Dolphins Gab

The National Football Post reports that the Fins were too cheap to land either safety Antrel Rolle or Ryan Clark, as both said they didn’t pay enough:

Now that Antrel Rolle and Ryan Clark have signed with the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively, both are speaking out and saying the Dolphins were unwilling to pay them top dollar. Rolle signed a five-year, $37 million deal with the Giants. “The budget that they were willing to spend on a saftey was a little bit lower than what I was looking for,” Rolle told WQAM radio, per the Palm Beach Post. “Miami would have been nice just for the fact that it’s home. But I don’t think anyone would sell themselves short just to stay in their hometown, especially when you have someone like the Giants making such a great offer and giving me such a great opportunity.” And Clark told Fox 31 in Denver that the Dolphins’ offer didn’t meet his expectations. “It came down to the inability for us to agree on a deal,” Clark said. “They offered what they thought was fair, but in the end I didn’t agree.”

The Dolphins have re-signed nose tackle Jason Ferguson to a new contract, though the details of the deal have not yet been released.

This move is curious because now the Dolphins do not necessarily have to break their backs to get a nose tackle in the first two rounds.

Ferguson is suspended for the first eight games of the season, but can still participate in all offseason activities, training camp, and pre-season games. Once Week 1 starts though, that is when Ferguson’s suspension starts to take in effect.

The Dolphins will no doubt have Ferguson ready for the stretch run, and having a healthy Ferguson down the stretch preparing for the playoffs, may end up to be a good thing for the Fins, instead of having old Ferg banged up from all of the wear and tear from earlier on in the season.

First reported by the Miami Herald, newly re-signed quarterback Chad Pennington has talked to Bill Parcells, and will be the Dolphins 3rd string quarterback this year, lining up behind Chad Henne, and Tyler Thigpen, who will be the 1st and 2nd string quarterbacks respectively.

When Pennington met with Bill Parcells on the day after his conversation with Warner, they came to the mutual decision that Pennington would likely enter training camp as the third quarterback in the rotation for repetitions behind both Henne and Tyler Thigpen.

It’s a move that will allow Thigpen to continue developing as a No. 2 quarterback (he’ll get more repetitions in camp), while also allowing Pennington to make a full, patient recovery from last year’s shoulder surgery.

This is interesting to say the least. Pennington has said that he has a five year plan that he carefully developed, and the beginning of that plan is to spend the first year as Miami’s 3rd string quarterback, and rehabbing his shoulder, while mentoring young Chad Henne at the same time. This can only help Henne for his future, and development as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Are you noticing any missing names from that list of quarterbacks above though?

Pat White, who was the 2nd string quarterback this year is vacant from the list. This is bewildering to me, because not only are you forcing a guy who got physically punished last year, to either line up at running back, where he would get killed in between the tackles, slot receiver, where he would get obliterated over the middle, or kick/punt returner, where he would get killed on every return.

This move confuses me, and makes me think that this is yet another wasted 2nd round pick in the history of the Dolphins in the past couple of years.

There is no room for White on the roster at this point, and if they were to choose to line White up at running back, this would force them to release one of the four running backs already on their roster. Most likely it would be promising Lex Hilliard. The Dolphins staff is in love with Patrick Cobbs, and Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are the co-starters at the RB spot.

The Dolphins are putting themselves in a difficult predicament here, and it all started dating back to draft day last year when the Dolphins selected White with their first of two second round picks.

There is seemingly no room for White on the roster, and at this point, it is limiting what they can do in the draft.

Pretty soon the Dolphins are just going to have to face the music, and cut their losses with White.

Unless he can gain15-20 pounds this off-season, and proves himself at another position, I do not see him staying on with the Dolphins.

It appears that the Dolphins were used for leverage by free agent safety Ryan Clark, who was believed to be interested in coming to the Dolphins.

Clark and the Dolphins met early today, and there were many questions on why the deal was not done right away if Clark was so interested in being in Miami.

Well, now we know.

I feel both a mixture of disbelief, anger, and hysteria.

This leaves the Dolphins in such a disarray at the free safety spot. Not only do I feel like I was led on by Clark, but can you imagine how mad Bill Parcells, and the rest of the Trifecta are right now to know that they were just bait all along!

The Dolphins now continue their quest in finding their new starting free safety for the 2010 season.

They could always stand pat with Chris Clemons, or they could re-sign Gibril Wilson, and retstructure his deal to make it Dolphins friendly, with Wilson taking less money, and making the deal short term.

The Fins could always draft Earl Thomas, the ballhawking safety from Texas as well, but that would require using their #12 pick on something other than a defensive tackle.

