It's definitely possible. I don't think that will happen if we resign Long. If not, it's a different story. On a roster with so many holes, I can't see a justification drafting a tackle with a top pick when the chances of him starting are slim. Who knows what will happen.
Signing an often injured LT who struggles. That doesn't help us. What makes you think we might not let him test FA and the market? If someone puts a pile of cash in front of him let him walk. I'm still not impressed with Jake Long.
Did you ever play tackle? The old saw is that the only time an offensive lineman gets his name mentioned is when something goes wrong. That's because it's the only time we ever notice them. Former lineman just love to hear all the experts pontificate about how bad someone is, or how easily they can be replaced. They are usually wrong!
While I think Long was the best LT in the NFL during his first three years in the league. His play has diminished quite a bit over the pat two years. The one benefit of him being placed on injured reserve is that this will give the coaching staff the next four weeks to see if Martin can be an effective LT in the NFL. If Martin has success at LT, I think it will be difficult for the Dolphins to pay an often injured Jake Long, a huge sum of money for next season and beyond. The only way I see the Dolphins having an interest in signing Long to a large contact or possibly putting the franchise tag on him next season is, if Martin just shows over the next four weeks that he isn't ready to be a LT in the NFL. Therefore IMO, Long's future in Miami is totally related to how effective Martin is at LT over the remainder of the season.
Well... if we franchise tag him, that's only a one year deal and what do we have after one year? The last player we tagged (Soliai) signed a 2 year deal only and Paul had no injury history. I think we could draft a tackle early who also could play guard, since we have potential holes there too.
Yes, decent. Culver was basically a Nickel substitute and played pretty well for an extended period of time here.
I could care less about Ireland (not for or against him) but if he lets Starks go and resigns Long I will firmly be on the Fire Ireland bandwagon
It's my hope that Jonathan Martin plays much better on the left side than expected. I like Jake Long. He's a really good player when he's healthy, but he's never healthy. If Miami can find they can live without Jake Long, it really opens up a ton of options in FA. We can find a RT - veteran in FA or draft one with a mid-round pick. However, I'd love to use that money we would have allocated to Jake Long and attempt to sign a big time WR that may be available. If the FA pool dries, then I'm content using that money towards Jake.
