40 Years as a Dolphins Fan

[pcbrown 0]

New coach and no one to coach. Gerrard move just too much, Go Lions

[Raider 84 29]

[shovelheadt 61]

Bengals fan here. I feel ya.

[mobb_deep 917]

Go Lions

 

[IGotWorms 3,315]

[420allstars 13]

sorry to hear that!

[Dr Hook 6]

Wait a minute, Go Lions?? I have been suffering as a Lions fan my entire life and you want to jump on the bandwagon now that we have some talent. Go back to Miami and suffer.

[dfin13 0]

New coach and no one to coach. Gerrard move just too much, Go Lions

Not that I trust Ireland to make the right decision, but Tannehill might make it to 8 if Cleveland balks at drafting a QB.

 

No way they could afford a $100 million contract for the question mark that is Manning (though I would've loved it if they could have). Flynn obviously has enough holes in his game that the guy who has more than two game tapes worth of experience with him passed on him. Marshall is a very talented headache who drops a lot of crucial passes, but he is a huge loss regardless, can't spin that one.

 

Signing Garrard to back up Moore gives Miami time to groom Tannehill or Weeden, with a veteran waiting in the wings in case the starter goes down. Ireland is an idiot, players hate him, and he will likely be gone next season if this season falls apart, but Miami needs a long-term plan for once, so I'm going to be patient.

[Bishop82 61]

New coach and no one to coach. Gerrard move just too much, Go Lions Bears

 

[donhaas 18]

New coach and no one to coach. Gerrard move just too much, Go Lions Bears Packers

 

[shovelheadt 61]

Wait a minute, Go Lions?? I have been suffering as a Lions fan my entire life and you want to jump on the bandwagon now that we have some talent. Go back to Miami and suffer.

 

Exact reason why I didn't jump on the Colts wagon when I moved over here. Had they still been worthless, I would have considered it.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Not that I trust Ireland to make the right decision, but Tannehill might make it to 8 if Cleveland balks at drafting a QB.

 

No way they could afford a $100 million contract for the question mark that is Manning (though I would've loved it if they could have). Flynn obviously has enough holes in his game that the guy who has more than two game tapes worth of experience with him passed on him. Marshall is a very talented headache who drops a lot of crucial passes, but he is a huge loss regardless, can't spin that one.

 

Signing Garrard to back up Moore gives Miami time to groom Tannehill or Weeden, with a veteran waiting in the wings in case the starter goes down. Ireland is an idiot, players hate him, and he will likely be gone next season if this season falls apart, but Miami needs a long-term plan for once, so I'm going to be patient.

 

I have read the argument in several places that Philbin didn't think highly enough about Flynn to stand up for him. From what I've read, these are the facts:

 

1. Mike McCarthy personally talked to John Schneider, Seattle GM and spoke glowingly about Flynn's progress since Schneider left GB as asst GM to take over in Seattle. This is consistent with comments that McCarthy made throughout all last season about Flynn.

2. Seattle did not want Flynn to leave the Seattle visit without getting him signed, but Flynn honored his commitment to visit the Dolphins. But for his part, Matt Flynn left Seattle with a very warm and fuzzy feeling.

3. Aaron Rodgers has publicly stated that whoever gets Flynn is getting a jewel and a top 15 QB.

4. Philbin's relationship with Flynn has always been positive and the 5 hour meeting was evidence that Miami made a serious attempt to sign him at their price.

5. Jeff Ireland has a reputation for consistently tried to sign players on the cheap, believing i guess that the aura of the South Beach area would attract players to sign.

 

Based on what I know and have seen of Flynn, there is no reason to believe there are significant holes in his game. Personally I believe this is a very false rationalization because Flynn turned down the Miami offer. I'm pretty sure that Philbin had very mixed feelings about Flynn getting away and signing with Seattle.

 

I know quite a bit about Flynn (and his family), because he grew up in Tyler Tx within 30 miles from me. I am also a rabid Packer fan, having grown up myself in the GB area with several of my family being shareholders and season ticket holders. So i am pretty wired in to what people think up there. I believe that Flynn will prove to be better than Kolb 2.0.

