

Meh...I think you guys got exactly what you wanted out of Ronnie in a contract year; a sub-par season. What would 7-9 and 1200 yards from Ronnie given you? You now have the upper-hand (who on Earth is going to pay big bucks for 29 year-old RB coming off of a 700 yard season)? Now you keep both for one more year (Pot doesn't just grow on trees, nor does child support, so you are safe with Ricky giving one more year).You said it yourself, there are other needs. Fill them in 2011 and then address RB in 2012. RB is the easiest position in the NFL to fill (somewhere wedged between kicker, punter and special teams LB), so why blow it on a guy like Ingram. As a Jets fan, I would LOVE for you guys to do just that...let him go off for 125 yards as Derek Anderson tosses 3 INTs...

 

[NeverEnough]

We're going nowhere fast without a QB.

 

[Todem]

a lot of Mocks have Mark Ingram coming to the Dolphins. What say you Miami homers?

I would be doing cartwheels.

 

[eddy13]

We're going nowhere fast without a QB.

Dolphins also reached out to Cowher but it seems communications ceased when the dolphins offered cowher the job but with the condition of keeping Nolan and Ireland as GM/def cordinator..

 

[J-Dawg]

Bill Cowher is smart, he doesn't want to go into a train wreck situation which is what the Miami job is shaping up to be. Our offence is pitiful. I used to be on the Henne bandwagon but he lost me as a fan with that Week 16 game. Our RBs suck and our O-Line is overrated. The OC is a joke, we need a good TE and a quality WR opposite Marshall. That's a lot of holes to fill. I like Bess as a slot guy but am not sold on Hartline as a #2.

Our D is good but could be better. I still think we need help in our secondary with a corner to start opposite Vontae as well as a safety. We also need somebody else to rush the passer besides Wake who will start to be taken away with double teams at some point.

This team is still 2 years away at least.

 

[Todem]

Bill Cowher is smart, he doesn't want to go into a train wreck situation which is what the Miami job is shaping up to be. Our offence is pitiful. I used to be on the Henne bandwagon but he lost me as a fan with that Week 16 game. Our RBs suck and our O-Line is overrated. The OC is a joke, we need a good TE and a quality WR opposite Marshall. That's a lot of holes to fill. I like Bess as a slot guy but am not sold on Hartline as a #2. Our D is good but could be better. I still think we need help in our secondary with a corner to start opposite Vontae as well as a safety. We also need somebody else to rush the passer besides Wake who will start to be taken away with double teams at some point. This team is still 2 years away at least.

They are a real QB and another strong draft away. The OL is a total mess. We have very good tackles but not much else. We need to foucs on finding an anchor at center, an impact multi purpose back and a total change in offensive philosophy.

 

[J-Dawg]

What would you guys think about trading down in the 1st round and taking Pouncey and then looking at Daniel Thomas in the 3rd?

 

[mchaps55]

Owner Ross and Ireland on Stanford sidelines last night

Palm Beach Post

DAVIE — Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh was in South Florida all week to prepare his team for the Orange Bowl, which it won last night, 40-12.

And he may not be leaving the area.

The NFL Network is reporting this morning that the Dolphins have had "multiple conversations" with Harbaugh and are expected "to make a push" to hire Harbaugh, 47, as the team's head coach to replace current coach Tony Sparano.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and close adviser Carl Peterson were both spotted at last night's Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium, watching Harbaugh's team complete a 12-1 season in his fourth year as Stanford's head coach. Ross and Harbaugh both graduated from Michigan.

NFL.com is also reporting that it will be "hard for Sparano to survive" in his current job after the Dolphins completed their second straight 7-9 season, finishing 30th in the league in points scored.

Sparano, hired as Miami's head coach in 2008, has a 25-23 record and one playoff appearance in three seasons, and Ross is reportedly trying to determine if he can land a higher-profile coach who would play more attractive offensive football.

But even if Ross changes head coaches, the Dolphins may not be in for wholesale changes. The report states that general manager Jeff Ireland, who worked as a ball boy for the Chicago Bears in the 1980s while Harbaugh was a quarterback, may be able to survive a transition to a new head coach. And Harbaugh would reportedly be OK working with Dolphins' defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who guided the Dolphins to the NFL's sixth-overall defense in 2010, his first season with the team.

Nolan and Harbaugh also overlapped in the Bay Area in 2007-08, when Nolan was head coach at San Francisco and Harbaugh began his tenure at Stanford.

Harbaugh, younger brother of current Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, played quarterback for 15 NFL seasons with six teams, most notably with the Bears and Colts. After his playing career, he spent seven seasons as an unpaid assistant coach and recruiter for his father, Jack Harbaugh, then the coach at Western Kentucky University.

He then served as a coach with the Oakland Raiders for two years - coaching on a Super Bowl team in 2002 and coaching the quarterbacks in 2003 - before taking a head coaching job at the University of San Diego for three years, going 29-6, and Stanford for the last four seasons.

He has a 29-21 record in four seasons at Stanford, and just won the school's first BCS bowl game last night. The Broncos and 49ers are also reportedly interested in hiring him as a coach.

 

[J-Dawg]

No thanks. No more experiments with NCAA coaches.

