Kingdom Come
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For hypothetical purposes VJ stays and converts the defensive scheme to the Wade Phillips attacking 3-4 base defense. VJ coached in this defense and he knows it well. He is also a brilliant defensive mind who is getting a bad wrap because of personnel problems and a horrible year of injuries to his defense.
There are literally over a thousand ways to accomplish this endeavor; this scenario will focus on building an elite defensive team with a dominating rushing attack. Here is one scenario:
Start with Dolphins free agents: Cap is expected to be at or near 170 million.
Most UFA's will walk. Dolphins will keep a couple of their RFA's and all ERFA's.
Kenny Stills...Stills is popular with coaches and fans, however PFF has him ranked in the fifties. Still, at this point,with this free agent and draft class, he is pretty much irreplaceable, really. Dolphins will have to overpay to keep their only legitimate deep threat. Too bad Jakeem Grant can't catch a cold. 5 years 35 mil with significant guarantees; his TD numbers and youth will demand it. Stills is 24, turning 25 in April.
Let no one be in denial here. The Dolphins will not be able to pay all three starting WR's in the future. Not while improving the defense. After next year, Landry's price is going to skyrocket. This year he has elite trade value. After that, forget about it.
Long term contracts will be creative to keep the 2017 cap hit to a minimum seeing how the Dolphins have big money coming off the books in the next few years, and we need to acquire a couple top tier free agents.
Andre Branch: Branch was widely believed to be a 3-4 OLB prospect coming out of the draft but the pass rush needy Jags drafted him and played him at DE. He never played well at DE. IMO, he would flourish as a 3-4 OLB. PFF has him ranked 64th among edge defenders. Doubt he is able to get what he wants. He will be viewed as a rotational guy wherever he goes. 3 years 10 million
John Denny, of course, same salary....TJ Yates Yes, at around minimum. Jelani Jenkins will be dirt cheap. A depth signing at 1 year 1 mil
2nd round tender for Kiko 2.5 mil Original round for Damien Williams 1.5 mil We keep all of our ERFA's.
Dion Sims: I just don't see it happening with Duarte and Gray already under contract. PFF ranked him 42nd He isn't starter material, with two TE's already on the roster you have to believe they intend to look elsewhere or draft the position or both.
Players released in this scenario would of course begin with Mario Williams who has been ineffective and hates playing in a 3-4 anyway. Misi because of durability. Probably Mitchell, but not until a NT is drafted; otherwise, we are forced to keep him. He actually played well as a NT in Wade Phillips defense in Houston as a 3-4 NT. That is what got him the attention around the league. Most pundits thought he would be more effective in a 4-3, but they were wrong.
Trades: Dolphins work with the Vikings and Brandon Albert to reduce his salary and a trade for a 5th round pick is accomplished. At least we get something back from that rotten draft trade for Caroo last year. Trade Moore for a 5th as well. The blockbuster: Landry to the Browns for the 33rd pick in the draft and their 7th. Not because he isn't great, because he is, but for a plethora of reasons, especially the possibilities that pick opens up for the entire scenario. Browns have absolutely absurd amounts of cap space that even by rule they have to spend. 12 mil a year for a slot receiver won't cramp their style.
After cuts,trades, and contracts for Branch,Stills, and our other free agents, Dolphins still have over 50 mil in space.
Free Agent Acquisitions:
Calais Campbell DE you are looking at 5 years 60 million. We should actually ask for a discount for injuring Ryan. He is going to get his long term contract with significant guaranteed money. Whatever the cost, we must have him. His presence will bring a synergy I don't believe otherwise attainable. Also, at 6'8" he is an excellent nuisance to Tom Brady's passing lanes. Suh and Campbell are ranked 2 and 3 behind Aaron Donald in the NFL this year. My God...we could use Suh as a 6-tech in some sets and unleash a monster on the league. The effectiveness of a DL with Suh,Campbell, and Wake would increase geometrically. Whatever the cost. This was another reason to trade Jarvis Landry, the cap room going forward for Calias.
Kevin Zeitler RG 5 years 60 million Basically the same deal Keleche Osemele got last year.