[MTSkiBum 1,594]

New coach and no one to coach. Gerrard move just too much, Go Lions

 

The dolphins were the winningnest franchise of all time up until last year, quite a convenient time to change teams.

 

 

You say you were a dolphins fan for 40 years, i would argue you were never a dolphins fan, you just want to root for a team that wins.

[dfin13 0]

Based on what I know and have seen of Flynn, there is no reason to believe there are significant holes in his game. Personally I believe this is a very false rationalization because Flynn turned down the Miami offer. I'm pretty sure that Philbin had very mixed feelings about Flynn getting away and signing with Seattle.

Miami was right in not overpaying for a 7th round pick with 2 starts (in one of the NFL's highest-powered offenses) in 4 years. I do believe they wanted him on the cheap, that is true, but I also feel they were justified in wanting that. Money would not be an issue for Ireland's boss if everyone agreed it would be money well-spent.

 

I don't think Flynn turned down the Miami offer because he felt better about Seattle -- he turned it down because Seattle offered more money, plain and simple. Had Miami offered him the same contract, he'd be a Dolphin today. The fact that they didn't speaks volumes about how hard Philbin pushed to bring the guy into the fold. What you know and have seen of Flynn is dwarfed by what Philbin has seen of him, so I'm going to take the optimistic route and wait for all of this to play out, and cross my fingers for Tannehill.

[pcbrown 0]

Miami was right in not overpaying for a 7th round pick with 2 starts (in one of the NFL's highest-powered offenses) in 4 years. I do believe they wanted him on the cheap, that is true, but I also feel they were justified in wanting that. Money would not be an issue for Ireland's boss if everyone agreed it would be money well-spent.

 

I don't think Flynn turned down the Miami offer because he felt better about Seattle -- he turned it down because Seattle offered more money, plain and simple. Had Miami offered him the same contract, he'd be a Dolphin today. The fact that they didn't speaks volumes about how hard Philbin pushed to bring the guy into the fold. What you know and have seen of Flynn is dwarfed by what Philbin has seen of him, so I'm going to take the optimistic route and wait for all of this to play out, and cross my fingers for Tannehill.

[pcbrown 0]

I said Lions not sure if I jumped to a winning team.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Let's agree to disagree here. I don't know for sure, but I believe that the money was not the main issue here, but rather that Flynn felt he had a better chance of playing with a contender at Seattle. Even if Miami offered Flynn the same contract, from what I've read, I have serious doubts if he would have signed with the Dolphins. Money is not an issue with Stephen Ross, but he has given Ireland much leeway in making these type of decisions and Ireland is a notorious cheapskate and a terrible talent evaluator.

 

I think you have it exactly backward. I'm hearing that Flynn rejected Miami despite Philbin's efforts to convince him otherwise. And it appears that Philbin doe not have enough clout with Ireland to win the day on salary negotiation matters.

 

There's no question that Flynn represented the only QB option with significant upside, and Miami management is succeeding in convincing a few diehard fans (but not many judging from the fan protest at Dolphin headquarters today -

https://twitter.com/#!/ArmandoSalguero/status/182148490141503488/photo/1) that the risk with Flynn was too great. In fact the risk of not signing Flynn was even greater.

 

IMO Ireland blew it again.

 

Some sources:

Rotoworld today: Although Matt Flynn "thinks a lot of" Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, he explained that he chose Seattle because it was a better situation.

"I felt it's a program that's really on the rise," said Flynn, "doing the right thing, is being led by the right type of people." Flynn didn't come right out and say the Dolphins are not run by the right type of people, but it's yet another sign that a culture change is needed in Miami. GM Jeff Ireland, in particular, appears to have little respect league-wide.

 

Peter King (Monday Morning Quarterback) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/03/19/signings/index.html :

 

In the history of NFL general managers, Ireland is on the coldest streak ever. He needs to do something right. He doesn't even need to hit a home run. A seeing-eye single would do. That may make him more aggressive on Smith today -- and it may make Smith more inclined to go somewhere I don't think he really wants to go.

