MERGED:ESPN reporting the Dolphins are trying to clear cap space for Simon

[Awsi Dooger]

Chester would be fine as a back-up and thats exactly what he would be, we made our DTs better from last year by making him a back-up and starting Holliday and Traylor or Simon and Traylor/Holliday

The entire DL is much more athletic and versatile. Shockingly so in such a short period of transition. We need to continue that admirable trend by releasing Chester. The youngsters are raw but have movement skills. Chester will look like a broken down, out-of-place plow horse next to them.

 

[BlueFin]

I agree, and I stated numerous times that Traylor, holliday, Chester and Zgonina might very well be playing their last season here in Miami.

However if we are on a 2 year rebuild plan, we will be in the same exact position we are in in a few years. We will have Taylor, Simon, and Carter all over 30 years old with no developed backups to take their place.

Just for the record, I think this team needs to draft a NT ASAP. Haloti Ngata has been on tops of my wishlist from Oregon, check him out, the guys a monster. Also Wright was drafted knowing he would be a project at DT. Signing Simon basically would mean drafting him as a project would be a complete waste and it would hurt our salary cap at the same time.

I agree that Simon would be a big lift to the Dline for 2-3 years, however I see this team not being a conteder for 2-3 years so signing vets to high priced deals while we semi-rebuild is a waste of productivity when you can be doing what the Pats and Eagles do and thats develop young players.

I think where we disagree is how good this footballl team is right now, I think we're a QB, a player or two in the secondary and the O-line geling as a unit away from being a really good football team right now.

If all those things aren't corrected this year I believe they will be by next season, and Simon could play a key role for this team.

 

[JBinSD]

McIntosh was injured in San Diego, he is just now 100% again and has played very well this pre-season. We have two other draft picks from :)last years draft that are starting and playing very well, along with Jeno James who started on Carolina's Superbowl team.

This unit is new playng together but it does have talent and it will gel before this year is out under the fine tutelege of Hudson Houck......but, you'll find out for yourself December 11th when Ricky and Ronnie run wild on your Chargers.

And I've got club seats on the Dolphins side to watch :)

 

[shellgh0st]

You know what I find kind of funny is how guys get a reputation for playing for the money and taking plays off...during or after failed negotiations with their team.

Seriously if you would have talked to people about Corey Simon a year ago, people would not stop raving about him. HIS COACHES would not stop raving about him. Now, he becomes an unrestricted free agent, gets the franchise tag slapped on him, and he wouldn't bow to his team's demands, and all the sudden there's this notion floating around out there that Corey Simon is an attitude problem guy who takes plays off, doesn't work hard, and plays just for the money.

Simon and his agent have both gone on record denying that the offer they rejected from the Eagles was the offer that everyone says it was. I think the rumor out there is that he rejected a 5 year, $34 million contract with a $10 million signing bonus from the Eagles. If that is true, why do Simon and his agent deny that those were the terms they rejected? They have no incentive to deny it. If they wanted more money than that, they want teams to know that deal was not good enough.

I know this. On more than one occasion Head Coach Andy Reid has labeled Corey Simon the most underrated player in the league. Andy Reid's exact words were something like "On almost every play, he operates on the other side of the line of scrimmage because he easily blows past offensive linemen."

This is a money issue, very similar to Patrick Surtain. They know he's good, they just can't afford to pay him and drafted Mike Patterson to replace him. We would have done the exact same thing with Corey Webster, except Corey got snatched by the Giants before we could get hold of him.

And as for the money that Simon and his agent demanded from other teams when he was on the trading block, he says that they intentionally made those demands high because he simply didn't want to be traded.

Although I agree players get smeared by teams when negotiations come up, I disagree with some of your other points. Mainly, that the Eagles had to get rid of Simon. That is not true, they can easily afford Simon. They think he is good, however, they know he is NOT worth what he wants. Overpaying players is a redskins move, not something teams like the Eagles and Pats do.

The Eagles decided to let Simon go, because in their opinion they will be good without him. They believe this is the best defense they have ever had under JJ and Reid. And they weren't including Simon in the mix when they said that.

Simon should honestly have better stats. He had 3 pro bowl DBs (shouldve been four) in the secondary, Kearse at DE, and managed to get 5.5 sacks and 26 tackles. In that confusing and blitzing style of defense, you would think such a great talent would clearly out play the other DTs on the team. However, he didnt clearly outplay Darwin Walker who had 4.5 sacks and 21 tackles.

Simon is good, but not great. Problem is he wants GREAT cash. The down side of signing players like this can be seen with the Redskins.

We need to have free cap space to make future moves. Its not like we have a franchise QB and franchise LT locked up for years to come. Those are two very expensive and important positions that will need to be addressed next year and we need to have free cap space to make a move.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

You also have to remember that we don't necessarily need a 325 pounder all the time since our LDE is now 295 pounds. I wish Carter was 7 years younger WHAT A PLAYER...

Yes, another excellent point. Carter is still a beast, our best acquisition. Ogunleye wasn't ideal at the point of attack and Bowens was an outright liability there. We were small on the outside and then when our DTs got no pass rush at all we started subbing smallish DE types in their place on obvious passing downs, like Jay Williams, completely vulnerable to straght ahead runs. It was a mess all around. I don't think many Dolphin fans appreciate how inadequate our defensive line personnel had become at the end of 2004, or how remarkable the fix has been in such a short period.

 

[strong13]

Simon would make us a top 5 defense

Theres no doubt in my mind that if simon signed with us we would be unbelieveable up front.it would help our secondary and our offense by putting ourselves in good field position. Get him now, clear cap whatever get him please.He's only 28 has 5 solid years left.

