Armando Salguero: Ireland deserves praise

[royalshank]

I'm betting that we blow this draft and FA - just as we have every year since Ireland has been here. Not wanting to re-sign any of your high draft picks or FA's you brought in tells me you stink at your job / make bad decisions on players. Think about that - for every guy Ireland picked but then wants to low-ball or not re-sign is an admission of failure. How do you build through the draft if you are trading away your early picks 2 or 3 seasons later or not re-signing your top selections, etc? That's not building through the draft... The cap space is what it is - let's see how well we do spending it. My bet is we spend a ton on one FA WR - Wallace or Jennings and use the rest on "value" players. Oh - and the impact of Wallace or Jennings will be negated by the loss of Bush in terms of # of big plays per year so if the above is "all we do" this offseason we shouldn't expect to be much better than last year.

 

[Twitches Brew]

I can't believe the negative-nancy Ireland bashers on this board. A few points for you all to consider:
- Ireland has not yet lost any starters that are due to hit free agency. Having said that, I think it's very smart for him to let them hit free agency so that he doesn't end up overpaying them before the market dictates their value. IMHO, chances are that many of the free agents the dolphins are interested in re-signing will be disappointed with their market value and will re-sign with the fins on reasonable terms. Of course we will lose a few like maybe Bush, Matt Moore, McDaniel but it seems Jeff has a priority plan so that we end up with value players on the roster.
- Furthermore, the money that he saves on players not re-signed will be allocated to players in free agency that better fit our needs. Like a difference-maker WR for example. Yes he will have to overpay for this type of player, but it's still value in the sense that it fits better with what our new coaching staff is trying to do. He will also go after some value players like he did in the past with Randy Starks, Anthony Fasano, Cameron Wake, Matt Moore, Kevin Burnett; All free agents and trades that didn't break the bank in terms of cap or draft picks but turned out to be solid starters or better.
- We still have the very deep (by all accounts) draft where we have 9 picks, 6 of which are in the first 3 rounds. I am very excited about this, in part because of how this last draft turned out. How many of the players drafted do you all think should make the team and have an impact? I would conservatively say about 5 or 6 including UDFA's.
So between resigning our own FAs going by priority, picking up a few free agents that better fit our system, and being in good position in a deep draft, there's plenty to be optimistic about. I commend Ireland for putting us in this situation and I'm pretty confident he'll do well in the coming months based on what he's done recently, including having found us a possible franchise QB.

Yes, we have picks and money - but why? Because we are getting rid of starters - those extra picks and money will go towards filling the holes he opened. It's not a difficult task to trade a #1CB for a second-round pick. Should Ireland be 'commended' for that? Nope. Should he be commended for not re-signing guys? Oh wait, he drafted these players who aren't good enough to warrant a second deal. If you open up holes the way Ireland has, you better have extra picks and money. I can't commend a GM for doing these things; they aren't hard, and he's had zero playoff success.

 

[Gonzo]

The past draft (Tannehill, Martin, ect) was pretty solid. So by your own words, we should have another solid draft.

Grabbing a QB was mandatory and Tannehill was a no-brainer given the inside info we had. The more impressive move was Martin, which was the first and only proactive move he's ever made. Of course, that depends on which thread you open. The same people who praise the Martin pick in these threads are often the same people who rip Martin to shreds in favor of keeping Long in other threads (because they are typically the same people that can't stand the idea of letting go of any Dolphins players).

If he keeps that up with all the available cash and picks, then I'll be the first to praise him for finally shaking off the Parcells chains. He's shown signs of potentially being a competent GM by finally addressing the most important position in football and prepping for the loss of Bosel...I mean Long a year before it became a possibility. However, if he fails to bring in any playmakers, I doubt those that support any move he makes will feel any differently. Just more excuses.

That being said, I look forward to the same people praising this article ripping Armando to shreds the next time he writes a negative article about the Phins. :snack:

 

[Nublar7]

Yes, we have picks and money - but why? Because we are getting rid of starters - those extra picks and money will go towards filling the holes he opened. It's not a difficult task to trade a #1CB for a second-round pick. Should Ireland be 'commended' for that? Nope. Should he be commended for not re-signing guys? Oh wait, he drafted these players who aren't good enough to warrant a second deal. If you open up holes the way Ireland has, you better have extra picks and money. I can't commend a GM for doing these things; they aren't hard, and he's had zero playoff success.

The idea that the players he drafted and might let walk are not good enough to get a second deal is not quite accurate. The Texans let Mario Williams walk last year, was he not good enough to be re-signed? The Panthers let Julius Peppers walk, was he not good enough to be re-signed? Greg Jennings and Mike Wallace are hitting the market this year, are they not good enough to be re-signed? Sometimes it isn't about whether they earned the right to get a second NFL contract, it is about playing the salary cap game and not overpaying players.

Miami could easily sign all their free agents back at the value the players are demanding, however it would prevent them from finding "upgrades" in the market and will hurt them cap wise in future years. You see teams every year that are in cap hell and having to cut starters and eating a lot of dead money just to get in compliance with the salary cap. The Jets had to cut a bunch of starters just to get under the cap. The Falcons cut their starting running back and the Steelers had to restructure a lot of current contracts in an attempt to get under. By the way, the Steelers are really going to have to pay for it in a few years when they are not going to be able to keep pushing money to future years.

