May 9th - Ch 6, Ch 4, Ch 10 News

[finregime]

Forget Boston's health who will get him the ball.A SB team starts and finishes with the QB and with that said we are in TROUBLE!!! Dilfer didnt make mistakes even though he wasnt flashy he had a nice deep ball and managed the game well.Feeley wont be given the chance to start unless Fiedler goes down which should happen by week 5 and we'll crash and burn as will our FO.Mark my words NO PLAYOFFS!!!!! Just run Ricky!!!

 

[Boomer]

I digress.....

Rick - hope you're trip south was OK. Your little piece at the bottome of your post has me worried.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." From "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long."

I don't even know what "Conn a Ship" or "Set a Bone" mean. And I can't programme a computer, balance accounts, butcher a hog or build a wall (that won't fall down). And my wife says I can't take orders, cook a tasty meal or co-operate. :) I'm useless!!! :)

 

[PhinKev]

I think almost to a man, everything that Rick Spielman has done since he took over as GM of the Miami Dolphins has been outstanding. Lets just trust him on the Feeley thing.

I think that's a fairly generous evaluation.

Let's see:

1. OL:

James: Great. Maybe paid to much, but still looks like a great move.
Mac: Ooops. But, maybe we get lucky and he plays.
ST. Clair: Let's hope he got better.

Who didn't we get?

Woody and Tait, but they went for large $$$s

So ok.

2. WR.

Boston and one large bloated ego.

Who didn't we get?

Keyshawn, Galloway and mostly older or middling talents and no one in the draft.

So, we'll see.


Conclusion:

If things break our way, then Rick will get some praise, but consider this. What if any of the following happen:

1. Carey is not ready

2. Smith is no better

3. Feeley is a bust.

4. Boston blows up.

5. Zach gets hurt.

Let's be honest here. Every team has some question marks, but we don't have depth at key positions and have a few prayers starting at others. While I'm not ready to condemn Rick, it is a bit much to call him outstanding based on what we have seen so far.

 

[34RWilliams]

st a thought If Collins signs with Oak would they release Gannon? and would the FO make a run at him

 

[RevRick]

Don't worry. That is a quotation from a person who is probably more crusty than anyone on this board will ever be... Robert A. Heinlein. Just happened to find it when I was about 20, and have liked it ever since, and I can't do most of those things either. :shakeno:

The trip to South Florida was an absolute disaster - for my Mother-in-Law. She was put in the CCU unit after the ER which we called less than 15 minutes after reaching the house - congestive heart failure, tachycardia and irregular heart beat, dehydration, infection, and confusion. She has been stabilized now, and is going into a rehabilitation facility to get her strength back. She could not even stand up, and her pulse rate hit 200 at one point during the night - and is stabilized at about 100 now. We are lucky she is alive. And, if we didn't have to pack to move, I wouldn't be here now. We're probably going to have to be back down in a couple of weeks or so. Thanks for asking, though. It has been a rough week. Think we got all of 30 hours of sleep in five days. The rest of the time was on the road, talking to doctors, nurses, social workers, you name it, or trying to get the rest of the mess straightened up. Right now we are getting ready to tackle packing some books. Heavens above, what a mess.

 

[MDFINFAN]

I think that's a fairly generous evaluation.

Let's see:

1. OL:

James: Great. Maybe paid to much, but still looks like a great move.
Mac: Ooops. But, maybe we get lucky and he plays.
ST. Clair: Let's hope he got better.

(June 1 Cuts)

Who didn't we get?

Woody and Tait, but they went for large $$$s--(Would you pay that much?)

So ok.

2. WR.

Boston and one large bloated ego. (T. Wilkens, S. Minnis)

Who didn't we get?

Keyshawn, Galloway and mostly older or middling talents and no one in the draft. (No chance at big mouth who went to the eagles)

So, we'll see.