Andrew Norwell LG 5 years 50 million Anticipating a 2nd round tender on Norwell by the Panthers.
Zeitler ranked 4th and Norwell 9th according to PFF. Both are still young, but Norwell will cost a 2nd. Panthers cap room isn't that great and they are expected to prioritize Kawan Short. Also, they already have David Yankey backing up Norwell, Yankey was expected to start in the NFL.
Cordarrelle Patterson RB, yes RB. 2 years 8 mil. Sorry, I love the little guy too, but he is a turnover waiting to happen. I happen to believe Patterson has tremendous potential as a RB, more-so than Montgomery was for the Packers this year. Williams is likely to get poached on the original round tender because he was an undrafted free agent, and he has more respect around the league than on this board. With Drake's durability issues, this gives us a solid receiving backup on third downs.http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2016/12/case-moving-cordarrelle-patterson-running-back/
Zach Brown Will LB..... Only Mason Foster ranked higher than Brown among will LB's in the 3-4 base sets. By far, his best year in the league. No clue what his market value is really going to be but he is likely to hit free agency with all the changes in Buffalo. 3 years 15 mil?????
Draft: Really tough year for QB needy teams. Stage would appear to be set for one of those years where the QB needy teams drafting in the top ten abstain from reaching with their first pick but trade up into the back of the 1st to get a QB. Dolphins trade down into the top of the 2nd with ....49ers? Obtain their 3rd and give the 23rd pick
33rd..........Harold Landry OLB College football's highest ranked run defender on the edge.
34th..........OJ Howard TE With everything else, he was also the top ranked blocking TE this year as well.
Our 2nd ...to the Panthers for Norwell
3rd from 49ers....Trade down add a 4th.....Tanoh Kpassagnon 5-technique http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tanoh_kpassagnon_813025.html
3rd comp for Vernon....Vita Vea NT 340 pound behemoth with great movement skills. May not declare.
4th....Vince Biegel OLB/ILB/ST's
5th for Moore....Nate Gerry SS/LB Blazing fast track star and 220 pounds
5th for Albert....Conor Harris Mike LB May beat out both Kiko and Hull The next Zach Thomas For real this time! All time college football tackles leader
5th...Zane Gonzalez Kicker, yup that's right kicker. Might as well improve ererywhere.
5th comp for Miller...Fabian Moreau CB competition for Bobby McCain and Lafayette Pitts
5th comp for Matthews...Jon Toth Center If Pouncey has another injury shortened season next year, thats probably it.
6th George Kittle TE.....https://www.profootballfocus.com/co...-george-kittle-best-all-around-tight-end-cfb/
7th....Austin Carr WR/slot....http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...arr-a-talented-performer-on-and-off-the-field
7th....Erik Austell OL
Undrafted free agents:
Nate Theaker OT
Seth Russell QB
David Jones safety
Josh Tupou NT
Samson Ebukam LB
Zach Pascal WR Possesion
Garry Brown Deep threat WR
DE'Angelo Henderson RB
Roster:
QB....Tannehill,Yates
TE...Howard,Kittle,Gray,Duarte
RB...Ajayi,Drake,Patterson,Williams,Henderson
WR...Parker,Stills,Caroo,Austin Carr,Jakeem Grant
OT...Tunsil,James,Young,Theaker,
OC/OG...Pouncey,Zeitler,Norwell,Urbick,Toth,Steen,Austell
NT...Phillips,Vita Vea,Josh Tupou
DE...Calaias Campbell,Suh,Kpassagnon,Fede,Julius Warmsley,Nicholas Williams
ILB....Kiko,Zach Brown,Connor Harris,Jelani Jenkins,Mike Hull
OLB....Wake,Landry,Branch,Jordan,Biegel,trevor Reilly
Hybrids...Walt Aikens,Nate Gerry
Safeties...Reshad Jones,Kudos,AJ Hendy,Jordan Lucas
CB...Maxwell,Lippett,Howard,Moreau,McCain,
ST's...Darr,Denny,Gonzalez,Patterson,Drake,Jakeem Grant
A team set up to dominate the East for the next decade.
