Haha. I was waiting for someone to point that out. I do agree, but I think Billy Turner will do well, and another guard/depth can be found in FA and the draft. Offensive line will be important; I'm hoping they don't disregard that need.
Philbin seems to love Santana Moss, so I could see him as a WR5. I wonder what he has left in the tank. Greg Jennings would be a no brainer. I wonder how much he'll cost.
I'd like to get Greg Jennings here too, and draft another receiver in the second round. This draft is deep in receivers, if we can trade down and try to get a late first and a third round pick, we will be in position to draft one of them.. we can later use that third round pick we acquired bunch it with our second round pick to try to trade up in the early second round.
As much as I love Reggie Wayne, and really wanted to see us sign him when he resigned with Indy, I think he's done. Jennings would definitely be worth a look. But, I still want to see us look to the draft for a big WR that can go up and get the ball.
The best veteran WR on the market was Wallace and he had to be traded because he must have hurt Philbin's feelings. The Dolphins went from having one of the top WR corp in the NFL to one of the bottom with the moves they have made in the past few weeks. I think the trading of Wallace is going to turn out to be a terrible move. I would rather have kept Wallace and traded Philbin for a left over bagel.
What if I gave you a choice between Player A and Player B: Player A: 67 Catches, 862 Yards, 12.9 YPC Player B: 63 Catches, 931 Yards, 14.8 YPC One of these players is Mike Wallace. The other is Kenny Stills. Can you tell the difference? I bring this up because it's important to realize we should anticipate the same level of production from Kenny Stills, a player who is still on his rookie contract as we would Mike Wallace, a player we would have been paying 12 million dollars a year. That savings allowed us to go out and add Jordan Cameron, who should replace Wallace as a red zone threat, and also gives us financial flexibility moving forward. I'm not sure how this move makes us worse as a team. If anything, it's a lateral move with additional salary cap savings for future years.
A vet WR isn't a priority for me. I think Landry handles himself like a vet and will help provide that leadership aspect that I see as possibly the biggest value of bring in a vet WR. I would like to draft a WR b/c I see it as potentially a great class. I'd be loath to pass on any of White, Cooper, Strong, Smith or Agholor (at various points in the draft) if the opportunity arose. I just see them as great fits and with great potential. My FA priorities at this point are Clay, a G (ideally Mathis) and FS. In the draft and from UDFAs I'd like to add a WR, RB, CB, another G and another FS, ILB, QB (in no particular order).
The object of the game is to score. Wallace had ten TD's and Stills had three TD's in 2014. Wallace also was covered by the opposing teams top cover CB in every game and frequently he had two DB's covering him. Stills faced only man coverage and he wasn't the WR on the Saints who drew the coverage of the opposing teams top cover CB. I have no problem with the trade for Stills. I just think keeping Wallace along with Stiils and Landry would have been a lot better than trading Wallace. Stills had Drew Bree's, one of the top QB's and most accurate throwing him the football. Now he is going to have Tannehill. There is no comparison there. Also many people seemed to want to get rid of Wallace because of his so called negative attitude. Yet little has been made of the fact Stills was only available because Bree's didn't seem to want him on the team any longer. That should be a huge red flag, no matter how cheap he might appear to be in comparison to Wallace.
I am sick of the 10 touchdown things. Chances are Wallace wasn't going to get 10 touchdowns next year. It wouldn't be off he he got 6 or so. Now Miami has Cameron, they have a good end zone threat.
Nobody can argue that Wallace isn't a really good receiver. You also can't argue that Tannehill and Wallace were a good combination. How many incompletions did the offense force to Wallace? Check out Clay and Wallace's 2014 stats including games played, receptions, and 20yd+ plays. It took Wallace more games and more targets to get a single 20yd+ play over Clay. Consider that Wallace was paid a lot more, that's supposed to be his specialty, and Clay was playing injured all season. You also can't argue that you should value Wallace over Tannehill when Tannehill had a season like he had.
You can be as SICK as you want to, but facts are facts and he had more TD receptions than all but a few other WR's in the NFL last year. He probably would have had at least 5-6 more if Tannehill could actually throw a decent deep pass. How exactly do you know Wallace would not have had 10 or more TD passes next year if he stayed with the Dolphins? While I like the signing of Cameron. I also realize you can't base your red zone passing attack on a guy who is only one good hit to the head from retirement. I get it. You are glad Wallace is no longer on the Dolphins and you are happy with the receivers they have replaced him with. I just disagree with you.
