I thought this from the beginning, but the pillar of defense comment was bait to get a team like Atlanta to jump up for Dorsey.. Although, my whole theory on Jake Long negotions being a ploy to get someone to jump up didnt exactly come to fruition..
naw... I dont agree with that. I think it was just a mistake by Ireland. He was just using it as a figure of speech, or a... generalization. Simply saying... you want him to be an outstanding player. I dont think there was anything more to it than that... Either way I guess it doesnt really matter anymore
Yeah I thought it was just a gaff. Then again maybe hes a really good actor heh. Im a little surprised KC didnt bother trying to trade up (that we know of). Long would have been a phenomenal fit for them as well. Ah well, at least this way we wont be left with a "WHAT THE ****" expression like last year when we passed on Quinn lol, great pickup for us.
One thing to keep clearly in mind. Nothing and I mean NOTHING the new regime does is going to be predictable. Get used to it folks. Whether by ruse or buy plan..or by stitches or crook.. they are gonna find a way to gett er dun...
To be honest, I think it was just a slip up. I don't think he even realized he said "defense". But maybe it's just me.
I think sometimes we tend to overthink things and look for smoke where there is none. Sparano said in his PC that it was always Jake Long and that they never wavered from that.He said that watching his game tapes convinced them early on. This is a regime that gets straight to business without all of the hype .The PC was short and to the point.It was only the inane questioning of the press that stretched it out a bit.
How about we twist it. Jake Long will be a Pillar to Defenses more like it, they won't be able to move him!
Unlike many in this thread, I entirely think his slip was intentional. I said so when it happened and I still think so. The Phins knew they wanted Long *unless* someone made a great trade offer. That wasn't going to happen unless they drummed up some more interest and eagerness from those sitting below them. I believe they knew the main trade bait were the Defensive players like Dorsey, so Ireland let the public and media think we were eyeing them to see if it could shake up other teams eyeing them and get a trade moving. Also.alternately, contract talks with long were still not done and this was a nice way to remind Jake he did not HAVE to be the pick... a little nervousness over your potential employer maybe NOT hiring you is often enough to make you accept that job offer as is instead of pushing for more. I'm sure many will laugh this off as ridiculous. As conspiracy theory crap. Those are the same sort of people who ridiculed me a couple years ago for making statements like, part of the Pats signing Heath Evans probably was to pick his brain about the Dolphins playbook, getting valuable info at the beginning of the season which would help the Pats in two games against us. Oh, how LUDICROUS!!! they cried. How PARANOID!!! Football coaches don;'t GO through those sorts of lengths or elaborate efforts to get an advantage! If they sign a guy just cut by a division rival, it's only because of his ability. Well, hey... I'm sure a player needs to be able to contribute physically.. but the package of competitive info they possess is ALSO very attractive. Is it so hard to believe now, that these football men go through such lengths behind the scenes to get an advantage.? To try to win? Heck, at this point the behind the scenes stuff is just the fourth "phase of the hame". Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Corporate Espionage/Intel. Maybe now, after revelations of spygate and taping and cheating people will start to soften their stance that "C'mon, football guys don;t do that stuff on purpose. They don;t care about any of that off the field stuff." Is it so hard for people to fathom that in the win now or get the guillotine NFL... in a league build from the slabs of male competitive ego, that these men will do EVERYTHING to finagle advantages? Jeez, I bluff and fake when I play poker for five DOLLARS with my buddies as we eat cheezies in a basement and THESE guys, with businesses worth up to a BILLION dollars on the line (Dolphins value) wouldn;t go through that kind of trouble? I think it's somewhat naive, to be honest, to believe that there is not a boatload of maneuvering, chicanery and otherwise going on, ESPECIALLY with the draft. So, yes, I find it hard to believe people are swallowing that Ireland somehow made a slip in the most important press conference of his life to date, in the highest stakes game of poker he had ever played, and being a guy who does NOT strike me as easy to rattle or make nervous.... especially when the timing of the press conference gave him everything to gain by making that slip... lighting a fire under potential trade partners interested in defensive prospects... lighting a fire under Jake Long and his agent. I respect Ireland more than ever for selling the world on that slip. Or, maybe I'm just paranoid. Either way, I know you're just out to get me. Bpk
I too tend to think it was intentional, but one thing bothers me. If the trifecta was trying to drum up trade interest, why not wait until Saturday to sign JL? This would give the would be traders more time to make an offer. Announcing the signing right after the other presser kind of limits any trade offers. And I doubt they trade Jake now, that would be embarassing after having his family here for the announcement.
Well, to borrow your poker night, what the Dolphins did was check before going all in. No raises, no bluffing. I think it was a slip of the tongue pure and simple. This team isn't about subtlety anymore, it's about being as straightforward and direct as possible. Unfortunately, I think it's a strategy that will backfire on them both on the field and off.
Well lets face it, Jake was not very many dolfans first choice. You do not want a repeat of last years Quinn/Ginn debacle, so announcing the signing before the draft and giving fans some time to get used to the idea is the smart play IMO.
What makes it official ?? Because they selected Long ?? Big deal, when he made that statement there was no contract agreed on yet ?? I don't agree that just because he said that, it was a ruse...in fact, it might have been a ruse to get CAA and Long to make a decision of some sort ?? Look, lots of things could have caused that 'Freudian slip' as it is now called, but that doesn't mean one way or the other that it was done purposely.
I actually thought it might have been aimed at Condon, Jake's agent. Meaning maybe the talks had stalled & Jeff sent a message to Condon with the "slip". Condon gets message, Jake signs. So goes my conspiracy theory. Not very good, but it was interesting. Seems our boys knew who they wanted, and went out & signed him, simple as that. No intended message, no smokescreen, just signed who they wanted, who'd have thunk it?
True. I think it would have made more sense to wait until Friday. That said, the phins obviously assessed the trade landscape and decided there were zero viable trades on the horizon at number one. however, everyone agrees that at #32 there are SURE to be some teams wanting to trade up and nab 1st round talent that has fallen. by getting this pick out of the way entirely, the front Office can now focus fully on the pick that DOES have a lot of trade potential for us... as well as assessing the value of players who might fall that far. Another thought: the Dolphins (and every team) has their best chance to negotiate with leverage BEFORE drafying a player. With the threat of NOT getting picked #1 (and therefore losing much fame and endorsement money too), most players will not threaten hold-outs for more money, obviously. Once you pick that player, you lose your main leverage: the threat of NOT choosing them unless they play ball. It's like going to a job interview. Before that employer hires you, you negotiate a salary. If the employer lets you know (or think) that there are other good candidates they're considering, you simply aren;t as likely to push for more money in salary negotiations as it might cost you the job. However, if they hired you first, THEN tried to negotiate salary, you would be in a position of greater leverage to demand more money. The dolphins were smart to lock Jake up before picking him. hether they should have waited until Friday, or Saturday morning to announce/sign it is a valid question. Bpk
Aaaah! The PR angle! lol. I hadn't thought of that one!!! That's good. Seriously, though, i don't think Parcells, Ireland or sparano give a crap what the public thinks of their decisions. It's part of why I respect them. Unlike Cam, who acted like the geeky kid at the prom who just *knew* the girl was gonna say no if he asked her to dance, and was scared to death of the prospect. This year we WON"T be hearing any inane, moronic blatherings like, "Hey, your thumb should be pointed *this* way!" -mimes jabbing it up his arse- Bpk