Conclusion:

If things break our way, then Rick will get some praise, but consider this. What if any of the following happen:

1. Carey is not ready (Don't know, but we have a vet backup..better than last year.)

2. Smith is no better (well he help his own for a rookie, hopefully he atleast plays to last years performance..hopefully better)

3. Feeley is a bust. ( no evident one way or another, but we have Jay)

4. Boston blows up. (June 1 cuts, and T.Wilkins, Minnis, Toliver, and Simons)

5. Zach gets hurt. ( We have no Idea what our backups can do. With Tommy we did..now we might have better)

Let's be honest here. Every team has some question marks, but we don't have depth at key positions and have a few prayers starting at others. While I'm not ready to condemn Rick, it is a bit much to call him outstanding based on what we have seen so far.

See my answers in Paremphasis--At this point it's too early to say one way or the other, I'm hoping our team starts off bad in Mini camps and slowly but surely come into their own once the season begins...in Sept..this is the time to learn and correct mistakes and get better. Let the process complete..end of TC, before we give so many opinions..as much as I talk about the OL..I'm willing to give them 2 weeks of TC before my first real critique.

 

[IceStorm]

Yea, boston should be around 230-235, 220 is just ridiculous. Terrel owens is as tall and weights almost 230.

They said 220's. The range from 220 to 229. Not the specific '220'. Boston's playing weight at Arizona was around 228 according to Sullivan.

 

[Boomer]

I think that's a fairly generous evaluation.

Let's see:

1. OL:

James: Great. Maybe paid to much, but still looks like a great move.
Mac: Ooops. But, maybe we get lucky and he plays.
ST. Clair: Let's hope he got better.

Who didn't we get?

Woody and Tait, but they went for large $$$s

So ok.

2. WR.

Boston and one large bloated ego.

Who didn't we get?

Keyshawn, Galloway and mostly older or middling talents and no one in the draft.

So, we'll see.


Conclusion:

If things break our way, then Rick will get some praise, but consider this. What if any of the following happen:

1. Carey is not ready

2. Smith is no better

3. Feeley is a bust.

4. Boston blows up.

5. Zach gets hurt.

Let's be honest here. Every team has some question marks, but we don't have depth at key positions and have a few prayers starting at others. While I'm not ready to condemn Rick, it is a bit much to call him outstanding based on what we have seen so far.

Paid too much for Jeno James??? Are you out of your mind. He was a bargain. Do you not see that the OL is better and that the overll competition is better, the depth is better??? Would you rather have WAY overspent for Woody and for Tait, neither of whom was worth it and in Tait's case was money for old rope, when you consider he was the 5th best lineman on that line, he'll be 30 at the start of the season and he's a mediocre run blocker??

I'm sure before these mini-camps you were saying how great Boston was. Anyone who doesn't think that the Boston deal was a good one is nuts. Keyshawn??? Galloway????? Don't make me laugh. Joey Galloway??? Maybe when he left Seattle. Sheesh.

Great list of what if's. You also didn't list, what if the moon is made of cheese, because that should have been #7.

If Carey isn't ready then Jerman or St Clair or Tony Pape.
Smith is no better? Smith was fine last year. He'll be better this year with an offseason in the weight room. He has tremendous upside.
We won't know if Feeley is a bust for 2 seasons.
If Boston blows up then we have depth at WR and there are options after the June cuts.
If Zach gets hurt then we put Greenwood at MLB. No probs.

I think cutting 20 million off the roster, putting us in decent cap shape, bringing in a new QB, a ST captain and excellent receiver at TB, a rookie FA TB who can be a great 3rd down option and return man, a Pro Bowl WR who we got for a 6th round pick and a corner we were going to cut, a ST maven at TE, a Pro Bowl return man in the WR rotation, resigning our #1 return man and primary WR, adding 6 players on the OL, whilst weeding out the trash, bringing in 3 LB's, 2 of which could make the team, drafting the best value pick of the entire draft and bringing in one of the top zone corners and top 5 tackling corners in the draft, plus a former 1st round pick at safety with great upside and the SB champs ST captain, is a pretty sound job if you ask me. Of course, I'm not a doom monger so what do I know??

