I hate the way Jeff Ireland does things. He's wishy-washy. He piddles and putters. Be decisive. They should have had things together and set. The "toying" with this free agent and that is ridiculous. They should have had a plan and a deadline and known, "these are the guys we want." Sign Winston at OT. That settles RT and LT and they can work on shoring up the interior. It's a no brainer. Sure the Manning deal is up in the air but it's pretty obvious that ship sailed after the Denver trip and now for sure after the Tennessee visit - though another team may swoop in, the Dolphins are likely the 4th choice. They are done here. Move along. Go after Flynn or not! DECIDE. If he's the next best thing and the coach wants him, then sign him. If he's not, then make him a low offer to compete and be done with it.
I'm not an Ireland fan by any means so I'm just playing a little bit of the devil's advocate here but,.... Are we sure we didn't lowball Flynn? Maybe the offer we made was one that if he took was advantageous to us. I'm starting to think that our reasoning is if we can't get Manning we'd be happier with Tannehill or Wheeden in the draft. If you like both prospects you know you will get either one or the other.
How do you know we haven't been trying to sign Winston and maybe the negotiating is still ongoing? You're making assumptions based on no real evidence. And if they truly believe Manning is the best choice, then why the hell would you seriously negotiate with Flynn? especially when the demand for him is so little. If he was truly regarded as "the next best thing" then they would have been more aggressive. IMO, they see him as a slight upgrade over Moore, so why the rush?
First, this has been the MO for Ireland since he has been here - dabble, toy, show some interest but then sign the marginal starter or re-sign a few of their own. Teams the really want a guy don't let him go. The Dolphins dabble in free agency. Second, there's a 3.08% chance of Manning signing with us. That ship has sailed. The problem is just "dabbling" with others. Ireland's MO has continually been to toy around and notoriously floats around.
To your 2nd point, you're assuming that Ireland is on island by himself. Corporations don't operate like that. I can equally speculate that Ross has told Ireland to make sure to explore every possibility of getting Manning before moving onto Flynn. Because NONE of us here are aware of the actual working relationship between Ireland and his BOSS or his former boss (parcells), all these generalizations are almost meaningless IMO.
I am no fan or Ireland either and Ross should have paid attention to that Fire Ireland banner that flew over dolphin stadium. Theres no way Manning will sign with Dolphins. Somebody in their wisdom thought meeting Manning for five hours in Indy was an awesome idea, then most likely that same person made the Marshall trade happen. Despite what Marshall did or not did the whole trade thing put Miami in a negative light, Manning would be a complete idiot to sign on with the front office being run by Circus clowns. Until Ross grows a set and gets rid of Ireland the Dolphins will remain a laughing stock of the Nfl with continuing egg on its face.
It keeps getting better, Da Fins: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...t-Moore-George-Costanza-Jennifer-Lopez-032012 lol.
