It’s very early in the post season machinations, but I can say I do not like what I’ve seen so far from our team. I couldn’t be more disappointed with Dolphins GM Chris Grier’s dialogue about our players, more specifically DL Christian Wilkins.
– “Like we’ve always talked here in the past, our goal is to keep as many good players here as we can. They’ve both earned the right to be free agents. Christian and I actually had a really good conversation today. I was very happy for him. He bet on himself after a summer of negotiations where we made a couple offers and one we felt very good about, was fair, and he and his representation said as much, but we couldn’t close that gap at the end. So he bet on himself and it paid off for him. I’m very happy for him. So we’ll stay in communication and see where this ends up, but he earned the right to be a free agent. Again, I’m happy for him. We drafted him here, developed him here, and he’s the type of person we’re looking for. So we’ll see what happens.”
Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler, two players who played the most defensive snaps on the team, and in my view, two players who are the heart and soul of our defense. Listen, I don’t know what kind of Jedi mind tricks Chris Grier may be trying to employ here, but I don’t want to hear he’s happy that Christian Wilkins bet on himself and that he’s “earned the right to be a free agent”. Grier may have really put this team in a bind financially, this in a year where we have 2 players, 2 drafted homegrown players hitting free agency. One had a great 2023 season, DL Christian Wilkins, and the other felt the bite of the injury bug for the first time in his NFL career, OG Robert Hunt. Hunt hadn’t missed a game his first 3 seasons. Hunt missed 6 games this season, Weeks 9 and 10, and then Weeks 13-16. He played the entire game against Buffalo Week 17, and then the Playoff game against KC. These are 2 guys I want to keep, and we damn well better do whatever we can to keep them!
Sorry guys and girls, if you don’t want to read this, don’t, but I need to make things clear. Some of you throw out names like John Elway and Eli Manning as guys who didn’t win big games until the end of their career. Let’s get this nonsense dispelled right now. Eli Manning in his 4th season, 2007, took the NYG to a 10-6 as a WC team, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, and then of course the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. In 1986, John Elway’s 4th NFL season, he led the Broncos to an 11-5 record, defeated the New England Patriots in the divisional round, defeated the Cleveland Browns in the conference championship, but lost in the Super Bowl to the NY Giants. Our QB, Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t even won a big regular season game in December, unless you count the Dallas Cowboys this season in which K Jason Sanders was the elevator picture for his 5 FG’s. Stop comparing these QB’s, you only embarrass yourself. In fact, don’t compare him with any of the QB who were in the playoffs this year. Rookie QB C.J. Stroud has already accomplished way more than Tua. He actually WON a playoff game, and played like a superstar! QB Jordan Love put up 48 points in a playoff game game against the Dallas Cowboys, the same team we played at home and needed 5 FG’s to beat. Heck, even QB Mason Rudolph managed to throw 2 TD’s against the Bills and at least make it a game. Sure, let’s throw $55M per year at him, that oughta help!
Some people are saying trade WR Jaylen Waddle. I think if we’re trading a WR, trade the guy who has us in cap hell right now, and will probably bring a really nice return, Tyreek Hill. Think about it, how much more can we can possibly get out of Tyreek Hill? He probably won’t even be able to duplicate this great season. I think we relied on Hill far too much and when teams took away Hill, they took away our offense. We’re not 1 player away, I think all of us realize that all too clearly now, so trade Hill and get a bounty, and lose his enormous salary. We already have Waddle, who in no way is the same impact player as Tyreek Hill who is possibly the best in the NFL, but Waddle is a legit WR and maybe if we turned one of those picks we’d get for Hill into a dominant TE, we’d be better off.
The departure of DC Vic Fangio is a disturbing issue. It’s not that I thought Fangio was great here, but it just reeks of poor planning. BTW, Don Shula’s grandson Chris Shula signed on as the DC with the LA Rams. Our defense was making tremendous strides this year, and I just hate to think we’re going to scrap that progress and start an entirely different system and alignment. CONTINUITY, CAN WE EVER FUCKING HAVE THAT HERE? You can like Chris Grier, you can hate him, but the only constant in his tenure is HIM! Now maybe he nailed it with Mike McDaniel as Head Coach and he stays here a long time and is successful, but lord this team changes so many things every season. We were happy we got Fangio but then one year later we “mutually agree to part ways”. My inkling is it may be better to promote LB’s Coach Anthony Campanile to DC with the understanding he keeps the defensive scheme the same. We saw Wilkins, Sieler, Chubb, Phillips and Van Ginkel killing it, I want that back to start the season. None of this 2 year window in which we have to adjust to the new alignment and scheme. Give it to Campanile, and fucking sign Wilkins and Van Ginkel!
Back to Tyreek Hill, undeniably our best offensive player. Is it really crazy to trade him? Forgive my lack of comprehension of Salary Cap ramifications for a traded player, but I believe all the bonus money paid counts against our cap. which I believe is somewhere around $17M for the last 2 years. It’s doable. Of course we lose the best WR in the NFL and Tua security blanket, but in the long run for this team, it would be worth it. I think he took as as far as we could go with him, so if there are buyers, and I’m sure there would be, we should consider it. We can and need to have a more balanced attack, more money to sign our own drafted players like Wilkins, Hunt, and Van Ginkel. Think about it, is it really so crazy to do that? Let me know, I’m sure you will!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
FOIST?!?!
Arrow down
The cap situation, lack of draft picks, and most likely letting our best players walk does not look good.
Looks to me Grier took his shot and missed.
Not too late to fix it though. What do you think of trading Hill?
Interesting thought that has never crossed my mind until today.
As you mentioned they are most certainly not 1 player away. No resources at this point, so why not. It would be tough losing him and his energy. Noone else seems to have any besides Mostert. I’m with you Mike E!
Fins have tried bringing in top WR before and how has it ever worked out? Lol
👍. I’m sure there are teams who would love to have him. Not sure if he has a no trade clause though.
See my post below.
If you want a big physical WR, Jerry Rice’s son might be available when we pick in the 2nd round. He’s 6’3 210 and got some speed.
Think we have to see who we re-sign and who we let go. Can’t imagine going WR if Wilkins and X and Van Ginkel are all gone
I know
The way they did Tyreek’s contract makes him almost untradable. His base salary is 19.6 million this year, 21.8 in 2025 and 43.9 in 2026. Again, that is just his base salary.
On top of that, to get picks for the 2024 draft he would have to be a pre 6/1 trade and he would actually count more against our 2024 cap by 2 mil as all his dead cap would have to come off the books this year.
PRE-6/1 TRADE
2024 Dead Cap: $33,926,250
2024 Cap Savings: $-2,602,500
A post 6/1 trade would clear 20 mil off our 2024 cap and will have a huge dead cap hit in 2025 but it would be pointless to do that.
