Farrar: Dolphins Prove Money Doesn't Trump Smarts in FA

[where's th'fish]

If you didn't already know this then you probably don't want to hear it, but at least you'll know the people on this board who are unhappy are not criticizing Tannenbaum simply out of spite. Doug Farrar is a good writer and he's only saying what most people think.

I did learn something new from the article, too, that the Titans switched 4ths with the Eagles for Demarco Murray. Good for them.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/03/10/mi...y-mario-williams-olivier-vernon-byron-maxwell

Highlights:

There are all kinds of reasons free agent signings don’t work out, but for a Dolphins franchise that can’t seem to get out of its own way no matter how many coaches, general managers and team presidents sit in those chairs, the past tends to feel very much like the present.

The Bills released Williams on March 1 after he became one of the few players in recent memory to find himself a bad fit in a Rex Ryan defense

The ascent of Vernon and Shelby speaks to the team’s personnel acumen (at least as it regards defensive ends in the 2012 draft class), but the retention plan is a bit off.

Philadelphia assumed that Maxwell was a No. 1 cornerback after he spent time as a No. 2 cornerback in Seattle’s system, and it bet wrong. That was foolish, so how much more foolish was it of the Dolphins to clean up the Eagles’ mess for them?

And given the fact that the current Eagles think tank was trying to boot everyone Chip Kelly wanted out the door, wouldn’t it make sense that the team trading for Maxwell would have more leverage, especially since Maxwell has not proven that he deserved No. 1-cornerback money under any circumstances? The Titans traded for Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, and all that cost Tennessee was a swap of fourth-round picks. But this is the Dolphins, a team in love with shiny things, and they went to the mattresses with what they were convinced was the right deal.

Maybe it will all work out. Maybe Mario Williams will revert back to his former greatness, and maybe Byron Maxwell will turn into a shutdown corner, and maybe Kiko Alonso will make a great comeback. But there’s no reason to believe any of this based on the team that acquired them this week. The Dolphins have been making these kinds of mistakes for years, and at this point, it looks like another high-priced string of blunders in a free agency period the franchise just can’t seem to get right.

 

[Kdawg954]

Two things remotely clear about free agency this year:

1. People only tend to grade you on names they know
2. People in general have no clue or understanding about salary cap or salary structure in todays NFL

 

[Sons Of Shula]

We may not be paying top dollar for positions in some cases, but that still does not negate that it was wasted on those w/ a lack of talent, injury prone players, or ice age old veterans.

 

[russianbear]

so you're telling me the titans swapped 4th round picks to obtain demarco murray?

and we swapped 1st round picks to obtain byron maxwell and kiko alonso.....



edit: this about sums it up for me...

Maybe it will all work out. Maybe Mario Williams will revert back to his former greatness, and maybe Byron Maxwell will turn into a shutdown corner, and maybe Kiko Alonso will make a great comeback. But there’s no reason to believe any of this based on the team that acquired them this week. The Dolphins have been making these kinds of mistakes for years, and at this point, it looks like another high-priced string of blunders in a free agency period the franchise just can’t seem to get right.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Murray didn't do **** for Philly last year yet there's no question Tennessee did wrong in acquiring him. If all he cost was a 4th rounder, what does that say for the Eagles and Demarco Murray himself?

 

[Kdawg954]

Murray didn't do **** for Philly last year yet there's no question Tennessee did wrong in acquiring him. If all he cost was a 4th rounder, what does that say for the Eagles and Demarco Murray himself?

Or the value of running backs in retrospect to draft picks.

 

[jlfin]

Idiotic article. Williams has never been an OLB in a 3-4 defense. He is a 4-3 DE. The fact they even considered playing him at OLB is a testament to his athleticism. He's not coming off any serious injury so there is no reason to believe he can't return to being a dominant DE. He is a much better 4-3 DE than OV can ever be.
I don't know what Maxwell's cap number will be after the restructure; however I haven't seen any quotes from the front office that he was signed to be a number 1 corner.
Many fans have bemoaned the fact that our starting CBs lacked size. Maxwell corrects that.
Finally, with respect to Alonso, he finished the year healthy but was still trying to regain his speed after recovering from his rt knee injury. He was a high energy difference maker for the Bills as a rookie. He's coming very cheap and he's very young, so I don't understand the criticism. He's the consummate low risk high reward player.

 

[Kdawg954]

I am just shocked people think we are making high priced spending moves this offseason. Most responsible this team has been in ages.