The other option is going out into free agency, and finding someone to sign, although there is currently nobody in the free agent pool that has the ballhawking skills of Thomas, and no one in the pool has the coverage skills that happen to be better than Wilson’s. So we might as well just re-sign Wilson, and hope for the best.

After all, this will be his second year in the Dolphins system, and his second year playing free safety in the Fins system as well.

Our choices are cut short at this time, and by the time April comes around, we may have no other choice but to restructure Wilson’s deal.

The Dolphins had a busy weekend to say the least, with rumors swirling everywhere on the who the Dolphins may, or may not sign. So let’s break this down, and take it nice and easy, so we can enjoy every bit of this celebratory post, on the guys that the Fins let go/signed.

Signed Free Agents:

• Karlos Dansby: This is the Dolphins guy. They went out and got who they wanted, and actually, did not even let him leave their training facility when he came down for the official visit. Dansby is 29, in his prime, and is going to be the man of the defense for years to come, and can both drop back into coverage, and stuff the run at the point of attack. Great sign!
• Chad Pennington: Even though the Dolphins only re-signed CP10, I still count this as a great sign for the Fins. Pennington will be sitting behind starter Chad Henne, and is willingly taking a backup job, so he can stay down in Miami, and not move his family, and mentor young Henne for the future. Unlike what people say, I do not think there will be much of a quarterback controversy if Henne stumbles along the way. Pennington will shoot that down too quick.

Releases:

• Joey Porter: We knew this move was coming for weeks. Porter was just not producing, and towards the end, was a major disruption to the locker room. At this point in his career, the only thing he could have provided for the Dolphins was trouble.
• Gibril Wilson: Wilson was just dead weight. The Dolphins were believed to be making a run at free agent Antrel Rolle, so they simply cut Wilson loose. Wilson’s problem was not that he was a game changer, it was just that he was making all of these game changing plays for the wrong team! The Dolphins have a gaping hole at the free safety position now, but pretty much anything is better than “Gerbil”.
• Akin Ayodele: Ayodele was serviceable for the Fins the past two years, but with the acquisition of Dansby, there really was no need for the unwanted salary. It was rumored that the Fins were looking to dump either Ayodele, or backup Reggie Torbor. They chose Ayodele.

The One Who Got Away:

• Nate Jones: Jones is the latest member of the Dolphins secondary in the last two years to sign with the Denver Broncos. This weakens the depth in the secondary sufficiently, and also in the special teams as well. The Dolphins will now have to search over the next two years solid depth for the secondary unit.

Rumors:

• Ryan Clark: The former free safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers is making a visit down to Miami as we speak, and reportedly, “does not want to leave”. Clark also said that Miami is where he wants to be, and that is why he made Miami his first visit. It’s up to the Fins on whether they want him as their starting free safety for the 2010 season or not.
• Jason Ferguson: It was reported today that Ferguson will be suspended for the first 8 games of the season, for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drugs policy. Ferguson is a free agent, and will most likely not be coming back to Miami. Ferguson has said that he will only play for the Fins this year, so he will probably retire after this saddening escapade.

Still Left To Re-Sign:

• Jason Taylor: JT’s one year deal has expired, and it’s up to the Fins to re-sign him. JT does want to come back to Miami, it is only a matter of the Dolphins front office wanting him as well. The Dolphins badly need another pass rusher, so I fully expect Taylor to be back in Miami for one more year at least.
• Anthony Fasano: The Dolphins starting tight end is tendered for a 2nd round pick, so this should give the Dolphins all the time in the world to re-sign him. Fasano is a respectable tight end in the NFL, and suffered from a down year this past season, which I suspect is from a hip injury that he may have injured in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, when he got nailed 3 times in the game. Fasano should be back barring anything unexpected.
• Ronnie Brown: The Dolphins star running back should be back. He is a restricted free agent, and like Fasano, barring anything unforeseen, he should be back, and will probably get a new contract that will put Brown in Miami for the rest of his career.

That does it for the free agent news so far, I’ll have the updates rolling in, as the news comes in!

The Dolphins have been busy so far tonight, working on contracts for several players. Find out the details below:

Pennington Deal At A Fork In The Road:

• Once believed to be all but a certainty coming back to Miami, Chad Pennington is asking for a no trade clause in his contract now, to assure him that he will not have to move his young family from his home in Miami. Pennington and the Dolphins are close to signing a 1 year, $2.5 million deal, but CP10 is pushing for the clause that appears to be the last remaining road block on the road to re-signing Pennington.