 

Miami looks like the worst team in the AFC East right now. Would Smith rather rub it in 49er GM Trent Baalke's face and run off to a bad team, and would he rather pray for Manning to pick Tennessee or Denver, enabling Smith to go back to where he has the best chance by far of making a Super Bowl run? Ireland may have to do what he loathes -- overspend for an OK player -- just to deodorize the stink of the last few years in Miami.

In the last 10 years this franchise has been the most luckless, clueless, hapless club. To wit:

 

Head coaches (seven): Dave Wannstedt, Jim Bates, Nick Saban, Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles and now Joe Philbin.

 

Starting quarterbacks, minimum four starts (13): Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon(!), Trent Green, John Beck, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne and now, evidently, Matt Moore. Unless they sign Alex Smith this morning, and if so, Smith would be in line to be the 14th starting quarterback in the last 11 seasons.

 

Offensive coordinators (seven): Norv Turner, Chris Foerster, Scott Linehan, Mike Mularkey, Dan Henning, Brian Daboll and now Mike Sherman.

 

Defensive coordinators (six): Jim Bates, Richard Smith, Dom Capers, Paul Pasqualoni, Mike Nolan and now Kevin Coyle.

 

The most bizarre moves, and aftermaths, of the last decade of Miami Dolphins football -- actually, decade plus 11 days, considering that the Dolphins traded for Ricky Williams 10 years and 11 days ago:

 

1. The ridiculous inability to find, develop and decide on a quarterback who could be even half as good as Dan Marino. Miami, in the last 10 years, has traded a seven for Rosenfels, a two for Feeley, a two for Culpepper, a six for Lemon, a five for Green, and used a two to draft Beck and another two to draft Henne. None is on the team anymore. None became a shadow of Marino. And Sunday, when Matt Flynn chose Seattle over Miami as the prize of a thin free agent quarterback crop, it left the Dolphins scrambling and reconsidering how aggressively to go after Alex Smith. Or hope Ryan Tannehill of Texas A&M would be there with the eighth pick in the first round on April 26. Or play with Matt Moore. Not very good options.

 

2. The ill-fated hiring of Nick Saban. He was supposed to turn the Dolphins around, and be the head coach for life, when Wayne Huizenga hired him early in 2005. He went 15-17, made a horrendous quarterback decision (picking Culpepper over Drew Brees in 2006) and skulked off to Alabama after denying 613 times he'd go back to college football.

 

3. The one you've all forgotten. Two days apart in early 2007, soon after Saban skulked off to Alabama (can't use that phrase enough), Miami interviewed two coordinator prospects -- among others -- to succeed Saban. The Dolphins favored offensive coordinator Cam Cameron of San Diego over Minnesota defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin. Cameron got the Miami job. Tomlin got the Pittsburgh job. Cameron went 1-15 and got fired. Tomlin went 10-6, won the AFC North and is 55-25 since, with a Super Bowl win.

 

4. Trades that stunk. Ricky Williams came in 2002 for two first-round draft picks and gave the Dolphins two terrific seasons -- and five lousy ones, and one-and-a-half suspended ones. Wes Welker was made a restricted free agent in 2007, and the Patriots stole him for second- and seventh-round draft picks. Those two picks turned into one season of center Samson Satele before he was dumped to Oakland for a sixth-rounder the next year. I'd call the Brandon Marshall trade (for two second-rounders in 2010) a debacle, but they did regain two third-rounders this year. They wasted two second-rounders on quarterbacks who barely had cups of coffee in Miami -- Feeley and Culpepper.

 

5. Drew Brees. Saban chose Culpepper over Brees in March 2006 because Brees was rehabbing major shoulder surgery. Ten months later, Saban skulked off to Alabama, and the 1-15 Dolphins of 2007 played with Lemon, Green and Beck. Funny thing, as I wrote a couple of months ago: On the night Miami had to make the decision which way to go on Brees or Culpepper, owner Wayne Huizenga was out to dinner with a friend and said. "I want them to sign Brees. They want Culpepper.'' Huizenga got a call on his cell phone and walked outside. When he came back inside the restaurant, Huizenga said his football people were insistent that Culpepper, for reasons monetary and football and health, was a better choice than Brees. "I told them, they're the football guys, not me,'' said Huizenga. But the owner repeated that if it were up to him, he'd have signed Brees. Miami is 37-59 since, with no playoff wins.

