My thoughts:
1. The night of the first day of the draft when everyone considered Tim a useless throw-in, I gushed and gushed about Dobbins. That was only partly because I'd been drinking. I had already taken a close look at the guy because I saw what he did on various goal line plays, and I knew he would be one of those guys in UFA/RFA limbo because of the CBA. The guy I found when I looked into him was very athletic especially from a straight line standpoint, not the best in coverage but not woeful either, very compact and physical, insanely aggressive especially in short yardage situations, and most of the fans regarded him as the type of hard working blue collar guy that leaves everything on the field. This is why I gushed about him that night. That and the booze.
2. They didn't know Dobbins from a hole in the wall when they traded for him. They knew of him, they'd seen tape and they liked him, but he'd been on the shelf for a long time because they decided that they weren't going to pay the draft pick in order to acquire an RFA like him. The Dolphins were not intensely focused on a trade down with San Diego at first, they were more focused on a trade down with Philadelphia. That fell through because Philly didn't want to pay the price (#37 overall, which they used on Nate Allen). The Chargers trade developed very quickly and Dobbins' name came up as someone to sweeten the deal. Again, they knew of him, they'd taken a look at him, but he'd been on the shelf for a while, and they didn't know Dobbins the person because they'd never had direct contact with him.
3. I don't believe this contract extension was already in the works when they traded for him, not a bit. I believe they wanted to get to know him first. The fact that they have talked sweeter and sweeter about Dobbins after every week has gone by of him working with the program, and now it's capped with this extension, shows me that the more they got to know him from a character, work ethic, practice habit, mental digestion of the playbook, all of those aspects of his game checked positive, and additionally the coaches have had time to RE-visit forgotten footage of the guy and they've come to like him more and more. He's impressed them, and now he's paid. He doesn't get paid if he doesn't impress them.
4. It's nuts to think Crowder didn't just get 8 million reasons to fear for his future in Miami. That's what Dobbins' contract amounts to from what I can tell. Base salaries of $1.3, $1.7 and $1.9 million, a bonus of "more than" $3.0 million, to me that means a 3 year, $8.0 million deal. Channing Crowder signed one year ago a 3 year, $11.2 million deal with $3.8 million signing bonus, and an additional $2.6 million in incentives which I've no doubt he's failed to earn any of thus far. Basically, if you look at the combination of Channing's bonus amortization and salary over the remaining two years, he's set to be paid about $3.5 million per year on the books. Dobbins is set to account for $2.7 million per year on the books. Cheaper, but not that much cheaper. Enough that if I were Crowder, I'd be worried...and not just about 2011, but about 2010 as well.
5. I still sense that the staff are very torn about all this because they have a lot of liking and respect for Channing Crowder. They're so torn they still haven't handed the play calling duties over to Karlos Dansby yet, because they know how smart Channing is and how well he checks the defense into the right plays. That should be an insanely easy decision to make but that's how much they love him. He is by no means done, he's just been given reason to be nervous, and those reasons have more to do with Dobbins than Crowder. He has to know that if he slips up, his job will be taken. The coaches like that. Reggie Torbor was actually making a fair bit of money and they intentionally set Channing's price tag to be better than Torbor's, but not so much better than he's not threatened by Reggie. Unfortunately, Reggie never competed properly for the job on the field...he just wasn't good enough. Maybe Dobbins will. By giving him this contract, the front office is saying that after seeing him up close a little, they believe he will compete properly for that job.
6. I think setting aside $8 million over the next three years for Tim Dobbins severely damages whatever chances remained that the Dolphins would make an 11th hour, surprise grab for O.J. Atogwe after his price comes down a little bit. And that's if it doesn't eliminate the possibility completely.