i will go with 2d in the AFC and a WC birth with 10 wins ... with the potential to win a WC game, and who knows maybe more. i only wish that at least on paper, that our 'tough' part of the schedule was in the middle/latter half of the season - instead of right in your face. lots of new additions that will require time and snaps to get accustomed to each other ... so at least 2-3 weeks before hitting the likely playoff contenders would have been nice. the good news .... this team is built to win today! as well as 2-3 years down the road.
Our Defense should be top 10. The players we have brought in will get twice as many turnovers than last season. Just better players regarding playmaking and better hands. That will get us at least a few wins if our kicker can nail it as well. Our ST's are pretty solid. The rest is up to Tannehill. Im expecting 9 wins. If this team comes together and believes then who knows.
From the perspective of talent, someone has to have the final authority or tie breaking vote. It seems like we heard last year that one of the main reasons Fisher didn't want the Miami job was because Ireland had final say on personnel, and he wanted it to be a shared responsibility.
There is a lot more to it than simply identifying talent. There are guidelines established out of Ireland's purview. A good example of this was Tannehill's contract negotiations last year. For all we know, Jeff Ireland really wanted Eric Winston, but the contract he wanted violated what the Dolphins have established as best practice.
Of course you wouldn't be surprised, Cleveland's the equivalent of the 2012 Patriots according to you. I agree on the Fireland issue. It hasn't gone anywhere, it's still as stupid as ever.
Yes, it is a good haul of talent. But there's more at play than just what we did. I respect your freedom to exercise your rights.
And I respect your right to bash your own team while elevating their opponents to elite status. Maybe you're setting the bar low to avoid being disappointed later on, a simple "I'm scared" would suffice for that though. No need to get all algebraic with it.
All this optimism is from signing mike Wallace ? Here I thought we had finally found a young Qb to build around with a talented yound defense.
It's now going to depend a lot on Tanne and if they don't sign another T, which doesn't look likely, Martin as well. We were a couple of missed FGs away from the playoffs last year. That was with that receiving corps and their whopping 13 combined TDs. If Tanne slumps.......screwed!! There is no reason why he should slump. He has many better pieces around him and weapons at his disposal. If he can take a step up, then it's completely reasonable that we could get to the playoffs. With that said, at this point, it all looks good on paper. You can have better players, but it all has to click. This is where Philbin comes in, imo. I really like him. That's with me taking off the aqua colored shades. Having that more, cerebral, cooler type of coach, who has the ability to put his stamp and have more control or influence over the whole team, rather than the loud mouth, rah rah, BS type, is quite refreshing. Really glad they hired him. I think he could finally be the right man for the job. Many reasons to look up.
I don't believe I debated that. All I'm saying is that when it comes to players cut, or players signed, the buck stops with Ireland. There is not going to be some player that he doesn't want, that Dawn Aponte does, where she overrules him and signs said player.
Sure, but there could be a player he wants, but he can't sign because of company policy. He then ends up with his 2nd choice. Thats not necessarily what happens, but it is a very realistic possibility.
Company policy? What the heck would that even mean? Sounds like wild speculation to me. Perhaps he may want a player whose contract demands don't fit under the cap. Even though Aponte is the capologist, Ireland has a pretty good idea going in what contract parameters a given player needs to fit under. He has final say in player additions and subtractions, which is one reason why Fisher declined the offer to be head coach. It was even reported he said as much.
See Ryan Tannehill's holdout last year. The Dolphins policy is to not include offset language in rookie contracts. They're the only team that has a hard line policy on this. There was one first rounder that had this language. It was Ryan Tannehill, who didn't get into camp until he agreed to it. These are the type of policies that are likely established by people other than Jeff Ireland.
When it was on Hard Knocks it was clearly an Aponte thing. Ireland was clearly pissed about it. Ireland isn't going to think fifth year offset language is worth missed days in camp. If that ever became an issue it would mean Tannehill had failed. Ireland wouldn't survive that either way. The policy is out in place by someone who cares about the future to a high degree.
No, my point this entire time is that nobody knows exactly. People are suggesting that Ireland has final say on everything related to football. There is evidence to the contrary.
It was widely reported. In fact there were a number of posters that lambasted the front office for insisting on such a minor issue that no other first round pick agreed to.
[video=youtube;ien21zkQ1sI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ien21zkQ1sI[/video] Yo, watch this play at 1:56..watch everything he does on this one play, the range and Angles from beginning to end are incredible.watch it twice..watch him leave your screen then come back..what a freak.
Ireland does have final say on personnel. There is evidence to support this, which has been mentioned.
Sure, on that one point. My main issue is that Ireland does have final say on personnel. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous to me, and someone looking to argue just for the sake of arguing.
Considering what we know about the Tannehill situation, I don't see how we can assume that Ireland can sign anyone he wants?
Whether he has final say or not, he, along with others, should be held accountable if they underachieve this year. You can't hold the FO up to be the great offseason bringer of talent, and say they're not accountable if things go south.
For drafted players yes. For free agents and re-signings, he can't acquire unless there's a contract agreement. If Aponte held out Tannehill, it's very possible she has prevented other players from being signed all together. Its possible that Jake Long wasn't re-signed because Aponte required certain protections for the team he wouldn't agree to. The converse to this is that it's very possible Jeff Ireland is receiving the totality of credit for accomplishments that he isn't 100% responsible for.
I would honestly be shocked to learn that he did not have the authority to override Dawn on any issue. If he felt RT had to be in camp on a certain day then I think he would of intervened. The fact that he did not override a member on his staff does not mean he cant. He most likely agreed with her or trusted her judgement of that issue so he backed her on it.
Jeff Ireland has final say on all personnel moves. Adding or subtracting. Period. There are no other possibilities.
The holdout was over such minutiae that its hard to believe Ireland thought it was worth missing any days of training camp. Either way, I don't think it would even be wise to give Ireland authority to override Aponte. There needs to be an apparatus in place to constrain his effect on the franchise over the long-term. The holdout was over such an insignificant dollar amount, that most likely was part of a long-term systematic strategy. That isn't the type of strategy you want your GM making decisions on.
If our Defense isnt top 10 with Jordan, Ellerbe, Wheeler, Grimes, Taylor, Davis (depth), Jenkins who may supplant Misi, our D front line which is seriously good and Jones making the Pro Bowl which im expecting then we have failed imo. All the talk is about the Offense and giving Tannehill weapons but our Defense (on paper) has got better to the point of game changing. I love my Defense so im a bit biased but the fact im looking forward to seeing this unit play and my confidence and expectations are elevated this season. Weve got playmakers, youth and speed. About time!