The Dolphins have the money and draft picks this offseason to not only replace these players, but to replace them with younger, cheaper and in some cases more talented players. It sucks that Reggie Bush is going to likely sign elsewhere this offseason, but instead of paying him $5-6 million a year, they can pay Lamar Miller $480,000 to do a lot of the same things. $11-13 million for Jake Long to be the LT or $607,000 for Martin at LT? Now I am not saying they can never re-sign players or give out big money contracts but you have to be careful not to just throw around money and get back into the position that Ireland and Aponte have spent the past few years digging the team out of. If they re-sign all their free agents there is no room to add a Mike Wallace or Greg Jennings, keep that in mind.

Ireland can also get some of these players back after they test the market and see the money they want is not really out there. That happened last offseason when Soliai was demanding close to $12 million a season before free agency started. He tested the market then signed a contract with the Dolphins for $6 million a season. Smart business.

 

[Notso]

I find this subject kind of comical... The main reason Ireland has put us in such a good position cap wise is because for the most part he's avoided overpaying for players in free agency... now all the experts and fans expect him to go wild and spend all his 40m ish... not going to happen

 

[Gonzo]

I find this subject kind of comical... The main reason Ireland has put us in such a good position cap wise is because for the most part he's avoided overpaying for players in free agency... now all the experts and fans expect him to go wild and spend all his 40m ish... not going to happen

He overpaid for Garrard and Richard Marshall, but outside of them, I can agree for the most part. Hopefully he doesn't overpay FAs this year either, and that includes the likes of Long and Smith.

 

[dlockz]

He overpaid for Garrard and Richard Marshall, but outside of them, I can agree for the most part. Hopefully he doesn't overpay FAs this year either, and that includes the likes of Long and Smith.

Well on a minor level he overpaid Murtha and Hicks neither was worth 2 million a year

 

[PhinSoldia]

im just going to read this thread, not going to say anything else on the ireland issue for Lockz to jump down my throat


NOTHING to see here

However Armando kinda re-iterates my point made on multiple threads that Ireland played his hand for this season....if he sits on the money thats a nother storey but Hell its not even free agency yet

 

[TheWalrus]

He overpaid for Garrard and Richard Marshall, but outside of them, I can agree for the most part. Hopefully he doesn't overpay FAs this year either, and that includes the likes of Long and Smith.

We overpaid for Dansby. He's been a good player but there's no doubt we overpaid, given he's scheduled to make $3 million more than Patrick Willis over the next two years (both deals were signed in 2010). It's often what happens when a guy signs for the first team he visits in free agency. You have to overpay.

Now, as for the more obvious failures. We gave Jake Grove $14 million guaranteed (for which he delivered a total of 12 games). Justin Smiley got $9 million guaranteed (for 15 games). Gibril Wilson likewise got $9 million guaranteed (he played in all 16 games -- unfortunately). Does somebody want to argue there were other teams knocking down the door to sign these guys? 'Cause I could use a nice laugh.

Richard Marshall is just the latest in a long line of **** covered breadcrumbs. But then, there are people will tell you this was Ireland's first year with the team so the history of such incompetence isn't relevant.

 

[Spesh]

We overpaid for Dansby. He's been a good player but there's no doubt we overpaid, given he's scheduled to make $3 million more than Patrick Willis over the next two years (both deals were signed in 2010). It's often what happens when a guy signs for the first team he visits in free agency.

Now, as for the more obvious failures. We gave Jake Grove $14 million guaranteed (for which he delivered a total of 12 games). Justin Smiley got $9 million guaranteed (for 15 games). Gibril Wilson likewise got $9 million guaranteed (he played in all 16 games -- unfortunately). Does somebody want to argue there were other teams knocking down the door to sign these guys? 'Cause I could use a nice laugh.

Richard Marshall is just the latest in a long line of **** covered breadcrumbs. But then, there are people will tell you this was Ireland's first year with the team so the history of such incompetence isn't relevant.

Cant believe everyone is forgetting the big one: Marc Colombo walked out of here with a cool $2 million.

Anyone who believes he wasnt overpaid clearly didnt watch what happened that season.

 

[TheWalrus]

Cant believe everyone is forgetting the big one: Marc Colombo walked out of here with a cool $2 million.

Anyone who believes he wasnt overpaid clearly didnt watch what happened that season.

I was trying to stick to the big failed contracts. For brevity.

Colombo was horrible but at least he played. Eric Green and his two year, six million dollar deal didn't even make it out of training camp, thus he seems to have been forgotten. Only half of Green's deal was in yearly salary which means a nice big 'ol steaming chunk of it was in bonuses.

 

[Valandui]

Cant believe everyone is forgetting the big one: Marc Colombo walked out of here with a cool $2 million.

Anyone who believes he wasnt overpaid clearly didnt watch what happened that season.

Worst FA signing ever.

 

[HarryBagpipe]

Can't forget Ernest wilford.

 

[Wildbill3]

Worst FA signing ever.

sorry, I don't agree. but signing him wasn't the problem. Tony starting him was the problem.

 

[TheWalrus]

sorry, I don't agree. but signing him wasn't the problem. Tony starting him was the problem.

Pretty difficult to start guys you don't sign.

My pet conspiracy theory on the Colombo signing is that Sparano wanted him and Ireland signed off on it as a way of giving Sparano a way to hang himself with Ross... something Ireland could point to as a way to shift blame for the team's failures from him to Sparano.

Probably not the way it went down (after all, someone devious enough to come up with such a scheme is probably not dumb enough to gloat about drafting Patrick Turner), but it's the romantic in me.