 

[Darrinll40]

Looking at ESPN.com a while ago I saw an article on Cam Newton and the teams that may be interested. This line was in the middle of the article.

The Miami Dolphins also could be in the market for a quarterback.[/quote] I hope that it is stronger than "could be". If they start Henne next year I may become a completely indifferent fan.

I did see on espn tv scroll earlier this week that Childress may become the new OC and that the Dolphins were possibly looking at McNabb.

 

[TheWheel]

They need to stay away from Childress. Brandon Marshall will strangle him. The defense is set. Sparano is there to rally the troops. The Dolphins opponents this year were much more difficult than last. I wouldn't give up on Henne just yet. It'd be nice to see Cam Newton there, but I don't think you throw him right out there. I think Ronnie Brown should stick around. If the team has problems in the interior of the o-line you can't expect running production, sorry. They need another safety.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

They need to stay away from Childress. Brandon Marshall will strangle him. The defense is set. Sparano is there to rally the troops. The Dolphins opponents this year were much more difficult than last. I wouldn't give up on Henne just yet. It'd be nice to see Cam Newton there, but I don't think you throw him right out there. I think Ronnie Brown should stick around. If the team has problems in the interior of the o-line you can't expect running production, sorry. They need another safety.

 

[TheWheel]

They have good players. Langford, Merling, Starks, Kisi (I think that's his name), Wake, Davis, Smith, Bell. If you don't want them, there are lines for them all. Any defense looks bad with lethargy on offense.

 

[DropKick]

Ronnie Brown will most likely be gone unless he gives us a very generous discount, in other words, he is gone. Ricky will take over at RB and we will most likely draft another RB to groom in the 3rd-5th rounds. QB will be interesting because if Sparano stays, I think he will feel the pressure to draft a Jake Locker or Cam Newton just to make the fans and the ownership happy. If another HC comes in, I think we'll see Kolb or Orton starting for us in 2011. At this point everyone knows that the two Chad's are done in Miami.

Not the first time we've seen dangling chads in Florida.I have a feeling we'll see Kolb... nothing like a Philly retread QB. Wouldn't mind Orton plus a young QB in the draft.

 

[mchaps55]

I can't see the dolphins taking a rookie QB with their first round Pick and I can't see them agreeing to Childress as OC.

Tony Sparano has no time to to build the team around a rookie QB and he has no time to install an offense around Childress west coast system. The team isn't built that way presently and Sparano has to win and win fast.

 

[DropKick]

I can't see the dolphins taking a rookie QB with their first round Pick and I can't see them agreeing to Childress as OC.Tony Sparano has no time to to build the team around a rookie QB and he has no time to install an offense around Childress west coast system. The team isn't built that way presently and Sparano has to win and win fast.

I don't see them turning it around that quickly and hope their focus is on the long run. Really would like to see some stability at QB. Too bad they didn't grab Brees but I admit I was skeptical after the shoulder injury. Not sure that Newton or Locker are "value" at #15... but it sure beats Ginn at #9.

 

[mchaps55]

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Omar Kelly, impending free agent DeAngelo Williams "has surfaced to the top of the must get list" for the Dolphins.

"He's a mold of what [the] Phins want in 2011," writes Kelly. The Dolphins certainly make sense as a landing spot for Williams, though his age (28) and failure to stay healthy through 16 games in a committee attack are impediments to a mega contract.

 

[mchaps55]

Dolphins focus in on Nevada's Colin Kaepernick

Speaking of quarterbacks ....

Yeah, we'll be doing that a lot in the coming weeks and months.

On Wednesday, Tony Pauline of TFYDraft.com and si.com, tweeted that Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been drawing big-time attention from the Minnesota Vikings and the Dolphins. He added that both teams see Kaepernick as a possible second-round selection.

And, I recognize the Dolphins don't have a second-round pick. Don't worry about that. Don't get caught up in that detail. They will try to add such a pick, probably by trading down from the 15th overall selection or through other means as situations present themselves. Plus, what round the Dolphins are thinking about Kaepernick at this moment is not important because his stock might rise or fall in the coming months so that's relative.

What is important is that Miami has put such a focus on him.

Frankly, I saw him play only one game this year. It was against Boise State. He was good. I thought he was more a threat with his feet than with his arm, but I really liked his demeanor and leadership and authority on the field.

Authority is God-given. It is not earned. It is not learned. You either have it or you do not. Kaepernick carries it on a 6-4, 224-pound frame. He's got it. When he's on the field, he is in charge and the opponents recognize he's the guy they have to worry about.

Kaepernick has, by most accounts, been impressive during the practices for the North squad at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. He was especially so on Wednesday -- the last day most NFL GM types will be in town to view practices in person.

Kaepernick is on the North squad with Washington's Jake Locker and Iowa's Ricky Stanzi. Yet, he's been better than both this week and it would surprise me if he does not start for the North despite being less known and from a smaller football program than the other two.

Kaepernick has a bit of an unorthodox delivery. It's not a hitch or a windup but it reminds a little of Phillip Rivers. One scout I speak to on a regular basis says that can be ironed out by a good QB coach but, "Why mess with it if he's effective? That isn't a big concern for me. It's not a Tim Tebow-like issue."