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#Tankovailoa

ckparrothead

ckparrothead

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It's gonna be a long year, guys. Have a sense of humor about it.

Just sayin'.

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We've been arguing back and forth about this 'tank' thing for months, ever since Steve Ross himself let the cat out of the bag with his press conference about firing Adam Gase and promoting Chris Grier to head of football.

While I think some people like to hide in the legalese about some perceived Merriam-Webster definition of the word, 'tank' and it's necessitating cooperation from the head coach and/or players on game day, what is clear is the Dolphins front office has intentionally put out a 2019 roster that has zero chance of winning.

Some Pollyanna's out there can continue to maintain that this was merely an unintended consequence of the 'rebuild'. But that's just not the case.

The Dolphins rank #32 in the league in cash payroll, and the #31 team is paying over $36 million more in cash payroll than Miami. They're not just at the floor; they've blown a hole in the floor and gone down three levels below it. The sum of the Average Annual Values of their contracts is about 65% of NFL average. I think that's only been done one other time in the last decade.

And with them being Top 10 in the NFL in actual salary cap space (the accounting construction), they had the ability to field a better 2019 team than this, even while looking to rebuild for the future, IF they wanted to. These were not mutually exclusive things. The Dolphins chose not to pursue both aims.

And the reason they've chosen not to pursue both aims is because they don't just want a 'good' quarterback in 2020. They want an ELITE quarterback in 2020. There's a difference. One can help you improve your team, become respectable, hovering around 8-8 or 9-7 for a long period of time. The other can help you dominate the league for a decade or more.

#Tankovailoa
 
Miami will likely be really bad this year... but a different kind of bad. I feel like the team will actually play hard and you'll see the difference in style a coaching staff can make, but the talent level all over the field will be missing. I think the team could potentially surprise teams but not enough to have a run. But you know what? That's okay. Outside of when Bill Parcells came in (and ironically had a great first year under Sparano) the team has been acting like they're 1 move away from competing ever since Marino retired. A proper rebuild was desperately needed
 
ChambersWI said:
Miami will likely be really bad this year... but a different kind of bad. I feel like the team will actually play hard and you'll see the difference in style a coaching staff can make, but the talent level all over the field will be missing. I think the team could potentially surprise teams but not enough to have a run. But you know what? That's okay. Outside of when Bill Parcells came in (and ironically had a great first year under Sparano) the team has been acting like they're 1 move away from competing ever since Marino retired. A proper rebuild was desperately needed
Click to expand...

I think the nuance involved in that distinction will get lost as soon as the real bullets are firing and the team is just...not good.

People will question the coaching decisions. They'll question the discipline. They'll say our offense is too conservative and our defense isn't fundamentally sound.

This was generally a well coached team under Tony Sparano. But they said all that anyway.
 
Miami can have all world coaches, and I truly believe Flo has that ability, but like CK said, the talent level is entirely to low to compete week in and week out. Of course Miami isn't talentless but they're close to it.

X is the only one you can say is damn good at his job right now. He won't win us games by himself but I believe he'll give it his all.
 
I’m glad Flores is cleaning house. For too long we have had clowns that buy into their own ego and drink their own koolaid. The Dolphins has sucked for decades and signing big free agents was not the right way to go. There is no system is place. Nothing. Just acquire and draft in mid teens every year.

We finally have a plan and boatload of draft picks and capital.

I think the idea is to tailor an offense around Tua which I like. He thinks deep ball to short on almost every play but not dumb. He wants the bigger chunk play every time but won’t force it. Feels awfully similar to our OC’s mantra as well.

The Dolphins needs to instill a mindset in this franchise, direction and culture that revolves around three things:

1. Teamwork
2. Communication
3. Trusting the system and losing your ego.

We have had nothing for the past decade. The patriots have had it for 2 decades and it’s a reason why they are so consistent. The Spurs in the NBA and that’s why they are so consistent. People can say it’s because of Brady, Belicheck, Popovich, Duncan, etc. it’s not only them - it’s the fact that every time these teams prepare, they prepare like it’s the super bowl and attention to detail is light years away from any other team. Their ability to lose their ego at the door and just work together to win is fascinating. Ego is a huge thing in football and why most coaches fail.

Flores is trying to instill that culture - look at his obsession with situational football. It’s a taste of how he wants his team to think, play, and carry themselves
 
I’m just hoping by the end of the season another QB is in the discussion besides Tua. I’m fine with Tua but I’m not smitten yet.
 
I mean I wouldn’t call it arguing about whether we are tanking or not.

I think we can all agree we needed to clean up the books, cut dead weight and stockpile draft picks to build a foundation. If paying $5 million of Tannehill’s contract to grab a 4th doesn’t clue folks into that, nothing will.

