Continuity...

[NBP81]

First I want to congratulate every Dolphins fan for their support of the Fins throughout this incredible season. Fins fans in Toronto rockin it, Fins fans rockin it in NY... Fins fans stickin it to mother nature in KC... You are all part of the successful season we've all been able to enjoy up to this point. This is not a knock on any fans or any member here.

I read threads all around here about lets not resign this guy, this guy should be gone, this guys a bust, whats the trade value of x or who's the QB next year. And it hit me, We havent been successful as a franchise since what? 2002... Ever since it has been a shuffle with coaches, FO and players. The only regular here is that every year we've had hope because it was always different new people running the show. And with that came media attention builing the new guy up. This new QB could be something, this coach is the greatest coach ever, we got a steal for a second... BLAH BLAH BLAH! All of those years, every single season with the same result! I need a new TV, cell phone or remote control because I smashed it through the wall...

But not this year... Nope this year we're champions. But still you get threads about letting X guy go... And Im not going to say what players Im talkin about but Im a let you in on a secret... Most people on here talk about building through the draft. BUILD THROUGH THE DRAFT? There are 3 players that come to my mind that end up in the lets get rid of them threads. I we drafted them all. They are not pro bowl material yet but they are still very young and promising... You CAN NOT build through the draft if your not patient enough to let them get past 25 years old...

This is my opinion and I respect anyones opinion because its just that... An opinion. Im just tryin to get people to relax and be patient...

 

[GoonBoss]

Continuity is important. You can't go blowing up the team every year, or you'll never win. I think it's fair to say that we DO have some descisions that have to be made during the off season that involve those questions about re-signing/letting players go. Bell, Crowder, Carey, Goodman are the ones that are big off the top of my head. One thing for sure; We will not be able to bring all of them back while adressing all the team needs. Everyone has differing priorities on who to bring back. That's just football.

My PERSONAL opinion is that in order of criticality (if that's a word) Bell/Carey/Crowder/Goodman.

Wtih this said, there are still lots of factors. Carey I see alot like Todd Wade. I loved Wade, but he was simply not going to be anything better than an ORT, and, an above average one at that. Let the Texans pay him top-5 money. SAme with Greenwood. I liked both those guys, but, overpaying for them isn' t a recepie for winning either. I think average of top 1/3 MLB salary is reasonable for CC. Carey, about the same, but, at ORT. IF they are wanting top 5 money...I'm sorry. Off you go boys. I think we have good leverage on Bell, since he's been here a while and, we've kept him even with his injury issues, so, we'll get good value with him.

I don't see anything in Crowder and Carey that we couldn't address in the draft if it came to that.

 

[NBP81]

Yes you could adress it in the draft but at what cost? To get the level of play that Carey brings, I'd say late first round. To bring CC's caliber, at least second round. So really, you'd have to spend the first 2 picks to replace guys we already have and know the system. Thats what Im trying to say...

 

[GoonBoss]

Yes you could adress it in the draft but at what cost? To get the level of play that Carey brings, I'd say late first round. To bring CC's caliber, at least second round. So really, you'd have to spend the first 2 picks to replace guys we already have and know the system. Thats what Im trying to say...

That's the point. At what cost? The draft will cost a great deal less than re-signing these guys for top 5 money at thier respective positions. It's not that hard to find reasonably good ORTs. Our O line scheme is not THAT complicated.

I would be happy to spend a late 1st rounder to replace Crowder....Same with a second for Carey. We have 3 picks in the 1st 2 rounds this year. That still leaves us one high round pick to adress other needs.

At any rate, I think we'll see Goodman and Bell back. Carey and CC? Not so sure about.

 

[Atila]

good points^

 

[NBP81]

Ok so your basically sayin lets rebuild through the draft what we spent picks on 3-4 years ago? then whats the point? When I say rebuild, I mean lets improve our weakest links and lets try to keep the guys we actually hit on right in previous drafts... I actually agree with you they both deserve 1/3 at respective position. But I might give Crowder a little more cause he's only 25 and still hasnt hit his peek.

 

[GoonBoss]

Ok so your basically sayin lets rebuild through the draft what we spent picks on 3-4 years ago? then whats the point? When I say rebuild, I mean lets improve our weakest links and lets try to keep the guys we actually hit on right in previous drafts... I actually agree with you they both deserve 1/3 at respective position. But I might give Crowder a little more cause he's only 25 and still hasnt hit his peek.