A post 6/1 trade:
2024 Dead Cap: $11,308,750
2025 Dead Cap: $22,617,500
2024 Cap Savings: $20,015,000
We do have an out clause for 2025 but that doesn’t help us this year.
Waddle is the more tradable but that won’t happen either.
PRE-6/1 TRADE
2024 Dead Cap: $4,264,726
2024 Cap Savings: $4,353,544
BBM – there’s always teams flush with cap space that would gladly take Hill. Our cap space can’t be worse without him, can it?
Yes it would. Trading Hill before 6/1 to gets picks for this draft would cause and extra 2.6 mil cap hit in 2024 driving us further in the hole.
You can designate someone as a post 6/1 release but can’t designate them as a post 6/1 trade to get picks for the 2024 draft.
Chris Shula hired by the Rams as DC. It seems every time a new name emerges for the Dolphins as a candidate, the coach is hired by someone else.
Maybe that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t mind at all if Campanile is ready so we can keep the same defensive scheme
I like him a lot. Mostly because he seems like a tough mother fucker who can relate to the players.
I am not too broken up by that.
The NFL isn’t as wide open as people think
Everyone is looking at the same “hot” candidates
I doubt we trade Hill. We saw how well the offense ran without him and or when he wasn’t at full speed. We saw how well it looked when he was healthy. He is a difference maker
BBM – Waddle is also younger and more affordable now for us. We need to get rid of that bad contract of Tyreeks. Seems like it might be a problem, but when we have to pay Waddle, Phillips and others down the line, we’ll be in better shape to do it. I think we need to close this tight window we’re in and get out of it.
Waddle’s contract is not due for 2 more years as is Phillips. We are riding with Hill until then
Like BBM said, Hill’s contract is essentially locked in. Financially, it would be a horrible move to trade him because of the cap hit.
I got tied up at work and could not respond, but BBM answered it perfectly. I considered trading Waddle because he is a valuable asset that is valuable because he has a year (or two with his 5th year option) left at a “cheep rate” which make the draft compensation more valuable. We HAVE to keep Hill it hurts us more to release or trade him. Waddle and to a lesser extent Holland who does NOT have the 5th year option (2nd round pick) are young ascending players with value in return as picks.
I understand everyone holding out hope that somehow someway Grief will be able to put together a team for another run this year, but I think that’s whistling in the grave yard. Too late he swung and missed.
Grief will never do what is good for the team but bad for him. Admitting he fucked the pooch before the ASPCA is at the door would be bad for his career. (Just as bad as his keeping his job for one more year before he gets canned, but a year later.)
I think restocking the draft starting this season while we live out the cap hell Grief put us in is the best course to be successful after everyone wakes up and we get someone competent running the show.
That is if Ross could ever identify a competent candidate
Very happy to hear Shula is going elsewhere. Fuck nepotism or in this case, just name recognition.
On Thursday night, the NFL hosted its first night of events for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, and plenty of Miami Dolphins were involved.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, appearing in his first Pro Bowl, was selected for the precision-passing challenge, but his showing left a lot to be desired.
Tagovailoa, known for his accuracy, struggled to get much going throughout the event, scoring the fewest points among the six participants. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield walked away with the victory, earning the NFC points in the overall competition.
After the battle, Tagovailoa told ESPN’s Ryan Clark that he felt the pressure.
“I felt a lot of pressure,” Tagovailoa said. “A lot of the guys are good throwers. I didn’t come with the A game that I wanted to today.”
This would’ve been a great opportunity for Miami’s quarterback to make a statement, even in a silly game. Now, however, his performance will just give more ammo to his detractors.
THERE YOU GO! He felt a lot of pressure! Plus it is post December so, you know, he sucks. (like a vampire after dawn)
I watched it. He sucks under pressure even in this meaningless competition. It doesn’t surprise me at all, and although this competition doesn’t mean squat, it really is just more evidence that he doesn’t have what it takes. I’d still give him this 5th year to prove that’s not true
😂
LOL
Tua feeling pressure in a skills competition is not good. That’s supposed to be a fun, entertaining environment. No wonder he crumbles in late season games
He said it, not us! You can’t make this stuff up
Damn! RIP Carl Weathers
That’s sad. RIP
Oh lord come on. Who cares about the skills competition and what anyone says about them
Apparently, he did. He’s the one that said he felt a ton of pressure, not me. lol
hmmmm i guess those of us who commented on it?
It’s probably just something he said to the media because they have to say something. For the love of God this skills competition is the most meaningless bs there is
Mike E,
I’m against trading Hill and think we need two elite WRs if we are going to compete with teams like Cincy, Buffalo, and KC. I actually think this is the best situation we could be in to see what we have. Grier swung for the fences to ensure McDaniel had the team he needed to compete. Now, we have to see what McDaniel can do with less options. Dude was given a solid defense, top WR options, the QB he wanted, and an incredibly easy schedule. He fucked it up and if he wants to be the HC moving forward, he’s going to have to bring at least the same results with less. Is he good enough or just good at talking to reporters?
I’m surprised. You saw the offense this year, shut down against the good teams. I don’t think it’s the answer. Unless somehow MM finds a way to hurt teams that take Hill away.
I did but if they shut down Hill, how won’t they shut down other inferior talent? Either MM finds a way to counter better coaching, or we need a better HC. This is the year we see if Tua and MM can get better because we’re stuck with both of them. I’m pretty sure Tua isn’t the answer but I’m 50/50 on MM at this point. Can he get better?
Ah man. Carl Weathers was a hero of mine. RIP, legend. 😣
Sounds like discussions are happening.
We’ll be stuck as a decent team that can’t beat the good teams, or he’ll get hurt if he takes off the bubble wrap. Unless he magically figures out how to step up against the competition.
I don’t see the logic in that. Whatever Tua believes has no bearing whatsoever on how the front office feels. They are too separate things. It doesn’t suggest anything.
New Age – We need to run the ball, become more of a physical team. The short yardage conversion are huge issue. Also having a QB that you can never use as a weapon in a short yardage situation is also an issue. The reason I say we might be better off w/o Tyreek is that Tua needs to have other receivers he trusts, and not be solely reliant on one guy. Having Waddle is a bit of a waste because we need to use him where his speed kills too, not throwing over the middle in between 2 defenders. Too often, we didn’t make teams pay for taking away Tyreek and killing them with WaddleI know we ran well last year, but it was a finesse run game, not a pound it and and tire you out and make you not want to tackle anymore. Obviously we need a TE who can block is a a receiving threat. As long as we have Hill, we can’t afford to get those players, and keep the defensive stars we need to.
Unfortunately, like Rock, I think they pissed it all away for a shot last year, and I’m not sure how we dig ourselves out of this. If we let Wilkins go, we need a DL early. If we can’t sign Robert Hunt, we need a C and a OG. Seems like Tua needs Fort Knox to stand behind, so OL and a strong defense are more important than the WR’s.
