Merged-Front office heavy-handed /mueller gets taste of own medicine

[Transcendental]

So its ok for the organization to treat Daunte like crap, but its not ok in the reverse. Ahhh, got ya.

Enough with the one-liners. If you're going to take a side at least present a well-thought out case. How have the Dolphins treated him like crap? Do you have a short-term memory? Allow me to refresh it for you. They rescued him out of his miserable career crash in Minnesota. They paid him 5.5 million last year knowing he was a huge risk. They paid him a $7 million guarenteed bonus. They paid for all of his rehabbing. How is that being treated like crap?

Look, you can bang your head against the wall all day long explaining that Daute was rushed, if you'd like..........but I've consistently shown thru comments he's made in the media that he announced his own readiness, it just backfired when his knee popped in Buffalo.

Daunte reacted to Cameron reversing his decision on giving him a chance. Oh well, happens all the time in life, I know it's happened in my career before. The Dolphins then reacted to him, but not thru the media and not thru slandering an in attempt to garner sympathy. They're doing everything that is afforded to them. Daunte can choose to slam them in the media if he'd like, he's afforded that right...........but it's the premature way of going about resolving this situation. He went right to the media on Day 1 after Cam/Mueller spoke with him to inform him of their change of plans and by Day 3 he was already making negative comments about the team without even being provoked by negative comments from the FO.

 

[YetanotherFan]

DC should take a page out of TG's book. Find a team he wants to play for, who is willing to give us compensation, restructure or hell, even maybe get a raise!

 

[ebozzz]

Trust me, I understand your concern. All you have to do is look at the New England Patriots to determine why someone would want to pay for you if it's not about the money. They've been as ruthless as any with their players and yet guys are still jumping at every opportunity to wear a Patriot uni. It's all about winning. If you're mediocre, situations like Daunte's are just sideshow material. Usually the mediocre teams have to ante up the cash to get players. And let's not forget all the market determinants for a particular position.

I think you forget that at the end of the day, these guys have jobs and they show up for work for their pay. Just because Daunte got the short end of the stick, it doesn't automatically translate over to their situations. How many guys do we have on the roster that have torn up 3 ligaments in their knee, have a high salary, and haven't been able to get healthy? We're not comparing apples to apples here.....more like apples to oranges.

I'm almost in total agreement with you here Trans. Scary ain't it? :D New England does make a lot of what could be considered unpopular decisions to their fans and players. I think that the difference is that for the most part they are pretty straight shooters. If they feel like a player is not in there plans, that player is told of their intentions. They are non-committal on that player until it is necessary for them to indicate otherwise. Even though they still might not like it, I think that the players would appreciate an organization being frank and earnest with them. Of course, winning doesn't hurt.

Couple of new perspectives on DC-Gate.......

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-0613culpepper,0,3928005.story?track=rss

Classy how the Jags told their guys about their interest in Daunte. More importantly, did you notice their reactions?

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/story/137918.html

Check out the comment that Fox Sports made.

 

[PhinPhan in MA]

I just wrote an article about this standoff between the Dolphins and Daunte. It just may be that trading Culpepper would be the best thing for each side.

Check out the article: Two Sides To Every Story

Excerpt:

I have been a vocal supporter of Culpepper during his stint in Miami. He did everything he could to rehabilitate his knee in an effort to come back and lead the Dolphins. But there's a new regime in town and it has made its decision on who will lead this team - Trent Green. I respect Daunte for the tireless work he put in for Miami, but it's time to move on. In a perfect world for Daunte, the team would simply release him and let him sign with another team.

But they don't have to do that, and they shouldn't do that. He is still under contract to the Miami Dolphins and this organization should exhaust every opportunity to gain some value from him - even if it is just a late-round draft pick. It would be nice to do right by Daunte and release him, but the main task of GM Randy Mueller is to do right by the Miami Dolphins, and that would mean getting value for a guy like Culpepper.

Check out the article and tell me what you think.

 

[Phanatical]

I'm almost in total agreement with you here Trans. Scary ain't it? :D New England does make a lot of what could be considered unpopular decisions to their fans and players. I think that the difference is that for the most part they are pretty straight shooters. If they feel like a player is not in there plans, that player is told of their intentions. They are non-committal on that player until it is necessary for them to indicate otherwise. Even though they still might not like it, I think that the players would appreciate an organization being frank and earnest with them. Of course, winning doesn't hurt.

You nailed it with the last sentence.

 

[Mako]

First and foremost, with due respect, anyone who finds the need to put someone on ignore because you disagree with their opinion, perhaps the internet message board community isn't for you. Seriously, ignoring people because their opinion differs from yours? What do you do in real life? Plug your ears and go "LA LA LA LA LA" every time someone says something you don't agree with? I could imagine that gets shallow after so long.

As for Culpepper vs. The Phins, try to look at it from both sides of the window. I know it's easy to pile on Culpepper or pile on the organization, however keep in mind that most see through mirrors have another side to them as well.

Let's look at this through the perspective of each side.

You're the Miami Dolphin organization. You just gave up a conditional 5th rounder for a 37 year old QB who by all accounts had about as much of future with his previous team as one of us do. Trent Green's days in Kansas City were numbered the second Damon Huard re-signed, and anyone who knows a thing about football knew this.

You have a QB on the roster who granted has less passing yards and 20 fewer career touchdowns than the guy you just picked up, but that current QB has a better career QB rating and oh by the way-- he's 7 years younger and still may have something left in the tank. After coming off a major knee injury, he may finally be healthy. However, due to the fact that he doesn't fit the offensive philosophy of the new head coach, he really doesn't have a space on the roster.

This said, you just gave up a fifth for someone seven years older. While you don't think that anyone will be coughing up fifth rounders, there's always the chance someone could. Also, quite honestly after giving up a second rounder for him the year before, you don't really want to let him walk without getting something, ANYTHING in return.

Now, you're Daunte Culpepper. You still feel you've got something left to prove. You basically spent an entire season of your career rehabbing your knee, and feel ready to make a contribution. Your current employer however has other plans and basically has told you that they have no work for you. You want to pick your own team to revive your career on, and don't want where your next destination is dictated to you. Essentially, you want to have the opportunity to find your own next job, without having someone tell you where it's going to be.

Again, I know it's easy to blame Culpepper in this mess, however he is justified in this ordeal. The only shame is the two sides can't get together and make some kind of working arrangement and one way or another, this is going to end ugly.

 

[cdz12250]

"Doesn't want the new team to lose a draft pick?" What is this? Besides being a player and an agent, he's now a front office guy?

That comment says it all. This guy is actively working against the interests of the team. This is no emotional reaction; he's thought it through and is actively trying to do damage. He's lost me, and he should have lost everyone else who cares about this team.

What the Dolphins did, and are doing. to him comes nowhere near justifying the way he is behaving. The team brought him in here like he was the Post-Marino Messiah. They put him on the field, just as he said he wanted so badly. I don't think anyone will disagree that he couldn't deliver. In fact, he was publicly unhappy about being sat down. Now we "rushed" him back? Give me a break.

The amount of money we paid this gentleman to accomplish absolutely nothing is obscene. We paid him millions to rehab, which benefits him and allows him to continue his career elsewhere. Now the team is mistreating him for trying to recoup a small part of its wasted investment in him?

Seriously; it's the same garbage that got him kicked out of Minnesota. Does this guy think about anyone but himself? NO. And now he's actively admitting that he's putting the interests of his new team, whatever that may be, before those of the Dolphins, who are still paying him.

I'm sorry, but what kind of a man does that?