 

[PhinKev]

Paid too much for Jeno James??? Are you out of your mind. He was a bargain. Do you not see that the OL is better and that the overll competition is better, the depth is better??? Would you rather have WAY overspent for Woody and for Tait, neither of whom was worth it and in Tait's case was money for old rope, when you consider he was the 5th best lineman on that line, he'll be 30 at the start of the season and he's a mediocre run blocker??

I'm sure before these mini-camps you were saying how great Boston was. Anyone who doesn't think that the Boston deal was a good one is nuts. Keyshawn??? Galloway????? Don't make me laugh. Joey Galloway??? Maybe when he left Seattle. Sheesh.

Great list of what if's. You also didn't list, what if the moon is made of cheese, because that should have been #7.

If Carey isn't ready then Jerman or St Clair or Tony Pape.
Smith is no better? Smith was fine last year. He'll be better this year with an offseason in the weight room. He has tremendous upside.
We won't know if Feeley is a bust for 2 seasons.
If Boston blows up then we have depth at WR and there are options after the June cuts.
If Zach gets hurt then we put Greenwood at MLB. No probs.

I think cutting 20 million off the roster, putting us in decent cap shape, bringing in a new QB, a ST captain and excellent receiver at TB, a rookie FA TB who can be a great 3rd down option and return man, a Pro Bowl WR who we got for a 6th round pick and a corner we were going to cut, a ST maven at TE, a Pro Bowl return man in the WR rotation, resigning our #1 return man and primary WR, adding 6 players on the OL, whilst weeding out the trash, bringing in 3 LB's, 2 of which could make the team, drafting the best value pick of the entire draft and bringing in one of the top zone corners and top 5 tackling corners in the draft, plus a former 1st round pick at safety with great upside and the SB champs ST captain, is a pretty sound job if you ask me. Of course, I'm not a doom monger so what do I know??

Hang on a second, let me get out from behind the desk while you reload. :)

1. I didn't say Rick had done a bad job, I said it was too early to call what he has done as great. There are a lot of questions about his moves, including a 2 for a 3rd string QB that has the rest of the media talking about us looking for a QB again. Maybe Feeley turns out great, but lets save the praise.

2. Over pay for Jeno James? I'm no expert, but people that analyze the NFL for a leaving have made this observation. Does that mean they are right? No, it means we gave top dollar to a guard which is against conventional wisdom. Hopefully he will be as good in games as he is looked in minicamp and the reverse for AJ. Which of course, gets at the heart of why it is too early to condemn or praise, which was my point, but moving on . . .

3. Tait: We offered the money to Tait who turned it down. SO are you saying if Rick gets Tait to sign, it is a bad signing? So was Rick "lucky" that Tait turned down the money. I confess you have confused me here.

4. Boston: Well, I guess there are a lot of people that are nuts because more than one has said this is a deal with some serious risk. There are reasons that Boston was available, and there are reasons why so few teams were even interested in him. I tend to think he will do well, but that's more a homer belief than anything.

5. As for my list of what ifs, I think it is a reasonable list of things that a good GM needs to think about going into a season like maybe considering last year if projecting Mark DIxon as a 16 game starter at LT is a good move. The things I have listed seem to me to be the most pressing concerns the team has, with little to do with the moon or green cheese.

The team has to be ready if Smith has his struggles at LT. Linebacker depth, an admitted concern. I can't agree with you that Greenwood would be a "no prob" answer at Zach's spot, nor do I agree that our pack of WR is depth. We got some bodies, but there is a reason why the team is still looking for a WR.

Feeley? better have a good backup plan. Is Fiedler the answer there? Lots of questions on the line.

Did Rick do some good things? Sure, he managed the cap well. Can we jump up and down about Boston, Poole and claim that Wilkens and Snoop will be awesome? Sure. All I'm saying, despite everything else above, is that at this point we can paint the moves as great or horrible, and we won't know it until the season starts.

So I'll save me praise. Ok, back behind the desk, err couch.