 

Clearly, when Huizenga brought in Bill Parcells, who imported Jeff Ireland from the Cowboys, he didn't expect the disastrous personnel run that has ensued. (And the man who bought the Dolphins from Huizenga, Stephen Ross, didn't expect Ireland to ask Dez Bryant the sordid question about his mother's occupation in the run-up to the 2010 draft either.) The Ross-Ireland daily double has failed to lure Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Fisher, and has failed to land Peyton Manning or Matt Flynn either.

 

When I was talking to Flynn Sunday night about why he chose the Seahawks, he must have repeated three or four times how much he liked the feeling he got from the Seahawks' coaches and front office people when he was in Seattle. He wouldn't say anything negative about Miami; he is very fond of his former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, Philbin. But clearly Flynn felt the love more in Seattle than in Miami.

 

It's absolutely amazing how much failure the Dolphins have endured in the last 10 years. And the way this year is beginning -- losing out on Fisher, Manning and Flynn -- I'm amazed that Ross is putting up with it without blowing a gasket.

 

Jeff Ireland's draft track record: (Not from my personal research, but from a fellow FFer frpm Miami who considers the Dolphins 'his' team)

 

Here is what they have done under Jeff Ireland as GM, no matter if Parcells was pulling the strings or not.

 

2008

 

1st-LT Jake Long-All Pro and the only player that really sticks from the entire draft.

 

2nd DE P.Merling-Largely a dud, lot of off field problems as well.

 

2nd QB C.Henne-Released and signed with Jax

 

3rd DE K.Langford-4 year starter and is now talking to other teams. This is a guy you sign for the long term, not sure why Miami is letting him walk.

 

4th OG S.Murphy-Cut now with Denver

 

6th RB Parmele-Cut now with BAL

 

6th OG D.Thomas-Cut now with NE

 

6th RB L.Hilliard- Mr 3rd and 1

 

7th DT L.Dotson-Cut now with Buff

 

Notes: I don't understand letting Langford go...what would you replace him with? If you are not going to extend the guys you drafted and believe in, what are you doing? Long is the only thing to really stick from here.

 

 

2009

 

1st DB Vontae Davis-Starter

 

2nd QB Pat White-CUT

 

2nd DB Sean Smith-3 year starter

 

3rd WR Pat Turner-Cut, now with Jets last we heard

 

4th WR Brian Hartline-WR3

 

5th TE Nalbone-Cut now elsewhere

 

5th DB Chris Clemons-Reserve

 

7th OT-CUT

 

7th LB-CUT

 

Notes: We did land our starting Corners in this draft however they seem to be far from elite. Solid perhaps, Davis has room to grow but overall just solid IMO. The rest was mostly trash outside of maybe Hartline and Clemons.

 

 

2010

 

1st DE Jared Odrick- Out much of his rookie season, he was solid last year.

 

2nd LB Koa Misi-Starter, but very avg

 

3rd OG John Jerry-Dud to this point

 

4th LB AJ Edds-Cut and playing elsewhere

 

5th DB Rashad Jones-Starter at Safety but not that good

 

7th LB Chris McCoy-Cut

 

7th LB Spitler-Reserve

 

Notes: Very underwhelming IMO

 

 

2011

 

1st OC M.Pouncey-Solid starter to this point

 

2nd RB-Daniel Thomas-Got passed up by Reggie Bush quickly

 

4th WR-Clyde Gates-Lot of speed but we really don't know.

 

7th DT-Frank Kearse-CUT now with Carolina

 

7th DB Jimmy Wilson-Made a lot fo plays as a rookie, good nickelback.

[pcbrown 0]

I said Lions not sure if I jumped to a winning team.

Also Ive always felt bad for the Lions.

[pcbrown 0]

Let's agree to disagree here. I don't know for sure, but I believe that the money was not the main issue here, but rather that Flynn felt he had a better chance of playing with a contender at Seattle. Even if Miami offered Flynn the same contract, from what I've read, I have serious doubts if he would have signed with the Dolphins. Money is not an issue with Stephen Ross, but he has given Ireland much leeway in making these type of decisions and Ireland is a notorious cheapskate and a terrible talent evaluator.