Chris Shula is the Rams new DC.
Said that in my article that you didn’t read. lol
I didn’t have time. 😂
Tua Tagovailoa expects to get new Dolphins deal in offseason
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Does Tua Tagovailoa have a future with the Dolphins? (1:21)
Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN
Feb 2, 2024, 04:18 PM ET
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Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, coming off a career-best season in 2023, expects to sign a contract extension with the Miami Dolphins this offseason, he told reporters Friday.
I agree with New Age
I don’t think we should be doing anything that resembled and rebuild after making the postseason for two straight years
We are gonna need Hill and Waddle gives us a great duo. I’m not touching that.
The Dolphins didn’t adjust to teams playing a particular defense when they crowded the middle of the field
That’s all that happened this year – it was just one particular thing teams went back to, more and more as the season went on
We just didn’t counter it. Either that’s on MM or it’s on Tua
Maybe a 3rd receiver or a pass catching TE represents the next step for this offense – in this case, we are even close to addition by subtraction
We haven’t been able to identify a TE in the entirety of Grier’s tenure. I feel like a lot of teams have 2, we can’t even find one. It’s absurd. How can we draft a WR early though with all the holes?
I don’t think a 3rd wr requires a high pick
We just didn’t have a WR that established himself as a solid 3 last year
We have two WRs who gain 1000 yards each and the 3rd leading receiver could not break 400 yards
That’s a big disparity between your 2nd and 3rd leading receiver
Gesicki had some good production but he’s just too one dimensional. Smythe is a good TE just not a big threat as a receiver. MM has said finding more of a receiving threat at TE is part of the next install. We’ll see how we approach that. In FA or the draft.
What kind of numbers do you think Tua’s contract will be?
I looked at the difference between Joe Burrow and Daniel Jones contract and even though the total contract difference is huge, the cap hit different is not so different
1 major difference is Jones is a 4 year contract and Burrows is a 5 year
But I think the likelihood of an extension and taking less than a 40 millions dollar cap hit per year is slim
It has to be somewhere around $50M per. Don’t you think?
It shouldn’t be burrow size but even Daniel Jones is above 40m for most of his contract
…..Grier hinted at the possibility of finalizing Tagovailoa’s extension when he spoke to the media after the Dolphins’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round.
“The goal is to have him here long term playing at a high level,” Grier said. “That’s always the goal, and we’ll continue to communicate with him through the offseason here. Like we’ve always said in the past, you guys know me, we don’t really talk in the media through all that stuff, so we’ll just keep all those talks internal and with his reps.”…..
Maybe he should “communicate” with Christian Wilkins before he does anything else. We don’t want this . . .
I love that movie..lol
…..”We’re not really, right now, concerned about where we’ll be in March, salary cap-wise,” Grier said. “I think [senior VP of football and business administration] Brandon Shore and [director of football administration and strategy] Max Napolitano, we’ve had a lot of conversations. They’ve given us a lot of flexibility with multiple options of ways we can be creative, and so hats off to them just through their work and grind on things.
“Mike, Brandon and I will have a lot of discussions. We’ll talk with [Dolphins owner] Steve [Ross] as we get through here, and we’ll try and keep as many of the players here that we can.”
Yeah, read that and it’s fucking bullshit. They have no flexibility. They have tied themselves up in the knots with 6 to 8 players, making 70% of the cap. And I’ve already restructured four or five of those once. You can’t just keep kicking the can down the road. He has fucked this franchise.
Matter of fact smythe was our 3rd leading receiver with 366 (and we know that’s not his game)
Cedric Wilson didn’t break 300 and that’s better than berrios or anyone else
Given all the games combined waddle and hill missed, that’s really bad
Berrios didn’t pan out the way I thought he would. Maybe that’s why he can’t stick with a team long term.
Ezukanma might be that 3rd WR but he was on IR all season.
I’d like him to get a chance next season. I like his game
I think he was going to be in mix this season but another fucking injury. We need some good fortune next season with injuries.
Krishna- my dad and I watched Cool Hand Luke every time we caught it on. Top 5 in my favorite movies
Yep…me too
I thought Berrios was going to do really well here, he was a big disappointment
Same here. He doesn’t get separation enough.
3 Miami Dolphins contracts that are holding the team back
The Miami Dolphins have some tough decisions to make this offseason before even getting to start of free agency. Some, not so much.
By Brian Miller | 5:00 PM EST
It doesn’t matter if the Miami Dolphins were “doing right” by a player or thought they were doing right by themselves, these five contracts were mistakes.
Miami is projected to be over $51 million against the cap when the league new year begins in March. That means they have to trim payroll. The cap isn’t a real thing, it can be manipulated and twisted so the Dolphins should have no problems getting to even and they could gain as much $100 million with some impressive bookkeeping.
…..While Chris Grier and Brandon Shore will play with all the numbers, they have to do better this year with how they handle deals so they don’t have to cook the books down the road.
Emmanuel Ogbah
$17 million in cap space for a guy that is backup these days is a brutal hit to the cap situation. The Dolphins gave Ogbah a huge contract coming off one great season. He was then injured and never got back to that level of play again. The Dolphins are going to eat at least $4 million in space.
Jerome Baker
Baker earned his paycheck in 2023 but his cap hit is still $14 million this year. Miami could recoup nearly $9.9 million but Baker played well this year and the Dolphins may keep him around. The last couple of years Baker hadn’t played at the level consistent with his contract.
…….
Terron Armstead
It is hard to move on from Armstead given the amount of dead money the Dolphins could carry but paying him $20 million and change and then wonder if he will play on Sundays is a risk as well. Armstead’s contract eliminates the possibility of the Dolphins finding a new left tackle without having to move that player to guard and still pay a premium.
Xavien Howard
Howard was once a top shutdown corner. Then he got paid and then he got mad that Byron Jones made more a year later so Chris Grier reworked his contract. He rewarded them with declining production and injuries. At $25 million in 2024, Howard’s contract is not an easy one to swallow and it hinders the Dolphins spending potential in free agency, especially trying to replace him.
Tyreek Hill
Hill so far has been worth ever single penny but at some point, his $31 million cap hit is going to be crushing. HIll would cost the Dolphins a whopping $54 million in dead money if he were released. MIami has no plans to do so but given his high pay, the Dolphins can’t spend as much at the position as they may like to. The Dolphins could buy three really good WRs for the price they are paying for Hill.
Before slamming the number three WR, look at their targets. Tua rarely looked their way. It was Hill or bust.
https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/miami-dolphins-most-targeted-wr-2023
Were they open, running the right routes etc.? It’s not just about targets.
I don’t know, because most of the time they showed Tua throwing to Hill. I do know they all had better reception percentages than Hill except for Wilson. In the case of Berrios, it was 81% to Hill’s 65%. I doubt they were running the wrong routes or not getting open. That is supported by how many times Tua threw to hill when he was absolutely blanketed. If he could throw into tight coverage to Hill, he could do it to other WR.
