Hmm Let's look at the article again..
1. According to league sources, the Dolphins have had extensive talks with Kansas City about acquiring Branden Albert for a second-round pick...doesn't say which 2nd round pick: Albert for a 2nd, he's a 1st rounder: would we get a LT like him in the 2nd? All of our deals have been for 2 years, and then we're good on the cap again to spend big..so we're not mortgaged...we were gonna pay Long around 6-7mil, so we switch that over to Albert..same differences for a guy who had less QB pressures than Jake..Okay I can accept that.
2. The source said talks have gotten to the point a physical for Albert is expected to occur, which is one of the necessary steps involved in pulling off a trade of this magnitude. Albert must pass the physical, then trade terms must be agreed to, and it is likely that a multi-year deal between Miami and Albert must be worked out.....So we have the physical to answer the concerns of those who brought up back problems,...... THEN trade terms Must be agreed to, so the trade terms aren't etched in stone at this point.....then it's LIKELY a mulit-year deal is given..not etch in stone either.
3. A team source said "the process has just begun," and admitted it is possible the Dolphins could wait until the first or second day of the draft, weighing all the options before finalizing a deal....So all of this could be a flyer to give the phins options based on what happens with our 1st round choice..so this deal may never leave the dock. And we have over 17 pages of messages about an option the phins are giving themselves in case the draft doesn't go the way they want it to go.
4. The Dolphins have two second-round picks and Ireland has openly acknowledged they'd be willing to trade one of them to either move up in the draft or acquire a solid veteran.....Ireland seems to be following his own stated plan..a solid Vet for ONE of the 2nd rounders. Does Albert meet that standard..probably yes.
5.Most draft analysts expect there will be an early run on offensive lineman this year, one that is reminiscent of the 2008 draft, which featured nine offensive tackles being selected in the first round. Therefore, Miami waiting to take one in the second-round could be risky....so Miami is hedging it's risk factor..that's reasonable.
6.Albert signed his franchise tender and is guaranteed $9.8 million this season. Any new deal would include that salary in 2013. This offseason, the top-rated offensive tackles received contracts that paid them an average salary of $7-8.5 million, which is a roll back from the previous $10 million a year range.
However, the Dolphins weren't willing to match the four-year, $34 million contract the Rams signed Jake Long for this offseason.
Counting Albert, the Dolphins do have a few options that might improve the offensive line.
Trading up to select one of the three elite offensive tackles is being considered, so is selecting North Carolina offensive guard Jonathan Cooper at No. 12, if he's still available. Cooper, the type of athletic offensive lineman coach Joe Philbin covets, is perceived as one of the top 15 players in this draft class. ....Let's see Kansas Franchised Albert at 9.8 mil, to do the same with Jake would have cost north if 15 mil.. We give an extension based on this year's salary's to top LT of 7-8.5 mil..instead of the 12 mil a year we were paying Jake..Hmmm sounds like saving's to me.
So right now it seem Miami is giving itself options, and we have a problem with that? Why? The only thing that would make this not a good deal is overpaying based on what top LT's are getting this year...we are definitely on the hook for the Franchise tender this year, but that can be work in his contract as 2 mil already paid and he gets the same 2 year deal everyone else has gotten and the books are clean 2 years from now as to not put us in salary cap problems. I don't see the problem with the explore option at this point..a LT we know can play in the NFL vs a maybe...with our QB, I like the KNOWN.
