Drew's Views
Most of the show was of course about Shaq, so Drew really didn't get to share much, but here goes...
Said Zach will be out 6 weeks, and Drew is very dissapointed in the Dolphins because of their workout regimen, says only 1 other team continues workouts after minicamp and before TC and that's the Jags. Showed a list of 5 Dolphins who have been hurt since minicamp ended: JT (groin), Madison (hamstring), Wooden (back), Zach of course, and Wade Smith. He says he's not knocking John Gamble but he thinks the Dolphins should lighten up with the workouts. Now, this has not been discussed on these boards before, I would like to know everyone's thoughts on this matter. IMO they should scale back these workouts if our guys are getting hurt, I want them ready for Tennesee no matter what, even if they have to miss a few workouts. I always thought a lot of the vets went on vacation during this time but I guess I was wrong.
The obligatory Wale update is there is none, said the Dolphins officials were on vacation so they didn't get anything done. Is it just me or shouldn't our FO guys be in there trying to hammer out deals and take care of any other business while the players should be on vacation? Doesn't make much sense to me, I figured Wale would be our priority between the end of minicamp and the start of TC. Drew then says he expects talks to seriously heat up in the next couple of weeks before TC.
He says that right now Sam Simmons would be handling the punt returning duties over Wilkins, said after the minicamps Simmons has been recieving a lot of work and is looking real good. Wilkins, as I said before, is training camp fodder IMO. Russell and Minor right now would handle the kickoff return duties.
Told the Dolphins to lock up Chambers now before he has a good season and gets a blockbuster deal. Said he's coveted by a lot of teams and may price him out of the Dolphins range. Sorry Wale, but I want this guy under contract and signing an extension ASAP....no way can we let him get away from us, he's too good, and besides you know he would really blow up if he played with a great QB, but regardless sign him now Spielman.
They had a Heat Beat writer in and he gave me the news I was dreading. It is definitely Lamar, Caron, and Grant and possibly a first round pick, but those three guys are gone. Dammit, I really wanted to keep Butler, is 2/3 of the core really worth 3-4 years of Shaq? I guess so, and even though I'm hurting now because I really liked those guys, I 'll get over it as soon as we get some players for MLE and LLE. Drew was estatic about the deal, and said Shaq is the biggest sports superstar ever to grace South Florida, which I have to agree with. Dan was pretty huge but not on a global scale like Shaq is since football is really popular only over here. That was about the gist of it.