For the record, I'm somewhat skeptical of the Mueller hiring. He carries risks, IMO.
THE UPSIDE
Nick Saban needed a guy to team up with who has experience managing the salary cap. Randy Mueller has the most extensive hands-on experience of any GM candidate available, and he has it in the role of a talent evaluator (as opposed to a contract negotiator, like Bryan Widmeier). Mueller's had all the juice before, if I'm not mistaken, so the guy knows what he's doing. That kind of thing could be key to Nick Saban's getting acclimated to the salary capped NFL.
The guy has also made some well-documented good decisions. He tossed the Ricky bomb off his ship before it blew, drafted his effective replacement in only one shot (some teams takes a few shots before you land the right dude). He made some decent decisions in both Seattle and New Orleans. He worked his way up in Seattle.
There is also a POSSIBILITY (I say possible, not necessarily probable) that the guy really wants to work his way back up to being the guy with all the juice, somewhere in some NFL city. So, he should work hard in Miami under Saban, do his homework, make good decisions, and then he'll get his shot again. By now he must know that after being interviewed and passed over so many times for the GM role, he's not going to get back into it by staying with ESPN.
THE DOWNSIDE
I don't think this is a guy Saban can trust, especially long-term. Mueller is a power-hungry type of GM candidate, and he's also very arrogant. So is Saban, mind you. They will eventually clash, Saban will overrule Mueller and Mueller will hate Saban for it. If Mueller makes good on working hard to shine up his reputation and gets the Dolphins some good talent, we had better let this guy go off to some other team because if he stays he will position himself for a power struggle with Nick Saban over final say and authority.
This smells of a desperation move by Mueller, to get back into the game so that maybe he makes a better candidate than he has been. As such, he could take it as a sign that he needs to work really hard, make himself attractive to other teams. Or, he could have just done it for the sake of being paid by an NFL team, and he won't be looking to work hard, at least not until he actually gets what he wants, his own NFL team to run how he sees fit.
All offseason Saban has been catching balls of lightning and hoping to use them the right way without getting burned. This smells like the same thing. Lets hope it doesn't blow up.
UNDER THE SURFACE
Randy Mueller interviewed for the Dolphins GM gig last offseason, when it was eventually given to Rick Spielman. He felt insulted, like he was just toyed with to pick his brain for ideas and then they went ahead and hired their own guy.
He was sort of right. The main thing to take from it is they picked his brain for ideas. It is similar in my business. If you are looking to hire a research analyst to cover healthcare stocks, you interview him and the first thing you may ask him is what stocks he likes right now and why. Similarly, they may have asked Randy Mueller what you like on the dolphins, what you like in the next draft, what you like in free agency or the trade market, what you would change about the Dolphins, and what you do not like out there in the market or draft.
I'm guessing he nailed some predictions pretty dead on. He made a big enough impression that they hired him so fast after Spielman left and none of us saw it coming.
Issues he may have nailed:
1. Ricky is a pothead and can't ever be trusted to lead a franchise
2. Wade Smith at Left Tackle is worst than a joke
3. Our interior offensive line was weak
4. David Boston should not be trusted to stay injury free and out of trouble
I'm guessing he nailed at least two or three of those. The biggest one could have been revealing that Ricky was a pothead and should not ever be trusted. Maybe I'm a little bit fuzzy on the whole timeline, but the marijuana thing started coming to a head I think only a little after we hired Spielman as the full General Manager, no?
The main thing to take, under the surface of this move, in my opinion is that Mueller felt taken advantage of after his interview with the Dolphins because the Dolphins picked his brain apart and I am guessing he gave us his best stuff, and then they went ahead and hired their own guy. If he is still willing to join the Dolphins, I am guessing it is because the Dolphins largely avoided his suggestions. If the Dolphins had stolen all his ideas while hiring their own guy, I doubt he would have accepted a job under Huizenga and Jones and company.