:couch:

 

[Boomer]

Hang on a second, let me get out from behind the desk while you reload. :)

1. I didn't say Rick had done a bad job, I said it was too early to call what he has done as great. There are a lot of questions about his moves, including a 2 for a 3rd string QB that has the rest of the media talking about us looking for a QB again. Maybe Feeley turns out great, but lets save the praise.

2. Over pay for Jeno James? I'm no expert, but people that analyze the NFL for a leaving have made this observation. Does that mean they are right? No, it means we gave top dollar to a guard which is against conventional wisdom. Hopefully he will be as good in games as he is looked in minicamp and the reverse for AJ. Which of course, gets at the heart of why it is too early to condemn or praise, which was my point, but moving on . . .

3. Tait: We offered the money to Tait who turned it down. SO are you saying if Rick gets Tait to sign, it is a bad signing? So was Rick "lucky" that Tait turned down the money. I confess you have confused me here.

4. Boston: Well, I guess there are a lot of people that are nuts because more than one has said this is a deal with some serious risk. There are reasons that Boston was available, and there are reasons why so few teams were even interested in him. I tend to think he will do well, but that's more a homer belief than anything.

5. As for my list of what ifs, I think it is a reasonable list of things that a good GM needs to think about going into a season like maybe considering last year if projecting Mark DIxon as a 16 game starter at LT is a good move. The things I have listed seem to me to be the most pressing concerns the team has, with little to do with the moon or green cheese.

The team has to be ready if Smith has his struggles at LT. Linebacker depth, an admitted concern. I can't agree with you that Greenwood would be a "no prob" answer at Zach's spot, nor do I agree that our pack of WR is depth. We got some bodies, but there is a reason why the team is still looking for a WR.

Feeley? better have a good backup plan. Is Fiedler the answer there? Lots of questions on the line.

Did Rick do some good things? Sure, he managed the cap well. Can we jump up and down about Boston, Poole and claim that Wilkens and Snoop will be awesome? Sure. All I'm saying, despite everything else above, is that at this point we can paint the moves as great or horrible, and we won't know it until the season starts.

So I'll save me praise. Ok, back behind the desk, err couch.

:couch:

Kev - you said "I think that's a failry generous evaluation" and I provided more than enough pointers to say that it wasn't.

I haven't seen ANYONE say that we overpaid for James. $21 million over 6 years for the best pulling G in FA, compared to what the Lions paid for Woody who isn't that much better. I'd say that was a great deal.

Yes - I think signing Tait for that money would have been a bad deal for the team. THAT would have been overpaying. I'm glad he went to the Bears.

The Boston deal was done with minimal risk - he gets paid peanuts, we give up essentially a Tim Provost, (a 6th rounder) and a corner we were cutting. Yes there's risk but there's risk with T.O but everyone is annointing Philadelphia as SB champs in waiting. If the Patriots had pulled the Boston move for such a cheap deal the press and fans would be creaming the jockeys in praise.

Spielman had no control over the Dixon situation a year ago. I think by bringing in James, by bringing in McIntosh, by bringing in St Clair, he has three players that can play LT if Wade Smith goes down.

 

[PhinKev]

Kev - you said "I think that's a failry generous evaluation" and I provided more than enough pointers to say that it wasn't.

I haven't seen ANYONE say that we overpaid for James. $21 million over 6 years for the best pulling G in FA, compared to what the Lions paid for Woody who isn't that much better. I'd say that was a great deal.

Yes - I think signing Tait for that money would have been a bad deal for the team. THAT would have been overpaying. I'm glad he went to the Bears.

The Boston deal was done with minimal risk - he gets paid peanuts, we give up essentially a Tim Provost, (a 6th rounder) and a corner we were cutting. Yes there's risk but there's risk with T.O but everyone is annointing Philadelphia as SB champs in waiting. If the Patriots had pulled the Boston move for such a cheap deal the press and fans would be creaming the jockeys in praise.

Spielman had no control over the Dixon situation a year ago. I think by bringing in James, by bringing in McIntosh, by bringing in St Clair, he has three players that can play LT if Wade Smith goes down.