Nate Jones To Visit Denver:

• According to Omar Kelly’s Twitter page, Dolphins free agent cornerback Nate Jones has a visit to Denver set up to meet with the Broncos staff at some point this weekend. The Dolphins and Jones have not been talking  a contract since the deal broke down a couple weeks ago. The Dolphins, and myself would like to see Jones back in a Dolphins uniform next year, but they will not break the bank for this guy, who is no more than a nickel back who can play special teams.

Antrel Rolle Talks Heating Up:

• Antrel Rolle was in Miami tonight, watching the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers game. At this same time, his agent was negotiating a deal with the Chicago Bears, and was fielding a 5 year offer from the Dolphins. This offer though is believed to be below the $8 million that Rolle wants in his new deal.
• Rolle has gone public, saying that he wants to be in Miami, but will he take a deal that is generously lower than what he wants, and was asking for?

Dansby Sweepstakes Taking a Turn For the Best:

• In a turn for the best tonight, Karlos Dansby has gone on record saying that he will be boarding a plane on Friday to come down to Miami, to see “how he fits in”.
• The Dolphins have already offered Dansby a deal, and this is the chief reason why he is hopping a plane today.
• Dansby had this to say on his free agent experience so far, and who he is favoring at this point:

“But Washington is definitely a place I’m looking at. My gate is wide open right now. I’m going to take every visit. I’m going in to every team to see what type of the piece of the puzzle will I be. I want to fit in just right. I want to be in a perfect situation and do my part. That’s what I’m looking for in these organizations. I’m still waiting on my agent to text me back about [visits] as we speak, but Miami is definitely one of ‘em right now. I’m going to go down there to see how I would fit in Miami.”

• The Dolphins are Dansby’s first visit, and I think that they will not let him leave without a multi-year deal, which is what NFL.com’s Steve Wyche believes as well. Dansby would be a perfect fit in the Dolphins 3-4 at ILB. Does he really think that he can fit in on the Redskins, who have named Dansby as their fallback plan, if they fail to sign Julius Peppers to a deal? I would be insulted if I were Dansby, and this may be the final factor in Dansby potentially getting a deal done with Miami.
• Yet another factor in the complicated equation of signing Dansby is the Redskins and Julius Peppers. There are reports out that state that the Peppers sweepstakes is the Chicago Bears to lose. I mentioned earlier that the Redskins fallback option is Dansby, and if the Bears were to sign Peppers relatively quickly, that would direct their attention to Dansby, and complicate things. The Dolphins need to feel a sense of urgency here, and get the deal done with Karlos, pronto!

This is all for now, there will be more throughout the day as the news comes in.

Cardinals free agent linebacker Karlos Dansby wants to get paid, and it appears that the Dolphins might be the team to give him what he wants. The Dolphins want Dansby, and he’ll be in town to talk to the team on the first day of free agency:

Speaking on NFL Live, Arizona Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby – considered the team’s No. 1 target – he planned to visit South Florida Friday to meet the Dolphins.

Dansby reportedly seeks $30 million in guaranteed money, but Bill Parcells has had his eye on Dansby for some time.

During last year’s Super Bowl in Tampa, Dansby recalled when Parcells was the coach of the Cowboys and told Dansby he wanted to get him on his team one day.

Dansby is also being sought after by a couple of NFC East teams, as reports say the Giants and Redskins also have their eyes on him.

The period to sign free agents for the upcoming 2010-11 season is almost here. We are less than four hours away as I write this free agent primer.

Before the signing period does start though, here are a couple things that you will need to know before 12 o’clock midnight strikes:

Chad Pennington Likely To Be Back In Miami Next Year:

• According to multiple reports, both veteran quarterback Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins are set to agree on a contract that will bring CP10 back as Chad Henne’s backup, and mentor for at least next season. Barring something unforeseen that it is. But I think that we get this deal done at some point in the upcoming days, and try and trade Tyler Thigpen for some draft picks, maybe a 3rd or 4th.

Karlos Dansby Is Not Flying To Miami Tonight?

• Despite what a prior report today by the National Football Post had said, soon free agent to be, Karlos Dansby, will not be flying down on a plane to Miami tonight. We did not even know what he would be doing down in Miami, although it would most likely be signing a contract with us! If this leak of information is false, and Dansby really is coming down to Miami tonight, then I expect us to sign him to a contract by dawn. There is no way that the Trifecta lets Dansby out of Miami without signing him.

Oshiomogho Atogwe Coming To Miami?

