Money to Spend: Where to? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Money to Spend: Where to?

ckparrothead

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Clump can probably give us a better idea of the exact figures, but now that Surtain is gone, we just lifted about $6 million of weight off our salary cap.

Where do we spend it? DO we spend it? We had a little over $1 million in salary cap space prior to trading Surtain. Now, we have upwards of $7 million in salary cap space.

Common rookie pool allotments are between $4 and $5 million at the top end of the draft (ours may be lower because we already had traded our 2nd round pick by the time rookie pool allotments were decided), and a lot of teams don't necessarily use that much of the allotment. If I had to estimate, I would say that we would need about $3 million for our rookies, once we're done with all of the trading.

The question becomes, what do we do with the money?

The first option that comes to mind, is give Randy McMichael a contract extension. He figures to become a somewhat important part of the game plan in Linehan's offense, because even though Linehan uses a lot of 3-WR sets, he sacrifices mostly the FB in order to do that (hence Rob Konrad = cut).

Another question then becomes, are there any free agents out there that still need to find themselves a home?

I wish I knew, I don't even know what free agents are still out there, other than Ty Law (no we're not getting Ty Law!). Is Anthony Simmons signed with anyone yet? If not, I think he could find his way down here. When Chad Brown gets cut officially by the Seahawks, I fully expect Miami to take a good look at him (6'2", 245 lbs., 12 year veteran with 78 sacks to his name).

Of course, there is always June 1st, when some unexpected names end up cut. I have not really heard of any potential June 1st casualties yet that we may be interested.

So really, with this thread, I would like people to start tossing out names of guys that are still available that we may look at, and names of guys who could become June 1st casualties.

Sad part about cap spaces is if you don't use it, ya lose it. So, maybe we SHOULD pay Randy, make a good part of his signing bonus a first year roster bonus.
 
Just a note on the McMichael contract . I know that Saban has said he would like to get a long term deal done. But I never heard him say he was willing to give him a large contract. Is it possible that McMichael will become the Pat Surtain of 2006 ? Saban follows the Pats mind set when it comes to running a team. The Pats never over pay for anyone and are willing to let them walk if the price is too high. I will not be surprised to see McMichael moved one day .
 
I was more thinking along the lines that they won't hesitate to franchise McMichael in 2006 and then either get a deal done or trade him, since the franchise figure for tight ends is generally not considered much.

They may give McMichael a year in Linehan's offense to showcase his wares to the world, and then franchise and trade the guy...but I would only do that if we draft Braylon Edwards or Matt Jones (ie. we have 3 good WRs).
 
yeah i really hope they could do a Mcmichael extension with some of this money. a tight end was the vikings leading reciever last year(i know moss was out a lot) so you have to think one could figure heavily into our offense.
 
Well, then I guess the question is, are these potential moves mutually exclusive? We could sign McMike now, try to lowball him based on inconsistent performance, but he may balk and say hey I'm going to go out and be a free agent next year.

The move I expect us to make or at least explore, is Chad Brown. He's too much of a Saban guy (big linebacker veteran who can rush the passer) for Saban to pass up completely.
 
if we dont get Mcmichael a bigger $ contract, theres no chance he is gonna stay, we need players like him. and i for one want to see him at Miami for another decade. it would be money well spent i think if we sign him on a long term contract that he's happy with. He is probably the only pro bowl callibre player on our offence
 
We have way more than enough to sign our rookies. We have about $4 million or more of excess space.
 
CK where would Chad Brown fit in ?
IMO, we've already got an aging OLB who can rush the passer and provide veteran leadership in the form of Junior Seau.
I think we could get some o-line help (more toys for Hudson) after the June 1st cuts even though Saban will not overpay for a cap casualty (they rarely pay off and we need to get younger).
Yuur Mcmike scenario as in letting him play out the rest of his contract, franchising him and trading him would be a possibility, especially if we grab Mike Williams or Matt Jones (we'd have to trade down), giving us more options and firepower.
 
I was under the impression that Chad Brown playe strong-side, while Anthony Simmons played weak-side. I could be wrong.

But Belichick keeps a ton of linebackers on the roster not as depth but because he rotates them and uses them situationally. I could envision Saban wanting to do the same thing.

Just because we have Junior Seau, does not mean we have no room for an additional veteran. I doubt Saban would have made the effort to keep Seau if he knew he could end up with Brown.
 
ckparrothead said:
I was under the impression that Chad Brown playe strong-side, while Anthony Simmons played weak-side. I could be wrong.

But Belichick keeps a ton of linebackers on the roster not as depth but because he rotates them and uses them situationally. I could envision Saban wanting to do the same thing.

Just because we have Junior Seau, does not mean we have no room for an additional veteran. I doubt Saban would have made the effort to keep Seau if he knew he could end up with Brown.
In addition Seau has, what?, 1-2 years at most left.
 
McMichael is not a problem if we don't get him a long term contract. Franchise tag for a tight end is around 3 million dollars i believe.
 
Think with the #2 pick and 2 first day picks our rookie pool will increase from last years 2.5 million (#19 & 5 2nd day picks) to around 4 million. And after the injury & practice squad fund that will add about 2 million more our salary cap, we'll be back to Surtain's pre-trade salary cap status. Unless there are other restructures/cuts, don't think Saban will offer extension to McMichael until after the season starts. Leaving a little room to take advantage of post june 1rst/preseason cuts. Plus, would the 1 million be enough to cover what McMichael wants?

Also, does anyone know the latest franchise amounts for TE's? Closest reference if know is Bubba Franks was transitioned this year by GB for 2.1 million.

Edit: I'm a slow poster, thanks for the franchise info Marino1384.
 
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