I think we can all agree that we weren’t going to be a playoff team either, outside of the flukiest type of run (2008 and 2016 come to mind, but those schedules were on the softer side as well, this year is loaded with physicality).

Tank is a trendy word that starts with a T, the same letter that Tua starts with. Its marketable . . . As we can see with your post having a $22 wife beater for sale.

Some believe its losing on purpose from a field perspective . . . I can guarantee that will never happen.

Every move that was made, other than Tunsil, was an acceptable one, even Stills (as you can probably understand with your Jakeem Grant love and the rising of Preston Williams).

The team wanted to keep Tunsil, but when have a plan that is outlined in my second sentence, you have to make that move to accelerate your ultimate goal.

Obviously if the team is in position to get the #1 pick, Tua will be a primary target . . . This isn’t that complicated, but no Front Office is gonna stake their entire future and foundation on the mind of a college kid potentially coming out.

Its why you trade for a Josh Rosen. Its a continous and intelligent grind to add young talent to various positions on the team instead of overpaying for used up veterans that have maxed their ceiling and are on the decline.

You can’t predict these opportunities, but Chris Grier has been magnificent this offseason at taking advantage when one is presented.

So while many people will focus on 2019, the word tank and being right or wrong in the present . . . .we finally have somebody who is taking the right approach and attempting to build something sustainable and not just settle for running into a 8 win wall.

You can overanalyze it, compare the AAVs, the amount of UDFAs and come to a conclusion that we are losing on purpose, but for the first time ever we are actually winning at getting this whole football thing “right”.

I dont need them to apologize for finally doing **** right.
 
They probably talked to Tua and his whole family at the orange bowl back in 2018. I’m betting Ross had a plan from that day to get him at all costs.
 
I think that's a bit of an abdication.

Doing it "right" in this case actually involves INTENDING to get that #1 overall pick, i.e. tanking.

That's not the same as being merely 'ambivalent' about winning in 2019, as some argue. The argument has been that the front office is merely neutral on the idea of winning in 2019, choosing decisions that prioritize winning in 2020 and beyond, and that this dynamic will naturally result in putting out a bad roster as there tends to be inverse relationship between what's good for the future versus what's good for the present.

The problem is, in football there are far too many opportunities that are good for winning in BOTH time periods, and Miami has generally avoided those opportunities, which shows that they're not merely 'neutral' about 2019. They want the high pick in 2020 to get an elite quarterback. And that means effortful losing.

You can eschew a frontal acknowledgment of that fact, and pretend the season ticket holders should be OK with deception, but I would rather they outline their vision more explicitly and try and get everyone on board with it.
 
ChambersWI said:
Outside of when Bill Parcells came in (and ironically had a great first year under Sparano) the team has been acting like they're 1 move away from competing ever since Marino retired. A proper rebuild was desperately needed
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This is so true. A rebuild is long overdue. Though the Browns have proven there is more than one way to navigate a rebuild.

They had one under the baseball bullshit which was a complete catastrophe. Then another under a very good new GM (and several very talented high level execs which they headhunted) which is currently going really well.

Rather than following the Browns second strategy, we have decided to pursue this rebuild by giving Grier and many of the same scouts that have been here since Parcells yet another chance. You know that I have severe doubts about that group - but I hope they are about prove me wrong. They have done a great job acquiring picks and money, but investing those resources will be even harder.

And as much as I am excited about tanking for Tua? It's important to remember that adding Tua will only be the start of a very deep rebuilding process. Whatever QB we add next year will be joining a shitshow of a roster - the NFL has seen plenty of talented QBs drown because of being put in an awful situation.

Let's hope that Grier has a masterplan for fixing the OL, DL, CB group etc within a few years. I love tanking for Tua, but that's the beginning of our recovery, not the end of it. After many,many,many years in the organisation I really hope that Grier has finally learned from the mistakes of our past.
 
We have Draft capital like we have never seen before plus $150M to spend in Free Agency next year. Going to be a tough season but Brian Flores can show his coaching grittiness by instilling the discipline for the future. Who knows, maybe we can find a few good players along the way. Frankly, I'm delighted by the weekend's trades. Bill O'Brien has gambled big time and probably overpaid in the process.
Whether it's Tua or Herbert or even if Rosen comes good and we can put those Draftpicks to other good use. Embrace the suck! Go Dolphins.
 
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Kdawg954 said:
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I think we can all agree we needed to clean up the books, cut dead weight and stockpile draft picks to build a foundation. If paying $5 million of Tannehill’s contract to grab a 4th doesn’t clue folks into that, nothing will.
Click to expand...

If anyone needs more convincing, eight of the twelve Dolphins in the 2019 calendar aren’t with the team anymore.
 
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