Jake Long gets clean bill of health from Dr. James Andrews

I want Jake back. A lot. But I don't want him making $10M+ a year. I'd be ok with a deal like what Beatty got, maybe even slightly more (like $8.5M per max).

 

totally with you Pete....

 

My only concern is that he finds the market low, but because we didn't show the type of loyalty he was expecting (my worry, I have no idea if he thinks this) he opts to take similar money elsewhere.

 

Has Jake's problem been one nagging injury - or a bunch of injuries that have piled up? I was under the impressions that he's had 3-4 injuries over the last 2 years to different parts of his body.

 

If Hartline's rumored to be getting $7M per year, I don't think Jake would come back for $8.5M per year.

 

It maybe juvenile but I am hoping the income tax relief and the familiarity sways him back...

 

Jake Long's injuries have been used a little too much as an excuse around here for his play, IMO.

It's really no coincidence to me that in Dan Henning's offense he was an all-pro, and under Dabbol/Sherman/Philbin, he's struggled to compete at anywhere near even a pro-bowl level.

 

It appears that Long really doesn't have much interest in returning to the Dolphins. In a recent interview he talked about wanting to play for a team that is a legitimate SB contender. It appears that he would rather take his chances with another team than stay in Miami with the rebuilding Dolphins.

The only way I see him returning to the Dolphins is if no other teams are willing to meet his contract demands and the Dolphins have the highest offer on the table. I think this is very unlikely, so I think the chances of Long being a Dolphin in 2013 is very slim.

 

I'm really not sure if health was Long's problem. He was consistently inconsistent. He didn't struggle with any one thing, he struggled with a bunch of little things. Blowing assignments , half-assed cut blocks, sliding off of run blocks, getting blown up on pulls by Shawne freakin Merriman.

 

Kind of opens up the conversation of whether some guys are more injury prone than others. On one hand - he's had several non-related injuries, so there is no reason to assume he'll get injured again.

On the other hand - he's had a ton of non-related injuries and you have to ask if that is a trend that will continue.

 

His wife has come out and said they would like to remain in Miami so I could see him giving the Phins a home town discount particularlly if the offer they made last year turns out to be inline or even higher than what teams end up offering this year. TBH his agent played this all wrong because he is now coming off an injury and hitting the market when there are a lot of tackle options both in FA and the draft.

 

Where did you hear that interview? In this one he says he would like to return:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...-its-essentially-on-them?campaign=Twitter_atl

 

Because when he was only above average in the beginning of 2011 and 2012, he had no injuries. Yet for some reason at the end of the season a lot of his struggles were put on that.

He was healthy in the beginning of those seasons. That's a fact

 

Agreed!

Long's a good LT in this league. But he's not what many think he is minus any injuries

 

I've already moved past Long in my mind. Sign Winston at RT, keep Martin at LT and let him grow there.

 

Don't NFL players have to pay income tax for each state they play in? I just thought that the income tax relief wasn't as big of a factor in the NFL.

 

Who in the world will give Long that much money? There are a lot of tackles on the market.

 

Combined with the guys coming up in the draft (at least 3 1st rnd type LTs) and the dearth of FAs that will be on the market, I don't see the payday for these LTs that Long and his people seem to think. The thing he has to put into perspective is a) we have a potential replacement for him on the roster (or at least the FO and Staff seem to think so) and b) he is coming off of not one, but two 'less-than-stellar' seasons. Those factors make it unlikely that Irish spends the $12m+ money on him...if he sees that and will move into that 'prove it' mode....fine...

 

Fair deal would be in the range between Beatty's deal, and Duane Brown's deal from last year, since Brown is now the best LT in the league.

 

After watching Martin get tossed around like a rag doll in that Pats game, I have zero interest in seeing him at LT.

 

With a Tackle heavy draft, Tackle heavy FA market, and our current RT better suited at LT, Jake Long is not worth 8.5 Million to us.

I stand firm at ~ 7 if I'm Ireland.

 

They get a state tax statement from every state they play in. When you are making 12 million dollars and 10 of you games do not have state tax on them plus your bonus money has no state tax on it, yes, its a big deal.