As far as WR, maybe Braylon Sanders can make that jump. He was signed to a futures contract along with Anthony Schwartz and Matthew Sexton.
As good as he is, Hill has held the team back in some ways. His goal of 2,000 yards ensured that the ball was going to him often to the detriment of other receivers, Tua, and the team. As Mike suggested, I would trade him in a heartbeat. Tua too.
https://x.com/aaronwilson_nfl/status/1753565575673004449?s=61&t=NWZ–WfgKu_dYbC-fKuB3A
Harbaugh was also stating how good this guy was and that he deserves a job at DC
Phish
In Waddle’s case, he missed 3 games and many quarters in the 14 games he played so his targets should be much less than hill
His targets per game are probably 2-3 less than Hill’s and that’s not a huge difference between a 1 and a 2 wr
The other guys might just not be getting open
🐆’s targets per game are 2nd in the league but they are very comprable with the 2 WRs in 3rd, 4th and 5th place (Lamb, Adams and St Brown)
https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/most-targets-per-game-2023-to-2024
So I don’t think the issue is we focused on Hill but I do think other people need to get involved
Like a few others said, I’m holding out hope Ezukanma comes around
But think about the guys that didn’t produce :
Berrios
Cedric Wilson
Chase Claypool
Cracraft
I think there was a role for any of those guys in this offense
Our FO really wanted to make a reliable 3 WR happen
The guys we added just didn’t produce
The biggest problem with Grier is a freewheeling atmosphere encouraged by Ross. I said way back when X got his first big contract that it was a massive mistake by Grier. You don’t pay a dude a gold mine for one good year. Especially CBs who fade after a great year all the time. It’s just stupid. Just like Rashad Jones, Mike Pouncey, Branden Albert, Armstead, etc, etc you don’t pay big for certain positions or injury prone players. They are prone for a reason! Grier pays too much to the wrong people.
Honestly, after seeing Demeco Ryan in his very first year just get it all right, I expect more from our dudes. By Game 2, the Texans had 4 starting OL out on IR. Look at this; https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-lynchpin-injury-for-the-2023-houston-texans/ar-BB1hCrdG
Somehow, the Texans with a first year QB and coach, injuries all over their OL all year, middling WRs, etc were able to win a playoff game. Do we really need the excuses? I don’t think so. Grier, MM, and Tua need to figure it out this year no matter who we retain. Because others have done it quicker and better.
I get what you are saying but Houston had a much softer schedule than the Dolphins did.
in September, right before the season started, Miami’s schedule was rated the 2nd hardest schedule in the NFL.
Yep, and we lost to every good team on it except the Cowboys, in which Jason Sanders was the offense
Last I checked Tua threw for about 300 yards against the Cowboys. Did Sanders lead the team down the field to get into FG position? As much as you say I am cherry picking you are doing the same thing. I also thought Wilson had some really nice runs in that game
The offensive scoring, 15 points. I saw Jordan Love light up that same defense, in a playoff game no less
They scored 22 points
Ken – I’ve put the stats up so many times you all probably know them by heart. The Cowboys game he wasn’t awful, but we were home, and we scored 1 TD. I don’t remember feeling like we dominated that game, I felt like we escaped with a narrow victory
Word on the street is we’re hiring Anthony Weaver as DC.
No one on my street is saying that. 🙃
😂
One of Carl Weathers’ last acting credits. Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Season 3
He also directed this whole episode and at least one other for The Mandalorian.
Ken – 15 for Sanders, 7 for Tua and Co.
Sanders didn’t throw the ball to himself while blocking Parsons. He scored 15 points because the offense moved him into FG range
Wonderful. That’s the winning formula in the NFL. It’s also why we lost the last 3 games of the season and the playoff game too
Last I checked we won against Dallas
Fist Pump
pheloniusphish says:
February 2, 2024 at 6:50 pm
As good as he is, Hill has held the team back in some ways. His goal of 2,000 yards ensured that the ball was going to him often to the detriment of other receivers, Tua, and the team…
————–
As soon as ‘Reek stated his mission of 2K yards in the preseason, I recall you predicting that it wasn’t a good thing… and I felt the same way, man. I wasn’t vocal about it at all, but I had a bad feeling about how the ball would be distributed in light of ‘Reek’s ‘guarantee’ of 2K receiving yards in ’23.
I think ya hit the nail on the head. The team seemed to be so engrossed in making it happen that peripheral matters fell by the wayside. And I would state that Waddle never would have ended up with 1K yards this past season had it not been for ‘Reek getting sidelined down the stretch.
I’m giving ya props, being I recall you being the first to mention such a matter and I think the ’23 autopsy of our team reveals said problem. And as such, I think Coach McDaniel must share in shouldering some of the blame… can’t put it squarely on Tua and his so-called “limitations”.
As I look at this list of single-season receiving yardage players, not too many had a prolific #2 WR to complement them. Yeah, there are always exceptions (I see Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt)… but it’s not the general rule.
More often than not, it’s one superstar WR who carries the water for a lack of other weapons. Most assuredly, we have more receiving weapons than just ‘Reek (*ahem*, Penguin).
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rec_yds_single_season.htm
Now in defense of a lack of distribution, Waddle got banged up pretty good in (I think?) week 2 of the season… he was battling injury all year long afterward.
But STILL… opposing Defenses realized that we were going to ‘Reek 90% of the time. So when a game plan was devised to shut ‘Reek down, we failed to make the necessary adjustments.
It’s not as though we didn’t have others to go to… we just kept on feeding it to ‘Reek.
I’m looking at all kinds of different metrics, stats, trends, etc… it seems as though every star player of ours has a very fugly wart(s), despite being a stud player. There’s just no consistency across the boards but for a few players.
Just for instance… Bradley Chubb led the team in sacks with 11. However, he’s such a liability in tackling… his 16.1 missed tackle % is among the league’s worst, plus he’s a LB who gives up a 108.1 passer rating in coverage. That pretty much fucking sucks!
I don’t know if a transition to 4-3 will work for him, especially coming off of ACL surgery.
This is but ONE MERE EXAMPLE of inconsistency… it’s KILLING ME!
And on the other hand, there is HUGE consistency and improvement from Christian Wilkins! All we get from Grief is: “He’s earned his way to become a FA”. WHAT??? 😡
Grief should have listened to me and traded for Roquan Smith instead of Bradley Chubb.
One last comment tonight and I’m done (in my Mark Levin voice, LOL). At least Punxataney Phil didn’t see his shadow today at Gobbler’s Knob. Good. Spring can’t get here fast enough and I’m tired of this freezing cold weather.