 

[jlfin]

so you're telling me the titans swapped 4th round picks to obtain demarco murray?

and we swapped 1st round picks to obtain byron maxwell and kiko alonso.....



edit: this about sums it up for me...

Maybe it will all work out. Maybe Mario Williams will revert back to his former greatness, and maybe Byron Maxwell will turn into a shutdown corner, and maybe Kiko Alonso will make a great comeback. But there’s no reason to believe any of this based on the team that acquired them this week. The Dolphins have been making these kinds of mistakes for years, and at this point, it looks like another high-priced string of blunders in a free agency period the franchise just can’t seem to get right.

The phins traded down 5 spots.
The Eagles swapped 4th round picks but it was to move up 13 spots.

 

[Slainte]

I don't understand the knee jerk reactions. Everyone will grade Free Agency and declare the offseason winner but then turn and say being the offseason winner never manifests itself to winning when it counts. This is the first time I can remember that they are not overspending and they are still being considered "high price blunders"? Damned if you do and damned if you don't, I guess. It think the moves they made have been crafty and its a good year to let all these overrated Miami FAs cash in elsewhere and collect picks for 2017. The same people ready to crucify Tannebaum now are going to be giddy when we have 3 extra picks next year. Continue to sign cut players, players that had one down year in a non-system fit, take some chances and leave flexibility for the next year. There will be some misses, yes, but we haven't guaranteed anyone 30, 40, 50 mil....

 

[PHINSfan]

All those posters above make some sense...but still, I wonder if the Patriots, Seahawks, or Steelers front office would have done a trade like this??? Just a thought.....

 

[67Stang]

It is easy to play Monday morning QB but I see what this team did and we did it out of desperation because that is what our past forced us to do. Some don't like the trade but I understand why they did it. This team has a lot of holes and they aren't going to be filled by just drafting and normal FA. The trade filled 2 holes in our D that we knew we were going to have in LB and CB with 2 players who have shown they can play in the not too distant past. Maxwell restructured and Kiko is at the end of his rookie contract, so it is costing us less than 900K. If this move works out by only dropping 5 spots in the draft, I am fine with picking up 3 players of need instead of one! At 8, you are not talking about a drastic difference in talent between 13.....it is not like it is a top 5 pick. I actually hope we trade the 13 back and pick up even more talent to fill holes. This draft is not heavy on top talent, but it is filled with very good talent across the rounds. Get picks and use them wisely!

 

[ohall]

so you're telling me the titans swapped 4th round picks to obtain demarco murray?

and we swapped 1st round picks to obtain byron maxwell and kiko alonso.....



edit: this about sums it up for me...

Maybe it will all work out. Maybe Mario Williams will revert back to his former greatness, and maybe Byron Maxwell will turn into a shutdown corner, and maybe Kiko Alonso will make a great comeback. But there’s no reason to believe any of this based on the team that acquired them this week. The Dolphins have been making these kinds of mistakes for years, and at this point, it looks like another high-priced string of blunders in a free agency period the franchise just can’t seem to get right.

I agree an argument can be made we paid too much to get those TWO players, but the fact is it was TWO players not ONE like in the Titans trade for Murray.

 

[Sons Of Shula]

I am just shocked people think we are making high priced spending moves this offseason. Most responsible this team has been in ages.

Financial reasoning does not offset our inability for acquiring less talent than we're letting walk out the door.

[tweet]707951729690615813[/tweet]

*In credit to J Wanny, he pointed this out about Matthews a long time ago.

 

[DolfanDuBbZ~]

Idiotic article. Williams has never been an OLB in a 3-4 defense. He is a 4-3 DE. The fact they even considered playing him at OLB is a testament to his athleticism. He's not coming off any serious injury so there is no reason to believe he can't return to being a dominant DE. He is a much better 4-3 DE than OV can ever be.
I don't know what Maxwell's cap number will be after the restructure; however I haven't seen any quotes from the front office that he was signed to be a number 1 corner.
Many fans have bemoaned the fact that our starting CBs lacked size. Maxwell corrects that.
Finally, with respect to Alonso, he finished the year healthy but was still trying to regain his speed after recovering from his rt knee injury. He was a high energy difference maker for the Bills as a rookie. He's coming very cheap and he's very young, so I don't understand the criticism. He's the consummate low risk high reward player.

I believe under Pettine, they ran a 3-4 in 2013.

As for the rest, it's alot of hope in there. Sadly, we've been down this road. It's a same ****, different day in the fandom of a Phin fan....