In 2018 Dolphins draft OLB Arden Key... WR Christian Kirk,...ILB Nick Deluca,OLB TJ Watt
There are literally over a thousand ways to accomplish this endeavor; this scenario will focus on building an elite defensive team with a dominating rushing attack. Here is one scenario:
Start with Dolphins free agents: Cap is expected to be at or near 170 million.
Most UFA's will walk. Dolphins will keep a couple of their RFA's and all ERFA's.
Kenny Stills...Stills is popular with coaches and fans, however PFF has him ranked in the fifties. Still, at this point,with this free agent and draft class, he is pretty much irreplaceable, really. Dolphins will have to overpay to keep their only legitimate deep threat. Too bad Jakeem Grant can't catch a cold. 5 years 35 mil with significant guarantees; his TD numbers and youth will demand it. Stills is 24, turning 25 in April.
Let no one be in denial here. The Dolphins will not be able to pay all three starting WR's in the future. Not while improving the defense. After next year, Landry's price is going to skyrocket. This year he has elite trade value. After that, forget about it.
Long term contracts will be creative to keep the 2017 cap hit to a minimum seeing how the Dolphins have big money coming off the books in the next few years, and we need to acquire a couple top tier free agents.
Andre Branch: Branch was widely believed to be a 3-4 OLB prospect coming out of the draft but the pass rush needy Jags drafted him and played him at DE. He never played well at DE. IMO, he would flourish as a 3-4 OLB. PFF has him ranked 64th among edge defenders. Doubt he is able to get what he wants. He will be viewed as a rotational guy wherever he goes. 3 years 10 million
John Denny, of course, same salary....TJ Yates Yes, at around minimum. Jelani Jenkins will be dirt cheap. A depth signing at 1 year 1 mil
2nd round tender for Kiko 2.5 mil Original round for Damien Williams 1.5 mil We keep all of our ERFA's.
Dion Sims: I just don't see it happening with Duarte and Gray already under contract. PFF ranked him 42nd He isn't starter material, with two TE's already on the roster you have to believe they intend to look elsewhere or draft the position or both.
Players released in this scenario would of course begin with Mario Williams who has been ineffective and hates playing in a 3-4 anyway. Misi because of durability. Probably Mitchell, but not until a NT is drafted; otherwise, we are forced to keep him. He actually played well as a NT in Wade Phillips defense in Houston as a 3-4 NT. That is what got him the attention around the league. Most pundits thought he would be more effective in a 4-3, but they were wrong.
Trades: Dolphins work with the Vikings and Brandon Albert to reduce his salary and a trade for a 5th round pick is accomplished. At least we get something back from that rotten draft trade for Caroo last year. Trade Moore for a 5th as well. The blockbuster: Landry to the Browns for the 33rd pick in the draft and their 7th. Not because he isn't great, because he is, but for a plethora of reasons, especially the possibilities that pick opens up for the entire scenario. Browns have absolutely absurd amounts of cap space that even by rule they have to spend. 12 mil a year for a slot receiver won't cramp their style.
After cuts,trades, and contracts for Branch,Stills, and our other free agents, Dolphins still have over 50 mil in space.
Free Agent Acquisitions:
Calais Campbell DE you are looking at 5 years 60 million. We should actually ask for a discount for injuring Ryan. He is going to get his long term contract with significant guaranteed money. Whatever the cost, we must have him. His presence will bring a synergy I don't believe otherwise attainable. Also, at 6'8" he is an excellent nuisance to Tom Brady's passing lanes. Suh and Campbell are ranked 2 and 3 behind Aaron Donald in the NFL this year. My God...we could use Suh as a 6-tech in some sets and unleash a monster on the league. The effectiveness of a DL with Suh,Campbell, and Wake would increase geometrically. Whatever the cost. This was another reason to trade Jarvis Landry, the cap room going forward for Calias.
Kevin Zeitler RG 5 years 60 million Basically the same deal Keleche Osemele got last year.
Andrew Norwell LG 5 years 50 million Anticipating a 2nd round tender on Norwell by the Panthers.