That’s it, I’m done! 🙂
Cincy has 3 really good WRs and they find a way to feed all 3. AJ Brown and Devonta Smith get their yards, Williams and Keenan Allen, etc, etc. On the opposite side, Kelce always finds a way to get catches, Edelman could, Amon St Brown is the catching offense for the Lions, same for Jefferson on the Vikes, etc, etc, etc.
The question becomes, can the fastest guy on the NFL suddenly not get open in Miami?! Or is the coach and/or QB the reason he can’t? Because a good offensive coach finds ways to get his dudes open and a good QB passes them open. A good offensive plan shouldn’t be easy to game plan against week after week after week. You find ways to get the best players involved week to week.
We have probably the fastest offense in the NFL and we should be able to take advantage of that. We left so many plays on the field and while our pass/rush ratio was pretty damn great, we could probably still have run more often. Tua needs to find his third option much, much, much more often. The WR with the 3rd most yards didn’t even have 300. That’s what’s wrong when both top WRs were injured a lot.
The Eagles crashed and burned down the stretch. Some other examples didn’t result in the ultimate ending either. Not great examples.
Playoff time and against good teams the officiating changes, they allow more grabbing and holding of the receivers, when that happens we don’t have anyone physical enough to combat it
#1 priority should be a brute TE, that gets yards after contact, and can pick up key 1st downs
I’m sad about Carl Weathers. RIP
💪🏾🥊🍻
^
This is one of the beaches I fish. It is in between Pensacola Beach and Destin, closer to Pensacola Beach. Great Pompano fishing. We just got sharks everywhere. It’s ridiculous. I am so glad our water is clear most of the time inside the sandbars. I’ve been in water up to my navel and watched a 4-5 footer swim right by 10 ft away from me. Those are mostly Blacktips and Spinner sharks. Just on the outer side of the sand bars is a whole mix bag of sharks; Bull, Tiger, Hammerhead, Dusky, etc. Lots of Tiger sharks actually. Dude dropped his gopro off the Pensacola Beach fishing pier in 18ft of water and got 4 tiger sharks in his frame at the same time. He wasn’t even at the end of the pier.
This was a very murky day after a storm front came through.
Ken
Back to the Dallas game. You want to give credit to Tua for those massive drives he engineered to get those 5 FG’s. On the first FG we drove 64 yards (due to penalties) and Sanders bailed us out with a 57 yard FG. FG #2 was a 6 play 31 yard drive for a 52 yard FG. Third FG was 5 plays 24 yards and once again, Sanders bailed us out with a 54 yard FG. Then the 4th FG was 10 plays 58 yards and Sanders nailed his 4th from 35 yards. The 4th quarter winning FG was a 13 play 49 yard drive. All in all, a very unimpressive offensive job by Tua and the offense coming away with one lone TD.
Jordan Love, who I’m sure most of us here have said “blows”, threw 3 TD’s with WR Romeo Doubs, WR Dontavvion Wicks, TE Luke Musgrave, and TE Tucker Kraft. You want to switch WR’s with Green Bay?
The 49 yard drive to win the game was a masterpiece. 64 and 58 yard drives nothing wrong with that
Most of the plays on that final drive were runs
There was some nice throws as including a couple of 3rd down conversions. It was a great drive. Balanced and time consuming but my point was the offense did that not Sanders
Gardner Minshew would make a great back up QB.
I was surprised how badly White played. I think the coaches should give Skylar a bigger shot at #2.
But yes Minshew is productive and threatens the defenses.
He is probably the best backup QB in football
I agree that we need more FORCE exerted on both sides of the ball.
I’ve been saying a TE / RB / WR trio who are BIG and play TOUGH will fix the finesse offense. When we had Wynn-Williams-Hunt, we had the interior OL we need .
If we can’t pay all 3, I say let Williams walk and draft a bulldog Center.
On defense we need more tackles made by 235 + pound LBs instead of so many times relying on 205-210 pound safeties.
Connor Williams is a Free Agent
That’s why I said, “let him walk.”
My point is until Tua steps up his play in big games, we’re never going to sniff a playoff win
Bingo
At this point I’ll take a competitive loss. At least break my heart at the end and not just be embarrassed all game.
Interesting. So, can we turn Holland into our version of Kyle Hamilton? And, will we decide to keep a guy like Baker who might fit in well in Weaver’s sort of defense?
Was wondering that myself. Should resign Brandon Jones also as a box safety.
We get significant cap savings by cutting baker after 6/1 , so even if he’s a fit he might be a cap casualty
I saw an interview today where weaver talks about being a physical defense and stopping the run
So I think that’s going to be a point of emphasis
Probably makes his job a lot easier if we sign Christian Wilkins
Piggy,
I have no idea how much Baker makes. Maybe they can restructure or something. Not a must to keep him…just typing out loud.
Basically, he’s probably the 2nd most likely player, after Howard, to be a cap casualty after 6/1 bc of the cap hit
I don’t know much about weaver or what he wants to run
I would like to keep baker, but he will probably have to agree to restructure to be in Miami next year
Piggy, not too much difference between a pre 6/1 and post 6/1 release on Baker. A difference of 1.2 mil.
PRE-6/1 RELEASE
2024 Dead Cap: $4,973,333
2024 Cap Savings: $9,900,778
POST-6/1 TRADE
2024 Dead Cap: $3,741,111
2025 Dead Cap: $1,232,222
2024 Cap Savings: $11,133,000
Baker is an UFA after 2024 so a restructure won’t work without extending him
If they release him pre 6/1, we would still have a cap hit of almost 5 mil. They could give him a new contract with an extension and reduce that 5 mil(ish) cap hit in 2024 even more. Question is how much is too much for Baker in 2025 and maybe 2026.
For some reason Baker still has some dead cap already in 2025 and 26 even though an UFA after 2024. I guess, maybe from an earlier restructure.
There is an 88 yo woman in jail with a no bond for battery on LEO. Skinny old thing. That cop should be ashamed of him/herself and embarrassed. I know who the 1st appearance judge is tomorrow morning. I bet she dismisses the case or at least gives her ROR.
I back most of the police/deputies around here and it pisses me off the way some people treat them and/or resist officers. But this lady?!? Come on, you can see she has something going on.
There are a couple decent ILB who will be available in the 2nd round if we decide to part ways with Baker.
Maybe coach Weaver can be the one who finally finds Tindall’s light switch. Or, and unfortunately more likely, yet another new defensive system to learn could set him back again.
Anthony Weaver. Meh. If he’s good at coaching up D-Linemen from mediocrity to champions, Christian Wilkins is gone.
And that would mean that we’ll be drafting a D-Lineman once again for like the 16th time over the last 20 years in the 1st round.
I’m not being *literal*, but y’all get the idea.
I look at it as this is someone who values a stout DL and wants to keep Wilkins
Rockphin,
I’m about to change my avi to darkness as you have, my friend.
Yep.
