The Last Two Offseasons. | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

The Last Two Offseasons.

JTech194

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I must say that the last two off-seasons have been impressive. I'm not talking about from a success\failure standpoint but more from a We have a clear plan that seems to be devised by the coaching staff and personnel folks WORKING TOGETHER in harmony. Last year the coaching staff came in and said LOOK.... Certain "Superstars" on our team aren't good enough and aren't worth big money and we should let them walk if the price gets too high (Vernon, Miller) which it did, and the front office trusted the coaches and let those guys walk. Knowing that if those guys went to other teams and BALLED OUT that it would be them getting ripped in the media and having to answer to the owner. Those guys did nothing to prove the coaches wrong til this point. Vernon had 64 tackles and 8.5 sacks last year. Good.. But not 52 MILLION DOLLAR GUARANTEED GOOD. And Miller did nothing

We had glaring needs at CB and LB and we were able to get two quality starters by only dropping down several spots in the draft AND STILL ended up with a Franchise LT. Luck? Maybe, but in life AND FOOTBALL... when you make smart decisions.... things tend to work out for the better.

So far this year, it seems the trend is continuing. Coaches identified REAL PLAYMAKERS in our system and advised the FO to do the best it can to keep them (Stills, Jones, Kiko) and a guy like Dion Sims who was solid but limited in this system, we did not overpay. What was brilliant to me is that they had a plan in place IF they couldn't keep Sims and in my opinion, that plan was a clear upgrade to Sims. Trading for Julius Thomas (whose a better Receiving TE than Sims) and Signing Fasano, (whose better blocker than Sims) was clear indication that our Coaches and Personnel guys are THINKING AHEAD and aren't just making moves with no clear plan. (like drafting Dion Jordan, when the coaching staff has no idea where\how to play him)

We have no idea if the moves made will result in playoff wins but what I do know is that at least the PROCESS Looks well planned and thought out.
 
OV vs. Branch - Salary

I must say that the last two off-seasons have been impressive. I'm not talking about from a success\failure standpoint but more from a We have a clear plan that seems to be devised by the coaching staff and personnel folks WORKING TOGETHER in harmony. Last year the coaching staff came in and said LOOK.... Certain "Superstars" on our team aren't good enough and aren't worth big money and we should let them walk if the price gets too high (Vernon, Miller) which it did, and the front office trusted the coaches and let those guys walk. Knowing that if those guys went to other teams and BALLED OUT that it would be them getting ripped in the media and having to answer to the owner. Those guys did nothing to prove the coaches wrong til this point. Vernon had 64 tackles and 8.5 sacks last year. Good.. But not 52 MILLION DOLLAR GUARANTEED GOOD. And Miller did nothing

We had glaring needs at CB and LB and we were able to get two quality starters by only dropping down several spots in the draft AND STILL ended up with a Franchise LT. Luck? Maybe, but in life AND FOOTBALL... when you make smart decisions.... things tend to work out for the better.

So far this year, it seems the trend is continuing. Coaches identified REAL PLAYMAKERS in our system and advised the FO to do the best it can to keep them (Stills, Jones, Kiko) and a guy like Dion Sims who was solid but limited in this system, we did not overpay. What was brilliant to me is that they had a plan in place IF they couldn't keep Sims and in my opinion, that plan was a clear upgrade to Sims. Trading for Julius Thomas (whose a better Receiving TE than Sims) and Signing Fasano, (whose better blocker than Sims) was clear indication that our Coaches and Personnel guys are THINKING AHEAD and aren't just making moves with no clear plan. (like drafting Dion Jordan, when the coaching staff has no idea where\how to play him)

We have no idea if the moves made will result in playoff wins but what I do know is that at least the PROCESS Looks well planned and thought out.


Agree with most of what was said but in looking at OV's contract in comparison t what we are going to pay Branch - I've would have signed OV. I understand that this is after the fact but on average what you would be paying OV for his production is a whole lot better.
 
I agree, i definitely like the general direction of this team. You always going to miss on some draft picks/signings ( Carroo trade, Williams signing) but there's been a lot more solid football decisions in the last 2 years. Maybe I'm just so desperate to see this team to finally be in position to consistently make the playoffs and compete, but it certainly has been very refreshing to have people in charge that seem to know what they are doing.
 