 

This. I touched upon some of his " issues " in another post but it was more then just injuries. Jake was no longer held high as the Holy Grail of the football team and it got to his head.

 

I want Jake back but at this point in time, its not happening. He wants to start fresh somplace else and wants to be on a team he knows is a winning team. I am guessing he is leaning towards the Bears.

 

It's certainly a shame to see our #1 overall pick go. Although, I don't know if he is best suited for the ZBS that they are now running. It's just disheartening to see all of our 1st and 2nd rounds picks leaving town. We need to change the culture here, and hopefully we are on our way to doing that. I think also it has a lot to do with the stability of the coaching staff. Correct me if I am wrong but Jake has been through 2 Head Coaches (Sparano and Philbin) and 1 interim head coach (Todd Bowles). Not to mention the changes in the offense he has seen in his time here. I am not trying to make excuses for him, however maybe going forward we will be better suited without him on the roster. Only time will tell what happens as its all speculation at this point.

 

Any connection to his heart not wanting to be here?

 

If you read the article it doesn't sound like Andrews actually examined anything but the tricep. He said he asked Long about the knee and Long said it felt great, better than ever. I'm not sure that counts as "doctor gives Long clean bill of health".

 

Here's the thing I'm trying to figure out, if you save that 10 mill a year against your cap and you lose a player of this caliber,you might wanna think hard about replacing him with a comparable talent in the draft which allows you to really improve your cap figure, the downside is you have to spend a high draft pick getting the comparable talent..

I think if he goes, then lets see what we can get for around 6 million for a right tackle on the market, or target a Menelik Watson in the latter part of the first round...

You can't just go into the season with Martin at Left and some average talent on the right, were gonna have to either spend in that 6 to 7 mill or move back into the first round to get a serious talent..

Martin scares the sh!$ out of me, I hope I'm wrong on that eval.

 

Big Jake Long fan here. So, it's great to hear he's 100% healthy. And yeah...I'd like to see him resigned, as he is one of the top 3-5 at his position when healthy. It would also negate (to a certain extent) the need to draft a OT high in the draft. BUT...I echo those that are concerned about signing him to a big money contract. It would have to be a contract with incentives, or written in a way that protects the Dolphins should he again go down due to injury.

IMHO, part of his perception (in terms of his market value) is skewed due to huge contract he got as a rookie (before rookie salaries were marginalized by the new CBA). So, I think he is going to test the waters of FA. And, unless a team jumps up and gives him what he is asking for, I think he will ultimately come to realize that his best option is to resign with the 'phins.

 

You will be able to get a very good tackle for $5M this offseason.

 

Hey, I'm with you.

I simply think given the situation at hand: paying a tackle 8.5 Million per year when you don't need to do so and can still get the same production is an inefficient use of resources.

 

The question isn't whether he *is* healthy; it's whether he can *stay* healthy. And you don't want to throw the kind of money he's wanting at an asset whose future health is a question.

 

I agree that the news here is mainly about Jake Long's triceps injury. Doesn't sound like Andrews looked at any of the other old injuries.

The question remains though, what is the evidence that Jake Long is too unhealthy to play well?

I don't know how much people put in store of PFF's ratings but this is literally the first year in his career in which they've graded him negatively...a -0.4 grade. And essentially one bad game against the Colts stood between him and a +5.1 grade.

He's learning a new system, a way of blocking he hasn't done as much of in 5 years since his college days. Can't this just be a little bit of growing pain from that? Does it have to be that he has a degenerative knee condition for which nobody has isolated any evidence of whatsoever?

 

Could it be that he was highly successful in Dan Henning's offense which called for him blocking the opposing RDE 1v1 a lot less often than in Dabbol/Sherman/Philbin's offense? And Henning's offense, which by your calculation and just by watching used the most blockers per pass play than any other team in the league

That's the way I see it.

Basically, I believe Jake Long in any given offense is closer to the player we saw the past two years rather than the player in 08/09. Injuries or not

 

Lets just try to remember how fast Jakes gets off the snap..faster than anyone in the league imo..damn I wish he would give us a discount for already givin him 50 mill by the age of 27.