Ogbah for sure is gone, unless he takes a significant payout
Baker is 50/50
^
I agree. Baker could get an extension and reduce his hit this year. I don’t think he will get offered more than what he will get in Miami.
I forgot about ogbah
Yes he’s probably 2 behind Howard
But the money you free with Howard, Ogbah and Baker combined a lot
I don’t see Howard going anywhere. Especially if we are going back to more man coverage.
I do. Howard has been playing on rep the last couple years and is kind of a “me first” player. With Fangio gone maybe they will play rookies and young players. I gotta believe Miami had better options at corner than Apple last year.
Yeah, got a point
He’s real pricey in terms of the cap
Howard has another year or 2 based on dead money
Maybe he and Finkle 😜 will be injury free next year and be who we thought they were
who is Finkle?
Ace Ventura Pet Detective character
Both #5
https://www.nfl.com/news/dolphins-pro-bowl-ot-terron-armstead-hasn-t-made-decision-on-playing-in-2024-yet
I don’t see Howard back with us. You can’t count on him first of all.
Second we need to get young back there, I want Cam Smith or a CB we draft in there NOW! Howard had been hurting the last 3 seasons, groin, hamstring, other, all of the above.
If Armstead were to retire, some potential free agent LT’s (unless they resign with their teams). Some play both sides of the OL and, of course, some have/had injury issues.
Tyron Smith, Cowboys
Jonah Williams, Bengals
Donovan Smith, Chiefs
Mekhi Becton, Jets (played mostly at RT)
George Fant, Texans
Cornelius Lucas, Commanders
Kendall Lamm, Dolphins
Matt Peart, Giants
Man, this shit just looks so fun to me. Skiing in a blizzard.
https://www.kirkwood.com/the-mountain/mountain-conditions/mountain-cams.aspx
I’m no salary cap expert
But according to this, Howard’s salary cap is 25m
next season
If he’s cut before 6/1 his cap hit balloons to 27m
But if he is cut after 6/1 that cap hit spreads out and saves us a bunch of cap room in 2024, at least that’s my understands
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/xavien-howard-18986/
I think in this article the Herald explains it wrong
But see this article
https://amp.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article284145738.html
If we cut him now it’s a huge cap hit on dead money
But if it’s after the start of new league year (6/1) then it cannot all hit in 2024 and gets spread out so the cap hit is a little over 7m in 2024
This is why he saves us 18m in 2024 if he’s cut after 6/1
The other 18 m will be spread out through the rest of his contact
I think….
The nfl salary cap is about of a maze…lol
With ogbah
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/emmanuel-ogbah-18980/#:~:text=Current%20Contract,average%20annual%20salary%20of%20%2416%2C350%2C000.
You can see his cap hit shrinks form 17m to 4m in dead cap even before 6/1
Don’t know what it would be if he’s cut in or after 6/1
So Howard and his agent will have a nice long talk about this
And his agent will tell him if he’s cut he won’t get the guaranteed money that was in his contract
Then the Dolphins will call the agent and ask him to restructure in some way to get him paid more actual money that lowers the cap hit
And if he takes that, he can pay for more lap dances….lol
Ogbah is a little different bc it’s almost like you have to cut him unless he takes a serious pay cut and he will get more on the open market than that kind of pay cut
SPortrac has Jerome Baker at 14m cap hit in 2024
But less than 5m in dead money
As others pointed out, he is in the last year of his contract so the 6/1 date means nothing
If you cut him before or after 6/1 it all goes to 2024
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/jerome-baker-25172/#:~:text=Current%20Contract&text=In%202024%2C%20Baker%20will%20earn,dead%20cap%20value%20of%20%244%2C973%2C333.&text=Misc.&text=Contract%20Notes%3A,%2B%202021%20salary%20%2B%202022%20salary)
Actually not the last year
But the last year with a significant cap hit which is consistent with BBMike’s post above
Now I’m just confused…
So I will just go with the always reliable “Fuck Stephen Ross” as my final post on the matter…
Piggy – Fact is it’s crunch time. Guys we like are going to have to be sacrificed. We put ourselves in a very bad salary cap situation, so something’s gotta give. My guess is Baker is probably gone, along with Ogbah, and more than likely Van Ginkel too. The one player I think we have to prioritize is Christian Wilkins. What does that say about our organization if we let him go? If it’s financially beneficial, we should rid ourselves at Howard and give Cam Smith or someone else every opportunity to win the job opposite Ramsey. I would imagine the dreaded Tua extension will be coming as well, and that will save us some money this season, but could potentially dry fuck is in the ass later on.
Oh, after Wilkins, Robert Hunt is another guy we should try really hard to sign
Mike
I think the cap situation we are in is very workable
We are 51m over the cap
Those 3 players mentioned (Howard, Ogbah and Baker) can get us a big chunk of that back
If you end up doing a long term deal with Tua and it follows the Josh Allen Joe Burrow model – the big cap hit doesn’t hit 2024, as a matter of fact the structure of that deal will cut into that cap deficit
But that said – why can’t we have the same sort of deal with Wilkins and not re-sign Tua? 🤷♂️
I’m with you on prioritizing Wilkins
I’m a little scared about the concept of pushing cap hits to 2025 – 2027
The real problem with post 6/1 cap flexibility is you can’t make those moves until 6/1 – so you lose the flexibility you are going to have at the start of free agency on March
It doesn’t do us much good for the 2024 year if we cut a player in June to save 18m cap room other than actually creating more too
The other 18 m will be spread out through the rest of his contact
—–
No, it has to be paid in 2 years 24 & 25. That is why we are getting fucked on the Byron Jones contract this year with a 10 mil dead cap hit.
We can only designate 2 players as post 6/1 releases.
I bet Howard is one of them….lol
Yeah, possibly X and Ogbah then maybe work an extension on Baker and moving money forward.
Though, I need to look at X’s contract again
The real problem with post 6/1 cap flexibility is you can’t make those moves until 6/1 – so you lose the flexibility you are going to have at the start of free agency on March
——————
see above, you can free up that money in March by designating them post 6/1 releases. Only thing is you can only do it on 2 players.
Gotcha – well that’s good, so we can tell Howard he will be realized in 6/1 in March?
The strippers in So Fla are gonna be furious!
LOL on the strippers
We should just start doing what the Steelers and 49ers did once upon a time and start paying players off the books don’t doesn’t count against the cap…lol
If the league finds out then Ross and Grier will get fined
And the team might lose draft picks (Steelers lost a 3rd, 49ers lost a 5th)
But who cares if Ross is fined and Grier gives away picks anyway
It’s all fungible guys
Do it the right way
Start cheating….
😛
Some info about what Anthony Weaver will likely run as our DC.
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article285049987.html
Cam Smith is supposed to be better in man coverage than zone so maybe this new scheme will benefit him more. As long as he doesn’t revert to his biggest knock coming out in the draft and that was being too handsy. Get a few too many calls in college for that.
