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Zach Thomas' Replacement...

Leave Zach Thomas as the starter the guy has a nose for the football and let moore and pope continue to learn from the best.
 
I think when it comes down to it, if we want to be honest, everyone in professional football is selfish. Its the nature of the beast. Yes, Thomas has restructured his contract, but hey, he wants to be in Miami with JT, and lets not forget that restructured contracts, for players of his caliber, really only mean a smaller cap number because of a large signing bonus. So, lets not be too sentimental about his restructuring "sacrifice" he's made over the years. Do I think the guy has heart, yes. Do I think the guy loves this team, yes. Do I think he would leave if offered more money elsewhere, no. But to say that his reasons for not leaving are not selfish would be self deception. He wouldn't leave because of his own reasons for wanting to be in miami, which I doubt have anything to do with the fans or the greater good. Wanting to win a SB with JT, PS, and Madison is selfish in its own regard. But, I love the guy and I hope he retires a Fin and we retire his jersey.
 
NJFINSFAN1 said:
ErroneousFlint said:
what if this happens:

ZT suffers career ending injury. with no restructure soon as possible (his lower body has taken a beaten this year alone, at least three injuries that i know of, including a hip) we owe him money if he gets hurt, and cant play, right?

surtain wont be here after next year. some say he's not here next year. but with one more year, we can afford to take the hit as we lose surtains salary as well.

why wouldnt one draft pick or maybe one this year one next year be worth losing zt?



we dont need ZT. if he's not there, somebody else will make those tackles and yes, right now, its pope.

QUOTE]

WHAt is he got a career ending injury??? That is the silliest thing I ever heard, you can say that about any player on the field, I guess we should trade them all then :confused:

And right now Pope is not making all the tackles. The head coach even said he is missing a lot up the middle and is better suited for Strong side LB, not middle. Again, as Bates said, he is no Zach Thomas!
its silly for mew to argue with anyone here. you guys have a hard-on for zach and i simply started something that i cant seem to live down. lets keep it simple: if any player displays negativity, to me, its a red flag.

if you and i mean you personally, are part of my payroll, i will find any reason to praise you yet i will limit thenm to times when i believe it will do best for your future performance.

of course you are a veteran and have been around for a while with the company.

if i ever hear first-hand, you have said that you will not work as hard if .... if anything, youve just raised a red flag and if i wanna go forward with a new direction, away from a defeatist attitude, youre trash, maybe not tomorrow but i will figure out how i can do it legally, especially if you have so much impression on newer players.

now, if you go outside of the companya nd open your mouth, like a Knight or a Mcmichael, i'll way your worth and still, i will send you a message. then i'll wait to see how you respond.

now, at this point, who knows how ZT's attitude is? so i have backed off for now how i think of him, although pope is my future, as is bua, as is moore, as is anyone we get in that draft who fits my plan. this is how i look at it so im no longer gonna argue any obsession this has turned into (mine) i would rather talk about Zach's present attitude. so to you and everyone else, rest easy and do not fear. your beloved ZT is still there on the sidelines, drinking gator-aide.

god forbid a team decides to make a bad PR move and succeed from it.
 
MY feelings are this. I think next year we go into the starts of the season with a starting linebacking corps of Greenwood, Thomas and Moore. I think Pope, Bua and Ayanbadejo are the primary backups and special teams aces. Moore has shown enough to me that I think it warrants Seau going elsewhere, perhaps back to San Diego to finish his career.

The money saved on promoting Moore and getting rid of Seau should then be spent on offense. Whether that means bringing in a stud LT or a top notch running back, I don't know. I just want the money to be spent on offense. I think Sammy Knight will be gone also. Yeremiah Bell is getting his tryout this year and looks to be doing ok so far. The money we save by getting rid of high priced veterans for homegrown young cheap talent should all be turned over to help the offense.

Personally, on defense, I would like to keep the following people:

1. Jason Taylor
2. David Bowens
3. Dario Romero
4. Larry Chester
5. Bryan Robertson
6. Zach Thomas
7. Eddie Moore
8. Morlon Greenwood
9. Tony Bua
10. Derrick Pope
11. Brandon Ayanbadejo
12. Pat Surtain
13. Sam Madison
14. Yeremiah Bell
15. Arturo Freeman
16. Wil Poole
17. Jimmy Wyrick

Based on this list, it seems to me we will need another big DT to go along with Chester to plug up the middle. Romero and Robertson should rotate in on passing downs imo. We would also need some safety depth and probably another cb for depth purposes. I would like to see Reggie Howard out of town as well. The linebacking corps seems solid and I see really no reason to add or sbtract to what we alreayd have, other than Seau.