 

[Jaj]

I agree it would provide pressure for our secondary to not get burnt deep, however top 5 defense is a MAJOR stretch. To be top 5 you need to have the CBs.

 

[BuffBillsMan90]

 

[Philter25]

I think where we disagree is how good this footballl team is right now, I think we're a QB, a player or two in the secondary and the O-line geling as a unit away from being a really good football team right now.

If all those things aren't corrected this year I believe they will be by next season, and Simon could play a key role for this team.

Your absolutely right, this is definately where we disagree.

I think our defense has the ability to be very strong, however it isnt built for the long haul, its built for 1 year.

Madison might be in his last year, theres no way we retain howard at over 4 million a year, Schulters is signed for a 1 year deal and Jones might not be back next year. We pretty much need an entire new secondary, not 1-2 players. The only players I think will be starting next year are Poole and Daniels. Bell is a UFA and so far hasnt played a full season yet. We need to draft a young FS and SS to bring in. Also, we need a OLB to fill in for Seau, who might be in his final year. Crowder is Thomas' replacement so we really only need a OLB. We also need a young (DT)NT to bring in the mix, someone with great size that can eat up 2 guys and replace Traylor. Also at the OE position, JT is getting older and we dont have a hybrid replacement for him. We have Wright, who is a development player for DT and has the most potential on our Dline.

On offense, we need a QB and a C/RG and to extend McMichael. thats pretty much it. We have a very young Oline and it actually excites me to think that if they gel this year, we might have the same Oline for the next 5-6 years which is an incredible thought.

I actually think next year our offense will be better than our defense because we have soooooo many 1 year old vet fixes on our defense and absolutely no depth at any position.

 

[FakeSpike13]

I agree it would provide pressure for our secondary to not get burnt deep, however top 5 defense is a stretch. To be top 5 you need to have the CBs.

ditto, unless daniels blossoms this season enormously and howard even semi lives up to his fat cat contract......

 

[ohall]

I assume this means you disagree that this signing would help to make Miami a top 5 D?

If so why?

 

[MadLib]

Simon would be a HUGE upgrade to our defense overall, and even though I dont agree with the top 5 comment, I think it automatically makes our secondary significantly better with all the pressure we will be putting up front. I'd say we have a great chance at being top ten with the addition of Corey Simon.

 

[Philter25]

Although I agree players get smeared by teams when negotiations come up, I disagree with some of your other points. Mainly, that the Eagles had to get rid of Simon. That is not true, they can easily afford Simon. They think he is good, however, they know he is NOT worth what he wants. Overpaying players is a redskins move, not something teams like the Eagles and Pats do.

The Eagles decided to let Simon go, because in their opinion they will be good without him. They believe this is the best defense they have ever had under JJ and Reid. And they weren't including Simon in the mix when they said that.

Simon should honestly have better stats. He had 3 pro bowl DBs (shouldve been four) in the secondary, Kearse at DE, and managed to get 5.5 sacks and 26 tackles. In that confusing and blitzing style of defense, you would think such a great talent would clearly out play the other DTs on the team. However, he didnt clearly outplay Darwin Walker who had 4.5 sacks and 21 tackles.

Simon is good, but not great. Problem is he wants GREAT cash. The down side of signing players like this can be seen with the Redskins.

We need to have free cap space to make future moves. Its not like we have a franchise QB and franchise LT locked up for years to come. Those are two very expensive and important positions that will need to be addressed next year and we need to have free cap space to make a move.

Well said and completely agree. Simon was a good player and I did like him in Philly. However he isnt worth the cash and for what he did in their defense, he wasnt the standout player that should be the highest paid player in their defense. He was like how Ogun here. He was great in the scheme and he did an excellent job. He also benefited from having great talent around him.

I dont have a bad thing to say about him in Philly, I wish he was still there but for the cash he wanted, im glad we (Philly) let him go. Thats just 5 million they can use to extend Michael Lewis and Brian Westbrook. Thats just how incredible well their team is managed when you can lose a solid player like Simon and still have a top 3 defense in the NFL and not take a hit at all on your Dline.

 

[Philter25]

I assume this means you disagree that this signing would help to make Miami a top 5 D?

If so why?

Our secondary. Our front 7 should be excellent, however I dont feel confident with anyone at all in our secondary. I understand how a strong front 7 and a good pass rush greatly helps out your secondary, but come on, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philly.... those teams are top 5. We are not even close to being on that tier.

I agree with Clumpy's chuckle.

 

[BlueFin]

Your absolutely right, this is definately where we disagree.

I think our defense has the ability to be very strong, however it isnt built for the long haul, its built for 1 year.

Madison might be in his last year, theres no way we retain howard at over 4 million a year, Schulters is signed for a 1 year deal and Jones might not be back next year. We pretty much need an entire new secondary, not 1-2 players. The only players I think will be starting next year are Poole and Daniels. Bell is a UFA and so far hasnt played a full season yet. We need to draft a young FS and SS to bring in. Also, we need a OLB to fill in for Seau, who might be in his final year. Crowder is Thomas' replacement so we really only need a OLB. We also need a young (DT)NT to bring in the mix, someone with great size that can eat up 2 guys and replace Traylor. Also at the OE position, JT is getting older and we dont have a hybrid replacement for him. We have Wright, who is a development player for DT and has the most potential on our Dline.

On offense, we need a QB and a C/RG and to extend McMichael. thats pretty much it. We have a very young Oline and it actually excites me to think that if they gel this year, we might have the same Oline for the next 5-6 years which is an incredible thought.

I actually think next year our offense will be better than our defense because we have soooooo many 1 year old vet fixes on our defense and absolutely no depth at any position.

But, if you recognize how much Saban was able to accomplish in one draft and off-season why would you doubt he can do the same next year?