I'm not debating that Wallace was overpaid for his production. I agree that you should expect more yardage production from someone being paid the type of money Wallace was earning with the Dolphins. Of course a lot of the lack of production yardage wise is the fault of Tannehill and his inability to hit Wallace when Wallace was several yards beyond the defensive backs. It also wasn't Wallace's fault that he was paid so much money to open up the offense with deep routes and yet ended up playing with a QB who couldn't take advantage of what Wallace was signed to do. I just feel he was the best WR on the roster and I hate to see him go. Especially when his biggest fault seemed to be that he upset the head coach and to me, it was the head coach who needed to be traded, not Wallace.
The facts are facts. He hasn't proven to be able to get 10 touchdowns a year as a Miami Dolphin. His first year as a Dolphin he had 5. How do you know he won't have 5 next year? I am fine with Wallace not being a part of the team. He was not worth the price Miami as paying for him. He was a deep threat who needed the perfect deep ball to be really effective. Also he isn't good in a timing offense. Put him in an offense like Detroit, he will do great. Also, all NFL players are one good hit from retirement.
Believe me, I do not care for Philbin AT ALL but I think you're looking at it the wrong way. You've gotta decide to roll with Tannehill or Wallace because they don't work well together. The front office chose Tannehill and I agree with them.
I agree Wallace wasn't a great fit for the Dolphins offense. Yet that certainly wasn't his fault. With that stated, I still feel he is better than any WR now on the Dolphins roster, but I will also agree he wasn't worth the money he was being paid simply because he didn't have a QB who could take advantage of what Wallace does best. The fact is he is now with the Vikings and a QB who will be able to get him the ball down field. I expect Wallace to have a great year with the Vikings. I just don't see a WR on the Dolphins at this time who is going to scare any opposing secondaries. I think trading Wallace is going to have a negative effect on the running game. Teams are no longer going to have to double team any of the Dolphins WR's and this will allow them to put more defensive players at the line of scrimmage to stop the run. While I agree with your statement that every player is one hit from retirement. The fact Cameron has suffered three serious concussions in the past two years makes him more of a threat to have his career ended by one more hit to the head than for those players who have not had a number of concussions in recent years.
Not according to Cameron's medical records and brain scans. He is not in more danger than anyone else. He hasn't gotten a concussion from a hit that wasn't a hit that would cause anyone to get a concussion. I will believe it when I see it. With Wallace having a better year with the Vikings. I expect Wallace to have a similar year. Maybe he will have 1,000+ yards, but less touchdowns. I don't believe Wallace scared opposing secondaries. They had to be cautious, but they knew that his routes were weak and he wasn't going to go up for the ball. He was single covered a vast majority of the time. I see it more that Wallace wasn't able to make most of the opportunities than Tannehill being unable to take advantage of Wallace. With other players Tannehill was fine with downfield passing, it was only Wallace he was terrible with. I also do not agree with the running game. That is mostly going to be the spread and how they work it. The running game was only super effective last year. Wallace was on the team the previous two years and didn't provide a running game boost. I also disagree that it wasn't Wallace's fault that he wasn't a great fit for the offense. He did work hard at improving being a timing wide receiver. His 2014 was a lot better than his 2013. However other than spending extra time on passing machines, he didn't spend extra time with Tannehill. Right now Landry and Matthews are working with Tannehill. Something Wallace never put the extra effort in. I would have preferred to keep Wallace, since he was still the best outside receiver on the team, however I am also fine with him gone. Stills was more effective than Wallace last year. I know people are attributing everything about Stills to Brees, but that doesn't explain how he was so effective in college as well. If Miami does resign Clay I think the entire offense will improve over last year.
