Report: Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland spent hours with NFL investigator

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Yeah, as I see it there are two angles for the NFL here:

1. The Dolphins locker room was totally out of bounds and out of the norm, and come down hard on the team with serious punishment.

2. Make it go away as quickly and quietly as possible, and try not to set any precedents that could bite them in the ass in the future.

Personally, I think #2 is what they are aiming for, since #1 has the potential to blow up in their face if more people decide to take the Martin angle to locker room antics.

 

[AL R]

Agreed.

And i just want to add a couple things:
1) If it comes out that the coaches/GM were instructing the players to behave a certain way, Ross is likely to clean house. The NFL has shown they will back off if the teams administer proper punishment.

2) Goodell went hard after the Saints in part because they snubbed him. Keep in mind, the league warned them to cut the crap a full year beforehand. They told the league they did then promptly went back to messing around. As well, the league was feeling heat because of the massive concussion lawsuit directed at them. The combination of personal slight and the need to make an example of them was what motivated that punishment.

If this was a team effort to go after Martin and Ross wants to keep everyone on board, the absolute worst that will happen is the league will slap Ross with a fine, take a late round pick, and suspend Ireland/Philbin/Jim Turner for a game or two. The far more likely outcome is the league will send out a memo outlining what teams can and cannot allow and hit Ross with a slight fine that will be donated to an anti-bullying group.
This controversy falls closer to teams not making any minority hires this past offseason then Bountygate. Its an embarrassment for "the shield" but not anything that will disrupt their profits. Thus, they are inclined to make an agreement that suits all parties and quickly sweep this under the carpet. The last thing they want is a public spectacle that is dragged out for years.

I hope you and Roman are correct. Let's say it is worst case scenario and it's decided the front office shall we say had a "lack of institutional control" (I know this is a college term). Do you think, especially since the story has gotten so much media attention/visibility, that they will not try and lay the hammer down and take away pick(s)? ((to set an example to other clubs). I like both of your thoughts at the bottom of your posts regarding worst case scenario. Hope it plays put something like that....if management is involved. I just hope we know the outcome fairly soon and it doesn't hang over the club like the UM debacle.

 

[Spesh]

I hope you and Roman are correct. Let's say it is worst case scenario and it's decided the front office shall we say had a "lack of institutional control" (I know this is a college term). Do you think, especially since the story has gotten so much media attention/visibility, that they will not try and lay the hammer down and take away pick(s)? ((to set an example to other clubs). I like both of your thoughts at the bottom of your posts regarding worst case scenario. Hope it plays put something like that....if management is involved. I just hope we know the outcome fairly soon and it doesn't hang over the club like the UM debacle.

Given the leagues history, id say they are more inclined to bury this story then remind the public of it by having lasting effects. Missing draft picks will repeatedly remind everyone what happened for months to come(and color the draft, which has become a blatant money grab for the league). Fines are quick and gives the league room to "be the good guy" by donating it to charity. For us to lose any significant draft picks there would have to be evidence of a malicious and concentrated effort to "break" Martin. I think the team has handled this idiotically, but i dont think they are that bad.

You have to keep in mind, the league isnt interested in dispensing justice. Thats not their goal. They will do the bare minimum to keep the union off their back(another benefit for us, the union has a divided interest in this case) and to keep the public indifferent. While "bullying" has been a topic for national discussion, the NFL doesnt have too visible a stance in that fight(unlike Bountygate, where Goodell has clearly made "safety" a suppose top priority). I believe they've said all the PC stuff, bullying=bad, but thats about it.
Because the league doesnt really have a dog in that fight, because the Dolphins didnt snub them, because we arent repeat offenders, because its in the leagues best interest to kill this as quick as possible, because we immediately suspended Incognito and are likely to hand out more punishment, i truly believe we are going to be allowed to skate by. If the worst occurs(again: which i doubt), we will lose a late round pick, no higher then a 5th. That might sting for some, but, aside from the fact those picks rarely work out, its important to note we have a compensatory pick on the way for letting Long walk, that should mitigate the "damage".

My personal prediction on how this will end: Martin works out a deal with the team that involves us covering the cost of his rookie deal but it has offset language(allowing us to save money when another team signs him), Ireland is fired, Philbin is kept, our billionaire owner hands a few thousand dollars to charity, and Richie's career is over. None of that is all that big of a deal from the Dolphins standpoint, and it could be argued this entire episode ended in a positive(with Ireland fired). As Incognito has achieved martyr status to some, this outcome might sting for a bit, but the fact of the matter is Incognito's has been working his way out of football since college. He finally succeeded.

 

[Wishfishin]

I don't see how we could lose draft picks over this. If you look at the Saints when they lost picks, it was because of a TEAM policy which was orchestrated by coaches who put bounties on other players, and I think they also got into hot water for "bugging" locker rooms, although I don't think this was ever proven or punished?

I think the Incognito-Martin controversy comes down to player actions, and guys taking hazing too far. Unless the coaches or GM explicitly told players to toughen up Martin by going off on him verbally, or ostracizing him from the team, you cannot say this was a team thing.

I think at worst, Incognito gets a long suspension, and maybe the Phins get put on some kind of probation by the NFL where they review what is happening in the locker room, and make sure "hazing" doesn't cross the line where there is a "hostile work place environment," or discrimination towards someone.

The Jets didn't lose draft picks when Bret Favre sent selfies of his weiner to that Jet's cheerleader So why should the Phins lose picks?

I agree as well. I was just replying to the post by Albert Romano based on a "what if" scenario.