Also, going to more man coverage may bring back the Kohou of 2022.
^
Guys, we’ve been going over this for MONTHS now! LOL 😀
Just to get under the salary cap, there will be several huge $$$ cuts (the usual suspects we’ve been mentioning for months up to today)… there’s absolutely no way to get around as much. We can’t trade these players because NOBODY is going to take on their massive contracts vs what they’re truly worth.
We are — once again — in salary cap hell.
Only one I can think of be able to trade would be Baker. A team might take him with an agreement on a new contract offer reducing his 2024 salary. Then again, we could do the same.
I think Baker is worth keeping if we were able to do an extension.
I mean, the article Tim posted, Patrick Queen is expected to get a big deal in F/A. IMO, Queen is not that much better than Baker.
Yes… I’d like to see Baker back with us, but for FAR less money.
And with a position move to OLB.
We’re going to do what we have to do to keep most of the core team rolling as we try to compete for a championship. There are lots of ways of doing that. If that means pushing money down the road that’s what we will do. We’re not rebuilding and starting over, just keep that in mind.
I’m with ya, Tim. It’s too late and foolish to start a rebuild at this point. However, we’ve got a very small window by which to win a championship by pushing more money down the road.
It’s this year or bust to win a championship in the near future. That’s what happens when one goes all-in.
We’re trying to win in the present, and I for one am happy about that. We did the constant building and having lots of cap space for many years and it didn’t result in anything other than mediocre and no playoffs for the most part.
McDaniel on the Weaver hiring.
https://www.thephinsider.com/2024/2/3/24060825/miami-dolphins-defensive-coordinator-anthony-weaver-mike-mcdaniel-baltimore-ravens-vic-fangio
Guys, we’ve been going over this for MONTHS now! LOL
—————
We gonna be blue in the face standing around a bunch of beaten dead horses come March. LOL
We’ll know a lot more once FA starts about what we’re dealing with.
Yup! We’ll see what happens…
TRUE, BB Mike!
😆
Salary cap hell. No draft capital.
What was gained? Can’t beat winning teams and don’t compete in big games.
Alot of wasted money and draft picks to win games against the bottom half of the league. Some are happy with that.
Grier took his shot and missed.
I’m not so certain it was about Grief taking his shot and missing (YES, he’s got plenty to explain!)… I think it was more of Steve Ross deciding that it’s NOW or NEVER for him as an owner.
JMO… as a certain someone had predicted… 😉
I am frustrated as well. However, I do have to admit beating half the teams we beat and the way we beat them was fun to watch for a change.
So criticize him for trying to build a winner but because it didn’t happen right away even though we made the playoffs two years in row for the first time in two decades , that’s not enough either? It seems lots of draft picks, cap space and no playoffs is what makes some of you happy. 😉
We talk about pushing money to next year and beyond but we only have a projected 57 mil cap space in 2025 due to the same 6 players who are causing our cap hell this year. Top to bottom – Hill, Chubb, Howard, Ramsey, Armstead and Ogbah.
Ogbah is certainly gone this year either pre 6/1 or post. Either way his 2025 dead cap hit at the most will be 2 mil adding either 13 to 15 mil to that 57 mil projected cap.
If Armstead doesn’t retire, I think they keep him then we have a 2025 out clause or he retires next year.
If Armstead does retire, not sure how that works. Does his dead cap (24 mil) hit all in one year? Or does it come off each year to correspond with his contract and we just get hit for the bonus money each year until the original contract would have expired?
If so, we’d have a dead cap hit on Armstead of 6.3 mil in 24, 25 and 26 but a cap savings of 14 mil in each of those seasons. That’s probably it. I can’t see a team getting penalized for a player retiring.
So, an Armstead retirement and an Ogbah post 6/1 release would clear 29 mil in cap space this year and next.
A post 6/1 release on both Armstead and Ogbah would clear 23 mil in 24 and 22 mil in 25.
I think it’s fine going for it, but I think you better be real careful who you reward with a big contract. If they do indeed give Tua a big contract, they damn well better be right about that. He’s a Jekyll and Hyde player, it’s something they have to see. He’s a totally different guy against good teams, and that should be a huge concern going forward. You don’t need to compound the problem, and it’s just really lazy to say well he can help us with our cap this season and next if we give him a big contract. Every big contract will bite you in the ass if the player doesn’t produce. You don’t want to dig the hole any deeper than you have to.
I don’t think the team feels the same way about Tua that you do. They know the losses to “good teams” isn’t all about him. The entire team has to get to the next level. It’s also hard to do that without some of your best players and a lot of them not totally healthy. The injury bug hit us hard this season, all season. It started with Ramsey right out of the gate. It was ridiculous what happened.
Just remember a new deal for Tua frees up a lot of cap space for 2024. We’re not moving on from him, he’s the QB we’re rolling with. Just keep that in mind when you’re thinking about next season. Regardless of your own opinions, that’s what is happening.
Like I said in my post, that’s lazy though. If you don’t have the right guy, none of that matters. Look at the Giants, you don’t think they wish they didn’t give that contract to Daniel Jones?
Tua is much better than Jones. Jones doesn’t see the field well at all even at 6-5 and relies on his legs to keep things going. The problem is he’s not as good as Josh Allen.
It doesn’t matter that he’s better than Daniel Jones, it matters if he can be as good as Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and now even C.J. Stroud. If not, it’s a waste.
If you miss on this contract, say he gets hurt, or continues to struggle against better teams, we’re fucked.
Mike, if any team loses their starting QB they are fucked. It’s rare that a backup carries you through the finish line. Maybe holds the fort for a few games but that’s about it.
Everything a team does is risky. Not just us, but injuries to key players can derail a team. We’ve seen it many times over the years. You need some good fortune to win a championship. It’s not easy to win it all. So many things factor into it. But you can’t win anything if you don’t have a winning season and a chance in the playoffs. That’s where we’re at.
Here’s a piece of good news concerning the salary cap
The Bills are actually in worse shape than us. They are even deeper in the red than we are
And they have less to work with bc a huge chunk of their cap space is Josh Allen’s cap hit for 2024.
And if the bills are in cap he’ll too…maybe worse than ours…
And the jests are still relying on Aaron Rogers and the Rogers entourage
And the patriots are about to enter the No Belichick era
The AFC East is going to be open for us for a few years
So while I’m skeptical about pushing back the cap hits too far
Maybe this is our window….
Saints are worse (-82 mil) and seems like they are in cap hell like that every year but they make it work. I guess we shouldn’t be that concerned.
The thing with Tua, last year(2022), I remember, he was going head on, trying to make a play, get a first down etc and the comments were he needs to stop doing that, learn to slide, concede because he was going to get killed. He really didn’t stop doing that then, ended up hurt, missed games and all that. Offseason he learned how to fall and apparently how to slide and how to concede a play. I guess you can say he’s coachable because it seems he’s doing exactly what was asked. Or am I remembering this wrong?