I suppose we are not that far apart. I guess my only real point in all of this was that I thought giving big props to Speilman at this point is a bit premature.

I think most of your projections are possible. In fact, it seems hard to argue that James was not a good sigining.

For the rest, we'll just have to hope for the best. Though I do think you are right about Boston. IF NE signs him its a great signing. Seems like most writers ignored Corey Dillons last year in Cincy.

 

[Boomer]

I suppose we are not that far apart. I guess my only real point in all of this was that I thought giving big props to Speilman at this point is a bit premature.

I think most of your projections are possible. In fact, it seems hard to argue that James was not a good sigining.

For the rest, we'll just have to hope for the best. Though I do think you are right about Boston. IF NE signs him its a great signing. Seems like most writers ignored Corey Dillons last year in Cincy.

I just think that what Spielman has achieved considering the situation when he took the position, is pretty great.

If you could have said after we beat the Jets in week 17 that by May 12th we'd have David Boston, Will Poole, Carey, Jeno James, McIntosh, Howard, have shaved 20 million off the cap losing just 3 starters, a new QB, Antuan Edwards, etc etc, we'd all be pretty happy. If Scott Pioli had made these moves, the nations sportswriters would be handing him the Greatest GM Award of All Time and retiring the award.

I just think that a lot has to go wrong for us to be in trouble, as we have done something we haven't done in ages - and that's improve youth and overall depth at almost every position. If AJ wins the job, we have a 4 year starter to come off the bench. Look what happened when Jay did that vs the Redskins. If Ricky goes down, God forbid, we have 2 running backs, Morris and Minor who can fill in. We have a wealth of talent on the OL, young, hard working, strong, good run blockers, with a chip on their shoulder and a true leader in James. Yes we need to know that Boston will be OK and that one or more of the drafted/FA LB's will step up and that the DL is OK. But we are not done in FA by a long chalk.

I think Spielman has been pretty damn succesful. Of course, if we flop then that's another matter, but I don't see it.

 

[finfan54]

My feeling on boston is that they want him to get to 230 not to get him to 230 but to get him to focus on getting better. i think the dude is too focused on keeping his muscles looking big. big muscles dont translate into "great football player". he just needs to concentrate on catchng the damn ball and doingo soemthin with it.

 

[finfan54]

I just think that what Spielman has achieved considering the situation when he took the position, is pretty great.

If you could have said after we beat the Jets in week 17 that by May 12th we'd have David Boston, Will Poole, Carey, Jeno James, McIntosh, Howard, have shaved 20 million off the cap losing just 3 starters, a new QB, Antuan Edwards, etc etc, we'd all be pretty happy. If Scott Pioli had made these moves, the nations sportswriters would be handing him the Greatest GM Award of All Time and retiring the award.

I just think that a lot has to go wrong for us to be in trouble, as we have done something we haven't done in ages - and that's improve youth and overall depth at almost every position. If AJ wins the job, we have a 4 year starter to come off the bench. Look what happened when Jay did that vs the Redskins. If Ricky goes down, God forbid, we have 2 running backs, Morris and Minor who can fill in. We have a wealth of talent on the OL, young, hard working, strong, good run blockers, with a chip on their shoulder and a true leader in James. Yes we need to know that Boston will be OK and that one or more of the drafted/FA LB's will step up and that the DL is OK. But we are not done in FA by a long chalk.

I think Spielman has been pretty damn succesful. Of course, if we flop then that's another matter, but I don't see it.

I predict that spielman will be picking some guys up after June1. The great thing about Spielman is he always is looking for nonames to upgrade. My feeling is that we may actually get a WR then and maybe get Todd perry back if Pape or Whitley or Jerman cant cut it.

 

[PhinKev]

I predict that spielman will be picking some guys up after June1. The great thing about Spielman is he always is looking for nonames to upgrade. My feeling is that we may actually get a WR then and maybe get Todd perry back if Pape or Whitley or Jerman cant cut it.

I'm sure we will sign a WR. As for the Oline, I'm not sure how many developmental guys you want to add and it is fairly clear that Rick is not going for old veterans.