I guess we just need to agree to disagree on Wallace. I do hope Stills is able to have success in Miami but you can't overlook the fact he played with Bree's and the Saints had one of the two best TE's in the league which opposing defenses had to be worried about on every play. I don't expect Stills to have as much yardage as he did with the Saints, but if he can get 500-600 yards in receptions, he will be a bargain at the price he is costing the Dolphins. I really don't care what the brain scans on Cameron might show. The fact is that it is not normal for anyone to have three major concussions in two years. To me,he is more at risk of getting another concussion which could severely affect his ability to continue playing football than other players who haven't had the same history of concussions. While he is a great signing if he can stay healthy. I do agree with you that the offense needs Clay next year just in case Cameron continues to miss games because of injuries. I hope the Dolphins will use the money they saved in trading Wallace to sign Clay to a new contract.
So lets say Stills has 500-600 yards with 3 to 6 touchdowns. If Tannehill still improves on his numbers from last season, that is a great return on investment. It is not normal for people to receive three HUGE head on collisions in two years. It is entirely possible that he goes through his entire career without another major concussion. It is not even improbable. Why can't I overlook that Bree's played with Graham and Brees and then overlook that Graham and Brees played with Stills?
I am not super worried. With bad chemistry with Wallace, poor fit in offense/losing trust with Hartline, losing quickness he didn't have/important drops with Gibson, injuries with Clay and a line who for half the season had trouble keeping him upright, Tannehill had over 4,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. Only positives really were Landry coming on and Sims stepping up. I guess I am not too worried with having too young of a wide receiving corp.
Because Brees and Graham are all pros at their position and Stills is just a young WR who is still attempting to get to that level. While I don't see Stills as an upgrade over Wallace. I certainly see Bree's and Graham as upgrades over the players who play QB and TE for the Dolphins. I guess it doesn't bother you that the Saints were willing to trade Stills because Brees didn't want him on the team anymore. It certainly sends up a red flag for me when a QB as well respected as Brees is fed up enough with a player that he tells the front office he no longer wants him on the team.
It doesn't bother me. I only like dealing with things I have knowledge of. Saints are getting rid of a lot of players. They got rid of Graham.
The Saints went into this off season with a desire to rebuild their team and to get out from under the salary cap hell they were in. By trading Graham, they picked up a quality offensive lineman and a first round pick, while also getting rid of one of the highest salaries against their cap. Since they are rebuilding, this trade made sense. Stills on the otherhand was a 22 year old WR who really counted very little against the cap. You would think that he would be the type of player they would want to rebuild around. The fact they were willing to trade him and Brees seemed to be behind getting rid of him does concern me. Supposely he loves to party and he is immature. Normally this is just the type player Philbin would want nothing to do with. The one thing I do like about the trade is it shows that Philbin really has zero influence over the type players Tannebaum wants to rebuild this team with. The less influence Philbin has in players signed or drafted, the better this team will be in the future, IMO. Perhaps Stills will act more mature after this trade. Much like Vontae Davis did once he was traded to the Colts. I am certainly not rooting for him to be a failure in Miami. I hope he is as good as advertised and that he comes in and makes me realize that he can replace Wallace with no problems. Right now though, I still wish Wallace was a member of the Dolphins and not the Vikings.
Just to inform you. There have been medical studies done which show that individuals who have had concussions in the past are more susceptible to concussions in the future than individuals who have never suffered a concussion. In fact the odds are three times higher for the individual who already had a concussion. It has to do with the chemical imbalance in the brain after suffering just one concussion. I have to assume the odds are even greater for someone who plays football and has already suffered three concussions in the past two years as Cameron has. I think if he can stay healthy, Cameron will end up being a great signing. I just don't have the same confidence you do that he can play next year without missing time because of his concussion history. That is also why I think the Dolphins bringing back Clay is an imperative for this offense next year.
That is the problem with this is that it is meaningless. So if the difference is .001% and .003% then it is 3 times higher. That isn't high enough to care.
It might not be enough for you to care, but the fact so few teams went after a TE as talented as Cameron is when he is healthy, shows that a lot of teams did seem to care about all the concussions he has suffered.
Ya and 32 teams passed on Tom Brady 5 times, and Russell Wilson twice. Ya it's a risk...nothing is a sure thing...may be a bit more risky than some teams would like, but it's not unheard of to be healthy and have success after a few concussions.
Stills, Landry, Matthews, Cameron, Clay, and a productive rookie will be more than enough if we're balanced on offense. Good OL, a good back to pair w Miller. If we're pass happy the way we've been the past two years teams like Buffalo and NY are going to choke us out.