Nope you’re spot on. But the season didn’t finish the way we wanted it to so we need scapegoats, happens every year. 😂
Not wrong at all. I’ve said he’s following direct orders from his Head Coach. On the other hand, now we’ve seen what happens when your QB plays “not to get hurt”. It hurts the team in a lot of situations, when he has an opportunity to get a first down if he stayed on his feet and tried for the extra yard or two rather than sliding. Also, never, doing a short yardage conversion behind the center like so many NFL QB’s do. I understand that we want him to stay healthy, but it limits what we can do just to keep him healthy.
Tua isn’t a running QB. That’s always his last resort. How does protecting himself from taking bad hits hurt us?
No playoffs or looking like a joke against above .500 teams? That’s the question?
I have no better feeling watching this team curl up into the fetal position time and time again when it matters just because of a soft schedule.
We didn’t have a soft schedule.
At the beginning. In the end it was one of the easiest SOS in the league.
Well, like many of you, especially Tim say, it doesn’t matter what I think, they’ll probably give Tua that 5 year $240-250M contract with $180M guaranteed, and then we’ll all have to pray that in addition to learning how to fall properly, that he can learn how to play better against better teams.
Tim, Tom Brady at 45 was still diving over center to get a first down. It takes things out of the playbook that the defense doesn’t have to consider, worry about. If a defense knows you’ll never dive over center with your QB, they don’t have to stack everyone up the middle. Also, if the defense knows you’re just going to throw the ball away instead of pulling it down and running if there’s a chance, or that you’re just going to slide before the first down marker when challenged by a defender, it’s easier on the defense. Can you not see this?
Brady was really good at it. So was their OL blocking it. Tua doesn’t meet every criteria you’d love to have but many other starting QBs don’t either. This idea about beating the top teams is mostly on him is not seeing the forest for the trees.
No, no it isn’t. Damn this shit drives me crazy! If he played well in those games and we lost, then yes, it wouldn’t be on him. The fact is, it’s so black and white and evident that he played poorly in every single one of them. Fuck the trees and the forest. lol
What was our starting lineup?
bailbondmike says:
February 4, 2024 at 1:19 pm
Man, this shit just looks so fun to me. Skiing in a blizzard.
https://www.kirkwood.com/the-mountain/mountain-conditions/mountain-cams.aspx
Reply
Kirkwood is the locals favorite place to ski because it has the most snow in Tahoe yearly
I hated it because the chairs were too slow, but the powder was great
Skiing in a blizzard is cool at first, but you can’t see shit, so…
I’ve still got my skis, boots and poles, if you want to give it a go😜
They got some decent intermediate runs there so I could do it. It’s only been 9-10 years since last time went skiing. lol
My friend said they had to shut everything down at 1pm (pacific time). They were going to close the highway.
Maybe the report I read wasn’t updated, but 6″ in 24 hours and 18″ last 48 ain’t shit for up there
And they have less to work with bc a huge chunk of their cap space is Josh Allen’s cap hit for 2024.
—————
And this is what MikeE has been arguing about and supports his argument. Look how these QB contracts are fucking their teams. We give Tua that Josh Allen money we could screw the team for a while.
Josh Allen’s cap hit this year is 47 mil and in 2025 it’s 56 mil. He’s already been restructured once.
The Bills were smart though. In restructuring, they put most of his $ in roster bonuses. The roster bonuses go away if traded or released.
The Bills owe Allen 139,090,281 mil over the last 3 years of his contract. They can release him and only be on the hook for 19 mil in dead cap because 65 mil of that is in roster bonuses.
This would be the way to do Tua’s contract. Put most of it in roster bonuses.
Say you give Tua this big contract, he gets another major concussion and decides to retire. Your fucked if you give him a bunch in signing bonuses but if it’s in roster bonuses it just goes away.
They restructured and extended Allen with a 258,034,000 mil contract. They only gave him 16.5 mil in signing bonus but gave him 96 mil in roster bonuses over the contract. That money goes away if they ever decide to part ways.
Injuries are a risk of any contract
Definitely. I was just trying to point out a smart way to lessen that risk in the form of roster bonuses vs. signing bonuses and base salary.
If you want any shot at Keep Wilkins and Hunt you have to restructure Tua’s contract. It is as simple as that
yep
Do it with roster bonuses that way we don’t screw ourselves if we have to part ways for whatever reason.
I don’t believe that’s 100% accurate. Of course it will be easier if you pay Tua less than $23M this season, but you may be trading one problem for another one.
What was our starting lineup? Really? That’s what you got?
So everything has to be just perfect in every game where we play a team with a winning record or else it’s excusable for Tua to suck. I’m not going back to look but unless a lot of guys got hurt when we put up 70 against the Broncos, we played the Bills the very next week. We hung 42 on the Panthers and then got beat by the Eagles. We scored 31 on the Patriots but only scored 14 against the Chiefs? See a pattern? I’m done trying to make people see it, because they clearly don’t want to see it.
Ken is like a politician, if you want the Wilkins and Hunt Bills passed, you have to accept the Tua bill as well. Pork!!! 🤣
LMAO
Piggy is not part of the bargain
HEY, did I mention using roster bonuses yet?
Yes!!!! Good idea!!
Sure…I’m not opposed to the off the books way either. Whatever works! 😂
We seem to lose draft picks all the time, why not. lol
It’s as simple as any money you’ve already paid or are on the hook for (full guarantees) must go against the cap at some point
You can use roster bonuses or just use what it really is non guaranteed money, difference is roster bonus might hit something like March 15 or whenever the league year starts, while currents years contract start the week of game 1
Yes, thanks
Hi Alain, big fan. Tua isn’t elite, but he has elite traits. At any time there aren’t more than 6 elite QBs in the league. Can’t the argument be made to sign him to a contract equal to his talent, really good, and use the difference of what an elite gets to put a team around him?
Hey Jason, I get your point, but “putting a team around him” is exactly what the Dolphins have done since 2022 and it’s what’s put them in the nasty cap situation they face. And all that talent they’ve accumulated has gotten the Dolphins nowhere in December against good teams or in the playoffs. What if this was as good as it gets with this nucleus? There’s enough of an unknown there with Tua and this current roster for me to continue to believe the logical approach is to have him play on the fifth-year option and revisit next offseason
Nasty salary cap because we’ve traded picks for high priced players
It hasn’t worked yet with all the injuries and missing parts, such as a TE to move the chains and be a redzone threat
I agree though that Tua will never be elite, despite what stats says
Not everyone sees things the same way. There will be a 2024 season and I’m pretty sure we’ll all be there rooting. 🙂
That I can agree with
🙂