 

I think you have it exactly backward. I'm hearing that Flynn rejected Miami despite Philbin's efforts to convince him otherwise. And it appears that Philbin doe not have enough clout with Ireland to win the day on salary negotiation matters.

 

There's no question that Flynn represented the only QB option with significant upside, and Miami management is succeeding in convincing a few diehard fans (but not many) that the risk with Flynn was too great. In fact the risk of not signing Flynn was even greater.

 

IMO Ireland blew it again.

I agree and until the front office changes and /or owner nobody wants to play for miami.Even as bad as the lions have been players still came to play.

[pcbrown 0]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if they draft a QB in the first 2 rounds he'll hold out to go to another team. yes its that bad.

[madd futher mucker 36]

I agree and until the front office changes and /or owner nobody wants to play for miami. Even as bad as the lions have been players still came to play.

 

It seems that the once glorious franchise has gotten to that point already. A good article from today's Miami Herald Sports - "Miami Dolphins Lead the League in Rejections" http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/20/2702822/miami-dolphins-lead-league-in.html

 

I would only add what a poster on another board had to say: "Fisher, Manning, Winston and Flynn have said no this year. If it were just one, okay it's just a bad fit and you can't force anyone to come to Miami. But all of them? Fisher is generally well respected and dug deep into both organizations. He was really concerned about a possible franchise move and STILL chose the Rams. Manning does his homework and barely gave the Dolphins the time of day, he's been super respectful to everyone and Miami is the only team that was bad enough for him to put out of their misery right away. Both Flynn and Winston felt lowballed and signed elsewhere for reasonable amounts (everyone wants to say now that Philbin didn't believe in Flynn, but if that was the case, why bring him in in the first place?). I don't know what it is for sure, but I have a feeling that how the fins treated Sparano last year is how they treat everyone, as expendable pieces that serve at the whim of whomever is pulling the strings, is just a small indicator of how toxic the overall culture is and nobody with any sort of alternative wants to be involved in a place that treats people that way."

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

So which Florida franchise is the biggest joke right now, Miami, or Jax?

[pcbrown 0]

So which Florida franchise is the biggest joke right now, Miami, or Jax?

My vote goes to Miami.

[fanfootballtn 33]

Wait a minute, Go Lions?? I have been suffering as a Lions fan my entire life and you want to jump on the bandwagon now that we have some talent. Go back to Miami and suffer.

[IGotWorms 3,315]

Miami was right in not overpaying for a 7th round pick with 2 starts (in one of the NFL's highest-powered offenses) in 4 years. I do believe they wanted him on the cheap, that is true, but I also feel they were justified in wanting that. Money would not be an issue for Ireland's boss if everyone agreed it would be money well-spent.

 

Seattle's offer was not exorbitant. It was actually quite reasonable. If the Dolphins wouldn't offer more than that then they went too cheap. HTH.

[Gepetto 987]

Just remember Dolphins fans, there is a glimmer of hope because Philbin said yes to Miami and Head Coach is arguably the most important position.

[IronCity Steel 0]

So which Florida franchise is the biggest joke right now, Miami, or Jax?

 

My vote goes to Jax for now.

[Jeff Garcia 8]

Not that I trust Ireland to make the right decision, but Tannehill might make it to 8 if Cleveland balks at drafting a QB.

 

No way they could afford a $100 million contract for the question mark that is Manning (though I would've loved it if they could have). Flynn obviously has enough holes in his game that the guy who has more than two game tapes worth of experience with him passed on him. Marshall is a very talented headache who drops a lot of crucial passes, but he is a huge loss regardless, can't spin that one.

 

Signing Garrard to back up Moore gives Miami time to groom Tannehill or Weeden, with a veteran waiting in the wings in case the starter goes down. Ireland is an idiot, players hate him, and he will likely be gone next season if when this season falls apart, but Miami needs a long-term plan for once, so I'm going to be patient.

 

Fixed.