Seems like Miami has backup plans ready to go and go quickly. Sims leaves, Miami immediately signs Fasano. They trade for Hayes when talks break down with another defensive lineman (forgot name, forgive me).

The Stills contract looks awfully team friendly after hearing $12 million a year. Branch might be high, but I think he would have got that on the open market. Don't know enough about Larsen, but sounds like he has a good chance to start at OG. Timmons looks like a good possibility.

Lots going on in the early stages to setup a draft where Miami can be flexible and go for BPA.
 
Regardless of opinions based on some of the figures involved, bottom line is that this team is starting to behave like a WINNING franchise in terms of the way it approaches the offseason. This is something that was missing for about 15 years prior to Gase coming on board last year, I gotta believe he has a say in personnel acquisition, and rightfully so as he's completely changed the culture in just over a year.

The culture shift is what I've been preaching for 10+ years - I didn't see it from Parcells mess and sure as hell didn't see it coming from what's his name. And while the day Gase was hired I was not convinced he was the guy to do it (he did make me a believer very early on with his demeanor alone), I've never been so glad to be so wrong.

The most important part is suddenly players are buying in, players that are here want to stay here and FA's are now looking at this as a potential destination to compete in the postseason, rather than just a spot to soak up some sun and grab a ton of cash......This thing is FINALLY starting to turn around :brewskis:
 
Our organization just feels less desperate and more like "if you come to Miami you better want to win because we take of our own"
Totally opposite approach which probably explains why we are no longer looked at as jokes. Teams better prepare well because we have a talented squad..
Depth may be the difference when our roster movements are all said and done. Now let's lock down a beast MLB and grab some lower priced guys
PHINS UP!!
 
Regardless of opinions based on some of the figures involved, bottom line is that this team is starting to behave like a WINNING franchise in terms of the way it approaches the offseason. This is something that was missing for about 15 years prior to Gase coming on board last year, I gotta believe he has a say in personnel acquisition, and rightfully so as he's completely changed the culture in just over a year.

The culture shift is what I've been preaching for 10+ years - I didn't see it from Parcells mess and sure as hell didn't see it coming from what's his name. And while the day Gase was hired I was not convinced he was the guy to do it (he did make me a believer very early on with his demeanor alone), I've never been so glad to be so wrong.

The most important part is suddenly players are buying in, players that are here want to stay here and FA's are now looking at this as a potential destination to compete in the postseason, rather than just a spot to soak up some sun and grab a ton of cash......This thing is FINALLY starting to turn around :brewskis:

Even college players that i've spoken with while getting autographs say they would love to come and play for Gase. Apparently this whole Gase movement isnt just known in the NFL circles..
College kids said they wanted to come here..Quincy Wilson and Tabor told me they wanted to come here before even mentioning I'm a die hard Fin Fan..
We could use either of those guys IMO
PHINS UP!!!
 
I would not call last offseason a great success by any means. We should have kept Matthews and Miller. No one knew Ajayi would break out so it ended up not costing us losing Miller but it was a dumb hole to open up to save a measley $1.5M. Plus we had to use a draft pick on Drake that could have been used on defense. The waste of picks to trade up for a #4 WR in Caroo was disgraceful. Another move that would not have been made if we kept matthews. So we would have had 3 extra picks last draft while keeping Matthews who is better than every WR on our roster maybe w the exception of Landry. Williams deal was awful and everyone knew it.

I know this will come off as negative and its not meant to be as I feel pretty good so far this offseason. But just bc we won more than expected last year it was far from a perfect year.
 
Even college players that i've spoken with while getting autographs say they would love to come and play for Gase. Apparently this whole Gase movement isnt just known in the NFL circles..
College kids said they wanted to come here..Quincy Wilson and Tabor told me they wanted to come here before even mentioning I'm a die hard Fin Fan..
We could use either of those guys IMO
PHINS UP!!!

I would love Quincy Wilson in the first round him and Xavien Howard could be a nice combo for years to come. Tabor may be an option in the second I like him too but he has some issues and I believe has a bust potential
 
Agree with most of what was said but in looking at OV's contract in comparison t what we are going to pay Branch - I've would have signed OV. I understand that this is after the fact but on average what you would be paying OV for his production is a whole lot better.

