Handing out big $$$ to Branch & Kiko instead of committing that money to a guard??

[Snoop]

Defense wins.... Not guards. Point blank period.
As much as I dissed Kiko, I'm not against giving him a new contract because I doubt any player can jump into a new system and have trash playing around them without having some bad plays.

Signing Branch was common sense. You don't let talent like that walk out the door.

We retained two mediocre players on a shitty defense with big money deals.

 

[Yessir]

Branch and Alonso are solid. We needed those guys. Our defense wasn't bad because of those two. Our Defense was bad because of injuries, and the lack of talent surrounding them. The D-tackles aside Suh were terrible, our linebackers outside of Kiko were dreadful (we had Spencer Paysinger apart of nickel packages for godsake), and the safety position was a wreck due to the Reshad Jones injury.

With Reshad Jones back, and the addition of Timmons and Hayes, we have a chance to field at least an average run defense. And if Davon Goddchaux carries over his impressive showing into the season, we're golden.

 

[russianbear]

We retained two mediocre players on a ****ty defense with big money deals.

That's one interpretation.

Another is we proactively retained two of our better performing players from our shitty defense last year. Otherwise we would have been even more undermanned, or had to pay a theif's ransom later down the road.

But at least we would have had a guard to protect our backup qb in Cutler.

There are plenty of ways to interpret the FOs decision. I don't mind neither the Kiko nor Branch deals.

 

[Snoop]

Snoop, how do you figure we would have gotten a 1st rounder if Kiko left?

He was restricted and they slapped him with a 1st round tender. Of course no team would be dumb enough to give up a 1st for him, nor a 2nd or a 3rd, probably not even a 4th.

But by prematurely signing a mediocre, injury prone player to an extension we sacrificed a great advantage, no matter how good a player is, when he's restricted his team gets to choose between 3 tender amounts, and all 3 are for 1 year deals below $4M. And if he signs an offer sheet that you choose not to match, you're eligible to get a high pick in return. The Patriots were able to give Stephen Gilmore $65 million because their other starting corner is a RFA making $3.9M this year despite being one of the best corners in football.

 

[thefieds]

I don't think the line will be a problem because we finally have a QB with some pocket presence.

 

[rent this space]

last year Miami was top 10 in rushing offense and sacks allowed, meanwhile they were 30th in run D and tied for 19th in sacks. I think I would invest on Defense, too

 

[Spiff]

"Culture" isn't going to count for jack **** if your guards aren't NFL caliber.

The guard situation and the extensions of Branch, Stills and Alsonso do not correlate with each other. Having said that, the FO did address the guards with signing Laursen and drafting Asiata.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Next year it's imperative Miami drafts a QB and a C in their first few picks. I would invest in a G as well.

 

[Asicswrg85]

Only about half of the teams in the NFL run the 4-3 as a base, so your post is somewhat misleading.

No because that means if half (16) of the teams play a 4-3 and have 2 DEs (32), that means he is the 9th out of 32 highest paid starting DE. That means 72% of starting DEs make less than him. That is my point! Not to mention Cam Wake is also top 5 on that list, oh and should we mention Suh?

 

[Asicswrg85]

For him or for the position? Branch is starting at a premier position....How much do you think you could have low balled him for to keep him? Remember that the coaches love this guy and want to reward him for reasons not seen on a stat sheet.

Is "want to reward him for reasons not seen on a stat sheet" helping your case? I think that is exactly the issue this thread is bringing up. You shouldnt pay guys who dont perform at that level. Meaning, if you pay him as the 9th highest DE in the league, he better be the 9th best (which he clearly isnt).

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

last year Miami was top 10 in rushing offense and sacks allowed, meanwhile they were 30th in run D and tied for 19th in sacks. I think I would invest on Defense, too

You have a great point, but our offense didn't put up those numbers because of great blocking. Jay Ajayi had a ridiculous number of yards after contact (i.e., he broke tackles at or behind the LoS) and we severely limited our exposure to opposing pass rushes by running the ball more and throwing lots of screens / running play action.

There's also the fact that our excellent starting LG moved to LT and we replaced him with... a guy off the street who has never been very good.

 

[Digital]

Snoop, how do you figure we would have gotten a 1st rounder if Kiko left?

I realize you were asking Snoop, not me, but I think he was referring to the 1st round tender we placed on Kiko prior to signing him to a long term deal. If any other team had signed him they would have owed us a 1st round draft choice.

It was a temporary solution, but both options were good options, either a low salary year with Kiko, or a 1st round pick (which no team would have done) if a team were foolish enough to sign him for more money.

The problem is that we wanted him here long term, and that move would have most likely caused him to leave Miami next year.

Hope that helps clear things up.

 

[rent this space]

You have a great point, but our offense didn't put up those numbers because of great blocking. Jay Ajayi had a ridiculous number of yards after contact (i.e., he broke tackles at or behind the LoS) and we severely limited our exposure to opposing pass rushes by running the ball more and throwing lots of screens / running play action.

There's also the fact that our excellent starting LG moved to LT and we replaced him with... a guy off the street who has never been very good.

I would agree but we will still have Ajayi in 2017 and we can have the same approach as to avoiding sacks. imo, the Guard situation, while not great, was not bad enough to choose over the horrendous run defense and thin pass rush

 

[Always Next Year]

No because that means if half (16) of the teams play a 4-3 and have 2 DEs (32), that means he is the 9th out of 32 highest paid starting DE. That means 72% of starting DEs make less than him. That is my point! Not to mention Cam Wake is also top 5 on that list, oh and should we mention Suh?

He's not 9th, he's 12th, just behind Wake (11th).

It's also important to remember that Branch just signed his new deal, he will move further down the list as players sign new deals.

Of players listed above Branch on this list, three of their teams run 3-4 (HOU, NYJ, PIT)

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/defensive-end/


Crawford from DAL, makes more than Branch, has 1 less sack, 20 fewer tackles, 2 less FF, had 3 more starts
Hughes from BUF, makes more than Branch, had half a sack more, 1 less tackle, 1 less FF, had 4 more starts
Wolfe from DEN, makes more than Branch, same sack, 2 more tackles, 2 less FF, had 3 more starts
Curry from PHI, makes more than Branch, ZERO starts with 16 games played, nuff said

Aside from Wake, you have to go up to Michael Bennett from SEA before you find a player that is much better than Branch, and he makes over $10 million, when you go higher from there the salaries really start to jump up, with Olivier Vernon making $17.2 million (ouch!).

Based on these metrics, Andre Branch is a VALUE for what we signed him to, especially when you remember he just signed his deal, and other deals will go higher in the years to come.

 

[Snoop]

Next year it's imperative Miami drafts a QB and a C in their first few picks. I would invest in a G as well.

I agree. It's sad that next offseason we'll basically have the same needs we had this offseason: multiple interior OL, DT, CB, Safety. Could need a TE again if we cut Julius Thomas.