 

[AL R]

Given the leagues history, id say they are more inclined to bury this story then remind the public of it by having lasting effects. Missing draft picks will repeatedly remind everyone what happened for months to come(and color the draft, which has become a blatant money grab for the league). Fines are quick and gives the league room to "be the good guy" by donating it to charity. For us to lose any significant draft picks there would have to be evidence of a malicious and concentrated effort to "break" Martin. I think the team has handled this idiotically, but i dont think they are that bad.

You have to keep in mind, the league isnt interested in dispensing justice. Thats not their goal. They will do the bare minimum to keep the union off their back(another benefit for us, the union has a divided interest in this case) and to keep the public indifferent. While "bullying" has been a topic for national discussion, the NFL doesnt have too visible a stance in that fight(unlike Bountygate, where Goodell has clearly made "safety" a suppose top priority). I believe they've said all the PC stuff, bullying=bad, but thats about it.
Because the league doesnt really have a dog in that fight, because the Dolphins didnt snub them, because we arent repeat offenders, because its in the leagues best interest to kill this as quick as possible, because we immediately suspended Incognito and are likely to hand out more punishment, i truly believe we are going to be allowed to skate by. If the worst occurs(again: which i doubt), we will lose a late round pick, no higher then a 5th. That might sting for some, but, aside from the fact those picks rarely work out, its important to note we have a compensatory pick on the way for letting Long walk, that should mitigate the "damage".

My personal prediction on how this will end: Martin works out a deal with the team that involves us covering the cost of his rookie deal but it has offset language(allowing us to save money when another team signs him), Ireland is fired, Philbin is kept, our billionaire owner hands a few thousand dollars to charity, and Richie's career is over. None of that is all that big of a deal from the Dolphins standpoint, and it could be argued this entire episode ended in a positive(with Ireland fired). As Incognito has achieved martyr status to some, this outcome might sting for a bit, but the fact of the matter is Incognito's has been working his way out of football since college. He finally succeeded.

Good points. I would be satisfied with the type of outcome you predict.

 

[gofins60]

A housecleaning is not warranted for this little "incident". But, a housecleaning IS in order for the poor play on the field.

 

[LANGER72]

means nothing. lawyers ask the same questions over and over, and over.. ad nauseam

Rephrase...rephrase...rephrase

 

[Vaark]

Wonder if any mother questions came up. :D

If Martin was the discussion subject it probably did but connected to the "F-er word"

 

[DeathStar]

Rephrase...rephrase...rephrase

Gotta boost up those billable hours.

 

[iwastherein1972]

I think people have been missing the point of this whole fiasco. This is really NOT about "bullying", as much as they might claim it is.

Brace yourselves for a dirty little truth: if martin ("bullied") were white and Incognito ("bully") black, this would never have even had a mention in a single media outlet. This whole thing is a racial/PC exercise and the NFL takes a very harsh stance on such matters.

I am afraid the league believes that the Dolphins are a racist organization and ireland is the head villain in their eyes. I am 100,000% sure he will be purged from this organization for this and for the "whore" question. And I believe the league is not crazy about the Tannehill pick either. I will let you fill in the blanks on that one.

 

[DefensiveEnd76]

Ireland needs to go. When the ONLY reason he drafted Tannehill is because Ryan played under Sherman in college then he needs to be sent packing. I am saying it here and now. Ryan Tannehill will NEVER be a great or a franchise QB. He is a game manager and that is all.

 

[Casas9425]

I believe that this will end with the league demanding that Ross fire certain people in the organization. I think Ross will comply.

 

[Fins_of_Fury]

Ireland needs to go. When the ONLY reason he drafted Tannehill is because Ryan played under Sherman in college then he needs to be sent packing. I am saying it here and now. Ryan Tannehill will NEVER be a great or a franchise QB. He is a game manager and that is all.

I respectfully disagree, we have not seen enough games to make that determination.

 

[spiketex]

A housecleaning is not warranted for this little "incident". But, a housecleaning IS in order for the poor play on the field.

It's not necessarily just "a little incident". This could be just the tip of a huge sh*t iceberg. If it was about the silly prank in the cafeteria and some bigoted voicemails and texts from Richie, the Wells meeting with JMart would not have gone for over 7 hours, it would have been over in 1 or 2. I expect that there is a lot of information. I repeat, Martin is a well educated, highly intelligent guy and he feels that he has been harassed and bullied over an extended period of time. He has been professionally treated for what appears to be a breakdown (there is also speculation that he was suicidal). He has the best legal representative available (Cornwell got Roethlisberger out of his alleged rape mishap). Watch any of Martin's Dolphin interviews, he answers every question well and be assured that he was well coached and presented himself well. I think that the presumption that this is just a little incident is totally fallacious. Wait and see.

 

[finfan54]

Yeah, as I see it there are two angles for the NFL here:

1. The Dolphins locker room was totally out of bounds and out of the norm, and come down hard on the team with serious punishment.

2. Make it go away as quickly and quietly as possible, and try not to set any precedents that could bite them in the ass in the future.

Personally, I think #2 is what they are aiming for, since #1 has the potential to blow up in their face if more people decide to take the Martin angle to locker room antics.

And the dolphins basically suspended Incog with the intention of cutting him in a week or so, so the main culprit is already being punished and the dolphins took action.

So yeah, do you set the precedent for the rest of the league? Some reporters are talking about how football is a neantherthal sport and should be banned. This is what the Jonathan Martin lawyer types want in the end. A bunch of Violinists.

---------- Post added at 12:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:20 PM ----------

Ireland needs to go. When the ONLY reason he drafted Tannehill is because Ryan played under Sherman in college then he needs to be sent packing. I am saying it here and now. Ryan Tannehill will NEVER be a great or a franchise QB. He is a game manager and that is all.

Because most QB's are great in their second year.