I'm saying the draft is a viable option. After all, it's where we found these guys to begin with. We've seen the best that Carey has to offer. It's not that great. It's not BAD, but, it's not great. I think Crowder has peaked. I honestly think his top end is what we are seeing right now, and, it's pretty good, but, not great. He simply does not have the consistancy it takes to be great....Certainly to be mentioned in the top 5 MLBs in the NFL.

If we replaced these two in the draft, we still have another 2nd and a 3rd to get reasonably good prospects to fill other positions. IMO that is a net gain for us, and, not a net loss.

 

[shula_guy]

OK I am going to make an over exaggerated point about this. The idea of resigning players that are playing well for us is a great idea. I agree that resigning known talent is a good idea when you are rebuilding a team that has too many needs for one draft to address. also anyone you take in the draft carries a certain amount of risk that they wont make the transition into the pro's. Now for the over exaggerated point;

Lets say Carey since his name has been brought up already. Would you resign him to a 4yr 60 million dollar contract 40 of which guaranteed? Of course not! The point being that resigning of players is fine, but overpaying guys is not. It does not help a team to grossly overpay one position. Pay the players competitively and fairly. If another team makes a seriously over valued offer to one of your FA's you have to accept that and let them go. Wish them the best on their way out the door.

It is not a healthy mentality to breed inside a locker room to overpay for under performing players. It is counter productive to encouraging the best out of your players. you want guys who feel like that they are appreciated and don't have to ask for raises, so they feel like they are being treated fairly. You also don't want guys working along aside one another and they feel like the guy next to them is not as talented as them and are being paid better then them because they negotiated a better contract or their contract renewal came up at a more advantageous time. That is a good way to unmotivate your guys.

What can you imagine goes through our linebackers head when they see Joey porter out there on the field being owned while they are making the plays and he is making double and triple their salaries. They lose respect for the front office and they feel slighted by the GM. They want to make equal money to what they deserve. Now I only singled out Porter because he is one our big money guys. I am not saying he hasn't been having an impact on the field. That is a topic of discussion for another thread. What I am saying is that overpaying a person just not to lose them has larger ramifications then just WH's pocket being a little bit lighter. Also with salary caps in place you have to be cognizant of the fact that there is only so much money to spread around on not only our starters but on your rotational players too. You cant expect to build solid depth on a team that is full of high priced all stars. It is a tricky balance that is an art form to pull off.

Sometimes yeah you sign the guy for a little extra because the benefits of keeping him out weigh letting him go and sometimes its the exact opposite. It just depends on circumstances and this really is a difficult topic to talk about using generalities. I trust our staff to be able to make the correct determination of when we should or should not retain someone. Look at how well trading JT worked out. Alot of people who were upset about it back in August or happy about it now. Alot of people were all about bringing in Wilford and now they are not. Personnel moves are a gamble.

I'm guessing if the Pats had a cyrstalball back in June they would of resigned Cassel then so they would not have this tough call to make now. They made a big mistake not locking him up and waiting for this season to play out like they did.

 

[NBP81]

The point Im tryin to make is most people on this board see age as a valuable asset, but when it comes to our players, they want to ship em out. A lot of people on this board would be estatic at the idea of signing a Crowder type player wich is on another team right now. But Crowder has been on the Fins for four years and the want to ship him out...

 

[shula_guy]

I like Crowder but I get why some people are not in favor of resigning him but that issue has little to do with patience. It is not of question of his development his particular criticism is if he fits our defensive packages. IMO it is a fair critique. I am not knowledgeable enough to have an intelligent opinion on that. I know I like what I see from him and think he can continue to grow and improve here but I would not break the bank to keep him and if I saw an obvious upgrade in the draft I might go for it depending on who else was on the board too.

 

[NBP81]

Ok so whats the point? We drafted Channing Crowder 4 years ago, we've changed defensive formations every single year he's been a STARTER... Zach would always rave about the guy, Tony only says good things about him, he's 25 and he's the one making the calls. He leads the team in tackles, no he's second to Bell. He makes tackles down field you say, GREAT cause nobody else on this defense will make em if he misses. Hey I love Joey but how many tackle does he have? Hey I love Akin, he's great in coverage it seems... 2 tipped INTs! And Im not even gonna start with the secondary...

Thruth is to get Crowder value, its either a second or big money... Now do you really wanna spend more money on someone with his skills, someone older, or spend a second round pick who doesnt even know the system who has 50/50 chance to be a bust? Or give the man his money, draft another need and get BETTER...?