• The St. Louis Rams have low balled Oshiomogho Atogwe so far this season, with a deal that he does not like. He will be hitting the free agent market tonight at 12 am, and some expect the Dolphins to pursue this intriguing free safety. But despite some people’s thinking behind this, the probability of this happening will not happen. For one, Atogwe is one of the very few free safeties that is ranked lower than Gibril Wilson in pass coverage. So, I do not expect the Dolphins to pursue Atogwe whatsoever. The only free agent free safety that we would talk to at all is this guy:

Antrel Rolle, Dolphins In Talks:

• According to Armando Salguero’s Twitter page, three teams are in talks with free agent free safety Antrel Rolle. Since Rolle’s contract with the Arizona Cardinals was terminated, teams are free to negotiate with his agent on contract talks. The Bears and the Dolphins are two of the three teams that are believed to be in talks with Rolle at this point in time. But for the Dolphins to sign him, he would have to take a generous pay cut, as there is no way that the Dolphins would pay him $8 million a year, or even close to that. They only paid Gibril Wilson $5.5 million last year per year, so the Dolphins would have to cut Wilson, to sign Rolle. Even though it is an uncapped year, the Dolphins have imposed an internal cap quota, in the case that a cap does come back to the NFL at some point in time. But I’m not sure what the Dolphins have in mind with Rolle quite yet.

Jamal Williams Released:

• Former San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Jamal Williams is on the free agent market, and the Dolphins could show interest. But, according to a report by the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero, the Dolphins have shown no interest in him, and he will most likely not be coming to Miami, as he is 33, and would only be a temporary fix. The Dolphins are looking for a long term solution at this point in time.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned throughout the night for the latest updates on what the Dolphins are doing on the first day of free agency.

UPDATE:

• The Dolphins are one of three teams that are heavily chasing free safety Antrel Rolle, along with the Chicago Bears, and the New York Giants. As each second goes by, and more news pours in, I want this guy more and more!

Today, which was the deadline for teams to place a tender on a free agent-to-be, the Dolphins tagged running back Ronnie Brown with a first round tender, and tight end Anthony Fasano, with a “original selection” tender. Since Fasano was drafted in the 2nd round, the Dolphins would receive a 2nd round compensation for him, if another team were to sign Fasano to a contract.

Many thought that Brown was still under contract with the Fins for at least one more year because of a “clause” in his contract which stated that in the case of no new CBA agreement, that he would remain under contract with the Dolphins. But otherwise, he would be an unrestricted free agent.

This proved to be false information, and Brown is now a restricted free agent, and is only making a reported $3.97 million this year.

The real clause in Brown’s contract was that both parties, Brown, and the Dolphins, had a mutual $5 million option to bring Brown back for another year, but the Dolphins declined the option, and are in turn, saving money.

Since Brown was tagged with a first round tender, this would force a team to give up their first round pick to acquire Brown. This would allow the Dolphins to go out and fill the hole that Brown left, with someone like, C.J. Spiller.

The groundwork for a big off-season has been laid. Now the Dolphins just have to make the moves. Which just so happens to be easier said than done.

Here is a quick run down of some of the rumors, and happenings that have gone on during the Combine schedule so far, and what news involves the Fins:

• Jason Taylor has said that he would like to play for at least two more years, according to a source close to him. This would be interesting, as long as JT is playing for the Dolphins, and not for a team like the Patriots, or Jets.
• Running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Dexter McCluster have been talking to the Dolphins so far, Dwyer with the Dolphins running backs coach extensively, and McCluster interviewing with the Dolphins last night.
• Notre Dam wide receiver Golden Tate also interviewed with the Dolphins on Friday night, but he will not be coming to the Dolphins unless they trade down to the bottom of the first round, or he falls into the 2nd round. Both are unlikely scenarios in my mind.
• Miami tight end Jimmy Graham ran a 4.56 today in the 40 yard dash, and recorded a vertical leap of 38.0 inches. I would love to see the Dolphins pick up this athletic tight end. He could be our version of Antonio Gates with time.
• With Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas not working out at the Combine, and suffering from a broken foot, this could cause his stock to slide if he is unable to work out at his Pro-Day before the draft. The Dolphins might be able to nab him in the 2nd or 3rd round if he falls.
• Rumors are swirling that Anquan Boldin is now available, and Cardinals GM Rod Graves announced that this is indeed true today at the Combine. If I were the Dolphins I would look elsewhere to shore up the position, unless the Cards would be willing to accept a 4th rounder for Boldin.
• Darren Sproles is headed to the free agent market, and the Dolphins pursuing him could be somewhat of a possibility. He could be the homerun threat that they are looking for.
• Mike Mayock continued his lovefest for Texas outside linebacker Sergio Kindle. While I would be fine with Kindle, as long as we pick up Karlos Dansby through free agency, I could easily go for picking Rolando McClain in the first round, and selecting Jerry Hughes in the 2nd round, who is a stellar OLB from TCU.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for Combine news and notes from tomorrows workouts, which features the running backs, quarterbacks, and wide receivers.