Vernon has 52 Million Guaranteed. Branch has like what? 20? That's a huge difference.
 
I would not call last offseason a great success by any means. We should have kept Matthews and Miller. No one knew Ajayi would break out so it ended up not costing us losing Miller but it was a dumb hole to open up to save a measley $1.5M. Plus we had to use a draft pick on Drake that could have been used on defense. The waste of picks to trade up for a #4 WR in Caroo was disgraceful. Another move that would not have been made if we kept matthews. So we would have had 3 extra picks last draft while keeping Matthews who is better than every WR on our roster maybe w the exception of Landry. Williams deal was awful and everyone knew it.

I know this will come off as negative and its not meant to be as I feel pretty good so far this offseason. But just bc we won more than expected last year it was far from a perfect year.

Can't disagree with what you are saying. We took some took some risk with the trade with Philadelphia and it worked in our favor. It could have very easily gone the other way. The Caroo pick is a waste even if he pans out. I hate using multiple picks for a player. Not worth it unless we are one single player away from elite. Which we haven't been in 2-3 decades. We can't waste picks.
 
I would not call last offseason a great success by any means. We should have kept Matthews and Miller. No one knew Ajayi would break out so it ended up not costing us losing Miller but it was a dumb hole to open up to save a measley $1.5M. Plus we had to use a draft pick on Drake that could have been used on defense. The waste of picks to trade up for a #4 WR in Caroo was disgraceful. Another move that would not have been made if we kept matthews. So we would have had 3 extra picks last draft while keeping Matthews who is better than every WR on our roster maybe w the exception of Landry. Williams deal was awful and everyone knew it.

I know this will come off as negative and its not meant to be as I feel pretty good so far this offseason. But just bc we won more than expected last year it was far from a perfect year.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you bro. Maybe WE didn't know it at the time but clearly Ajayi is a better RB than Miller and we would have never gotten a chance to know that if We had kept Miller. I don't think it was really the money with miller moreso than they just didn't believe he was that good. He's solid, but nothing special Like Ajayi can be.

We should have kept Matthews over who? Landry, Stills, Parker? Matthews wanted to be a #2 Receiver and he was not going to get that opportunity here so a guy like that you just have to let go. Caroo would have no problems being a #4 receiver being a rookie and all.... Matthews was NOT going for that and that is why we let him walk.

If Ajayi gets hurt.... are you comfortable with Damian Williams as our Starter RB? Because I'm sure as hell not. Drake has potential to be a Starting duel threat RB in this league and giving up a 3rd round pick for him is not bad. Could we have used a LB sure, but like the Miller Ajayi situation, sometimes you gotta see what the younger guys on your roster have. Now we know for sure those guys aren't good enough yet, so now we address the situation with a Vet and a Pick.

RIGHT NOW it looks like the Caroo trade was dumb and maybe it ends up being so, but I like the fact that they had an overall conviction between coaches and personnel guys about a player and did what it took to get him. I won't call the trade a disaster just yet, usually young WR's take a while to adjust to NFL like and maybe Caroo steps up. If not, it's still not a disaster as we recouped those picks with compensatories. Sometimes you gotta take risks to reap big rewards and sometimes those risks don't work out.
 
Can't disagree with what you are saying. We took some took some risk with the trade with Philadelphia and it worked in our favor. It could have very easily gone the other way. The Caroo pick is a waste even if he pans out. I hate using multiple picks for a player. Not worth it unless we are one single player away from elite. Which we haven't been in 2-3 decades. We can't waste picks.

I can't agree with that last statement, I honestly feel like Caroo was drafted in case Landry gets greedy and decides he deserves Antonio Brown, Julio Jones type money and a team out there is dumb enough to pay him that, Caroo was a similar player to Landry in college, tough, great hands, physical and very aggressive. Might have been a forward thinking pick.
 
When I first read this thread, I agreed with the OP. I decided to look at the 2018 and 2019 cap situation. I changed my mind, the OP is significantly understating how well we have done over the last two offseason.
 
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