Think of this Miami Dolphins offseason as a set of scenes out of The Godfather.
(Work with me).
You know the part where Michael Corleone tells Carlo, that wife-beating rat, that "today I settled all family business?" Yeah, well, that's the Dolphins this offseason.
The Dolphins have been knocking off to-do items from their list like Corleone hitmen knocked off family enemies at the end of the movie.
No, the Dolphins didn't kill Tattaglia, but they signed Ndamukong Suh to the richest contract for a defensive player in NFL history. They obviously made Suh an offer he could not refuse.
The Dolphins didn't shoot Moe Greene in the eye, but they got a contract extension with center Mike Pouncey.
The Dolphins didn't gun down Barzini, but they got a contract extension with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The Dolphins didn't knock off Stracci, Cuneo, Tessio and finally Carlo ... but they have already signed DeVante Parker, Jordan Phillips, Jay Ajayi and every other 2015 draft pick -- an unprecedented milestone in that every rookie was signed before May's rookie minicamp.
The Dolphins have settled all family business like the dickens.
And while I grant you that sometimes I am critical of the team for being, well, mediocre at best lately, I have to give credit where it is due as well.
And it is due to the front office.
EVP football operations Mike Tannenbaum, GM Dennis Hickey, EVP football administration Dawn Aponte, and director of football administration Ryan Herman have lit up phone lines and agent ears the past 8-10 weeks and the cumulative accomplishment speaks for itself.
There is nothing left undone at this point that I can see.
Obviously, I'm leaving out the total whacking of half a dozen players (for cap and other reasons) and the trade of a couple more players (for cap and other reasons). And I'm not going to trifle that an extension for Olivier Vernon looms.
I am going to note the way the Dolphins are approaching contract talks seems different, according to agents I speak with. The team doesn't seem to get caught up in the weeds as much. There has been less antagonism in negotiations.
(The Charles Clay dealings notwithstanding).
Agents don't hate dealing with the Dolphins now, best I can tell, and that wasn't universally the case last year, or the year before or the year before that.
Tannenbaum obviously has stamped the approach to negotiations and contracts with a different style. It is working.
No, this says nothing about the decisions that go into moving forward into these negotiations. That's not the point. The point is when the Dolphins have this offseason decided they want to make something happen, well, it has happened.
They have settled family business.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ns-offseason-has-settled-family-business.html
(Work with me).
You know the part where Michael Corleone tells Carlo, that wife-beating rat, that "today I settled all family business?" Yeah, well, that's the Dolphins this offseason.
The Dolphins have been knocking off to-do items from their list like Corleone hitmen knocked off family enemies at the end of the movie.
No, the Dolphins didn't kill Tattaglia, but they signed Ndamukong Suh to the richest contract for a defensive player in NFL history. They obviously made Suh an offer he could not refuse.
The Dolphins didn't shoot Moe Greene in the eye, but they got a contract extension with center Mike Pouncey.
The Dolphins didn't gun down Barzini, but they got a contract extension with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The Dolphins didn't knock off Stracci, Cuneo, Tessio and finally Carlo ... but they have already signed DeVante Parker, Jordan Phillips, Jay Ajayi and every other 2015 draft pick -- an unprecedented milestone in that every rookie was signed before May's rookie minicamp.
The Dolphins have settled all family business like the dickens.
And while I grant you that sometimes I am critical of the team for being, well, mediocre at best lately, I have to give credit where it is due as well.
And it is due to the front office.
EVP football operations Mike Tannenbaum, GM Dennis Hickey, EVP football administration Dawn Aponte, and director of football administration Ryan Herman have lit up phone lines and agent ears the past 8-10 weeks and the cumulative accomplishment speaks for itself.
There is nothing left undone at this point that I can see.
Obviously, I'm leaving out the total whacking of half a dozen players (for cap and other reasons) and the trade of a couple more players (for cap and other reasons). And I'm not going to trifle that an extension for Olivier Vernon looms.
I am going to note the way the Dolphins are approaching contract talks seems different, according to agents I speak with. The team doesn't seem to get caught up in the weeds as much. There has been less antagonism in negotiations.
(The Charles Clay dealings notwithstanding).
Agents don't hate dealing with the Dolphins now, best I can tell, and that wasn't universally the case last year, or the year before or the year before that.
Tannenbaum obviously has stamped the approach to negotiations and contracts with a different style. It is working.
No, this says nothing about the decisions that go into moving forward into these negotiations. That's not the point. The point is when the Dolphins have this offseason decided they want to make something happen, well, it has happened.
They have settled family business.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ns-offseason-has-settled-family-business.html