Zeitler ranked 4th and Norwell 9th according to PFF. Both are still young, but Norwell will cost a 2nd. Panthers cap room isn't that great and they are expected to prioritize Kawan Short. Also, they already have David Yankey backing up Norwell, Yankey was expected to start in the NFL.
Cordarrelle Patterson RB, yes RB. 2 years 8 mil. Sorry, I love the little guy too, but he is a turnover waiting to happen. I happen to believe Patterson has tremendous potential as a RB, more-so than Montgomery was for the Packers this year. Williams is likely to get poached on the original round tender because he was an undrafted free agent, and he has more respect around the league than on this board. With Drake's durability issues, this gives us a solid receiving backup on third downs.http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2016/12/case-moving-cordarrelle-patterson-running-back/
Zach Brown Will LB..... Only Mason Foster ranked higher than Brown among will LB's in the 3-4 base sets. By far, his best year in the league. No clue what his market value is really going to be but he is likely to hit free agency with all the changes in Buffalo. 3 years 15 mil?????
Draft: Really tough year for QB needy teams. Stage would appear to be set for one of those years where the QB needy teams drafting in the top ten abstain from reaching with their first pick but trade up into the back of the 1st to get a QB. Dolphins trade down into the top of the 2nd with ....49ers? Obtain their 3rd and give the 23rd pick
33rd..........Harold Landry OLB College football's highest ranked run defender on the edge.
34th..........OJ Howard TE With everything else, he was also the top ranked blocking TE this year as well.
Our 2nd ...to the Panthers for Norwell
3rd from 49ers....Trade down add a 4th.....Tanoh Kpassagnon 5-technique http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tanoh_kpassagnon_813025.html
3rd comp for Vernon....Vita Vea NT 340 pound behemoth with great movement skills. May not declare.
4th....Vince Biegel OLB/ILB/ST's
5th for Moore....Nate Gerry SS/LB Blazing fast track star and 220 pounds
5th for Albert....Conor Harris Mike LB May beat out both Kiko and Hull The next Zach Thomas For real this time! All time college football tackles leader
5th...Zane Gonzalez Kicker, yup that's right kicker. Might as well improve ererywhere.
5th comp for Miller...Fabian Moreau CB competition for Bobby McCain and Lafayette Pitts
5th comp for Matthews...Jon Toth Center If Pouncey has another injury shortened season next year, thats probably it.
6th George Kittle TE.....https://www.profootballfocus.com/co...-george-kittle-best-all-around-tight-end-cfb/
7th....Austin Carr WR/slot....http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...arr-a-talented-performer-on-and-off-the-field
7th....Erik Austell OL
Undrafted free agents:
Nate Theaker OT
Seth Russell QB
David Jones safety
Josh Tupou NT
Samson Ebukam LB
Zach Pascal WR Possesion
Garry Brown Deep threat WR
DE'Angelo Henderson RB
Roster:
QB....Tannehill,Yates
TE...Howard,Kittle,Gray,Duarte
RB...Ajayi,Drake,Patterson,Williams,Henderson
WR...Parker,Stills,Caroo,Austin Carr,Jakeem Grant
OT...Tunsil,James,Young,Theaker,
OC/OG...Pouncey,Zeitler,Norwell,Urbick,Toth,Steen,Austell
NT...Phillips,Vita Vea,Josh Tupou
DE...Calaias Campbell,Suh,Kpassagnon,Fede,Julius Warmsley,Nicholas Williams
ILB....Kiko,Zach Brown,Connor Harris,Jelani Jenkins,Mike Hull
OLB....Wake,Landry,Branch,Jordan,Biegel,trevor Reilly
Hybrids...Walt Aikens,Nate Gerry
Safeties...Reshad Jones,Kudos,AJ Hendy,Jordan Lucas
CB...Maxwell,Lippett,Howard,Moreau,McCain,
ST's...Darr,Denny,Gonzalez,Patterson,Drake,Jakeem Grant
A team set up to dominate the East for the next decade.
In 2018 Dolphins draft OLB Arden Key... WR Christian Kirk,...ILB Nick Deluca,OLB TJ Watt