What do you guys think?
 
Pericles349 said:
Let's hear some opinions. Lets make two BIG assumptions and go from there:
1. Lets assume Pope turns out be an ok LB from the few opportunities he gets in these games and next season's preseason.
2. Lets assume Moore continues to develop the way he has been.

How soon do you think the Fins will replace Thomas and who do you think they should replace him with? Pope, Moore, or someone else??

Personally, I think we should still get a solid three seasons out of Thomas and then promote him to head coach...
I believe Zach is around 31 and I think 3 more seasons is reasonable. His body has taken quite a pounding and he seems to hurt his shoulder and hamstrings/hips a lot, but he plays hard even when he is hurt. I think Zach would make a great defensive coach someday. Zach is still the leader of this team, and I wear my #54 jersey with pride. I think Pope is doing a decent job, but he is not in on as many tackles as Zach is. I'd like to see Bua play at LB and get more reps.
 
ErroneousFlint said:
history of man proves that when something gets old you replace it with something younger. those who do the opposite die before their time.
I know this was an attempt at philosphical insight. However, it's uneven. By this I mean it doesn't really make sense in it's relationship to football. So if we dont replace Zack soon he will die an early death? It's certainly not the reason your boy Jim Morrison died early.
 
Uggykurky said:
I know this was an attempt at philosphical insight. However, it's uneven. By this I mean it doesn't really make sense in it's relationship to football. So if we dont replace Zack soon he will die an early death? It's certainly not the reason your boy Jim Morrison died early.
Didn't Jim choke on his puke in Paris??
 
RevRick said:
I could be wrong, but I seem to remember a number of times over the past several years when Thomas has restructured his contract to open up CAP room. I remember a lot of times when he has left virtually everything on the field for the team. And I remember a lot of years when he was the one who fired up the defense. Now mind you, this is only an observation - but your remarks about his selfishness when he is quoted as wanting to win every game in which he plays seems to me to be based on one comment, probably out of context, in, if I recall, one interview. That is, at the most, a very small sampling of data (which could very well have been uttered during a time of complete frustration with the way this season has regressed) upon which to base any formulation of a person's makeup when compared to his complete body of work for this team. Thus, I would have to conclude that continuing to propose that his "selfishness" in wanting to win (which most competitors do, no matter what situation they are in!) seems to either be remarkably biased against Zach Thomas, or remarkable ignorant.
Well thought out. Good post RevRick.
 
I think that Zach Thomas is still playing at a very high level. He is helping the younger guys not only by example but by spending hours with them in the film room teaching them tendancies, schemes and to me that is going beyond what he has to do. He does it because he loves this team and wants to help the younger guys get up the learning curve. Other teams have to gameplan for Zach just like they have to for Jason Taylor. He's a probowl middle linebacker and nobody gives more effort. When his career ends I predict he ends up in the Hall of Fame. EF, if you're dying to make a trade lets offer Fiedler to the Steelers for Big Ben. Now that's a trade I could get behind. Simple truth, Zachs' not ready for the scrap heap just yet and I wouldn't worry to much about comments made by a player after a heartbreaking loss. The guy has a ton of pride and we've been getting beat to **** all year. That can't be easy for a guy that's used to winning.
 
ErroneousFlint said:
I think I'm probably the most vocal in this forum on doing whatever you can to get something for zach thomas. i cant say releasing him is a good idea but its something i cant shake - my perception of zach thomas's selfishness and battered body. yes, i do see three digit numbers in the total tackle column. i also see sammy knight second with total tackles but this doesnt mean that you re-sign the dude to anopther multi-year contract. sheet, not even another year. i saw you restricture ZT's contract or ask him to first. if he decides that his best interests come first, then you work withhim in order to futher his best interests with anotehr team and try to grab a pick come april from it. i dont care about you whiners and know-it-alls when it comes to the cap and all of you sentimentalists, find a girl to have a crush on. our defense with zach and his big money, can follow his defeatist attitude to more losing seasons. we should stick to developing our team through the drafts and lose some of the vets. i am not talking about surtain or madison and definitely not JT. JT would be the last to go and no, JT and ZT arent linked at the shorts.
you bring in the right guy at president or GM and i say ZT is a goner.

good thread by the way.

Sorry I am late replying to this thread but would you please explain where in the world you came up the ideal that Zach has a defeatist attitude.
On contract resturcturing, Zach has restructured his contract every year since he resigned in 1999.
When has Zach not given his all for the Dolphins?
 
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