Dolphins Truth has been waiting for the dust to settle before writing this latest article about all the recent cuts, signings, and other news.

While some media outlets were writing about Mike Wallace getting traded weeks ago, it didn’t happen until today.

And what about all the rumors of Charles Clay signing with the Bills?

Or how about NBC reporting that Dolphins TE Jordan Cameron is secretly heading back to the Browns.  Where do these guys come up with this nonsense, and how do they have the nerve to report these rumors as fact?

We at Dolphins Truth think it’s better to wait a minute, examine the facts, and then report on what is the Truth, not just a bunch of assumptions and guesses.  As it turns out, the Wallace rumors were true; the Clay rumors were not.

One assumption that did come true was the signing of Ndamukong Suh. (That is the first and last time I’m going to look up the spelling of that name. From now on, he is called Kong in my book.) This was a great signing, and Suh will truly spread some fear among opposing offenses for years to come.

Kong !

Did the Dolphins overpay him? Who cares…it’s not our money.

The guy is a beast, and it will be great to have him on this team.

On a side note, did you see the laughable press conference when he stated his reasons for coming here? All the silly nonsense about tradition and a great organization, a great coach etc.

Let’s face it, he came here for the money and–on top of that–because Florida has no state income tax.

  • In Florida, the state takes $0 from Kong’s $120 million.
  • If he played in California, the state would take more than $14 million, for example.

Let’s not fool ourselves. Kong is here for the same reason Jared Odrick signed with Jacksonville. No one signs up to play for an awful head coach unless it’s for the money.

Speaking of Odrick, I would prefer if he would have stayed. I will never forget the way he yelled at Joe Philbin on national TV. The guy had spunk, and he produced results. I think he was mis-used by Philbin/Coyle or he would have been far more productive.

The same goes for Randy Starks, who I believe will be missed more than Odrick.  Coyle/Philbin do too much situational substitutions, and it hurts our defense every single week.  Starks is considered a rush stopper, but that does NOT mean that you have to take him out on every single passing down. He’s a skilled bull-rusher, and that adds value to the line on 3rd and long.

The Dolphins were among the league’s worst teams when in came to stopping an opponent on third down. Randy Starks was on the bench on most of those third downs, watching the other Dolphin defenders allow a first down.

You’d think that eventually, Philbin would learn from his mistakes, but he never does. You know the Philbin philosophy by now: Why change the system when the current system is failing so consistently on its own?

Today we picked up speedy Saints reveiver Kenny Stills in a trade for Dannell Ellerbe. Remember last week when all the media were reporting that Ellerbe was (or would be) cut? Those reports are absolutely false, and it proves that the media will report on any old guess or rumor. Instead of cutting him and getting nothing, we got a great WR with a lot of upside.

Immediately, talks about trading Mike Wallace arose again, and then in an instant, Wallace was gone.  This is a grossly terrible move.  He has double the touchdowns of any other Dolphin.  Our fastest WR.  Our most experienced WR.   All because he wanted the ball more, he is gone.

Management refused to listen to the smart fans.  Refused to listen to Tannehill.  Refused to listen to Wallace himself.  Instead, they listened to Clueless Joe, who we understand called the shot on this disgusting deal.  The days of a non-exciting Dolphins offense are back for sure.

Stills replaces Hartline. But we still haven’t replaced Gibson.  And now we need to replace Wallace, our best scoring threat.

Speaking of our best players going to play for other teams, Reggie Bush is visiting the Patriots, which will be terrible news for the Dolphins if he signs.

Cornerback Brice McCain was an interesting signing. It’s great to have him, and he can immediately fill in for the retired Cortland Finnegan. I am pleased that the Dolphins brought him in, because our other corners have not proven themselves, and I don’t think they ever will.

Shelly Smith was cut. Not a great loss, but I don’t want to jettison too many offensive linemen. We are weak at that position, and losing Smith and Nate Garner deprives us of some depth.

Philip Wheeler never panned out, but he wasn’t horrendous either. It’s not his fault that Coyle constantly asked Wheeler to cover WRs and tight ends. That being said, Wheeler never produced a big play when we needed him most, and our Wheeler memories are mostly negative. If we want an average linebacker, we can stick with Jason Trusnik and pay him a lot less money. Wheeler played average while he was expected to excel. It was not a productive couple of years for him.

Did you see Joe Philbin‘s interview after the Suh signing? Philbin is so dry and downcast, no matter what is going on around him. A reporter asked Philbin about how to use Suh, and Philbin immediately went into his boring tales about “we’ll have to take a look at that, etc.”

No, Joe. Here is the answer: “We are going to use him every single down. Period”

It really hit me that Philbin doesn’t know how to use his men, See our Starks comments above. Joe thinks that the system is more important than the players.

If he thinks Suh is a good run-stopper, he will take Suh out of passing situations. That will help the opponent. It’s just the way Philbin operates.

We’ve all heard his nonsense talks about down-and-distance and Kodaking and “they were the better team today,” and “I put us in the best position to win” etc. But have we ever heard…just once…Philbin say anything along the lines of “I just put Cameron Wake out there and let him get after the QB”

He never talks about the grit and skills of his players. He says the same nice-nice stuff about his stars as he says about the 4th stringers. in other words, he thinks his coaching is more important than letting the players do their job.

He was talking about Suh the same exact way he was talking about signing Jason Fox. The guy has no idea of how to use his tools.

38 Comments

  1. Which is why Philbin will never be a winner

    Even if Robert kraft call Ross and said he would swap all his players for all of roses players for the next year the Dolphins would still end 8-8

    The system sucks

    1. Author

      Some people might think Brian M is exaggerrating, but I truly agree with him. Philbin is far too concerned with putting his system’s imprint on the game than in watching what’s going on out there and reacting. Philbin wouldn’t allow Tom Brady to pass as much. He wouldn’t allow Darrel Revis to cover the opponent’s #1 WR. He would call timeouts when the opponent needed a rest. It’s the same garbage moves week in and out.

  2. To me this transcends Philbin I think Ross likes approch. I have an appointment this morning so my time is limited but it seems like when really talented players come to miami they are doomed here and when they leave they do very well with their neW team.

    Hartline and wallace should be thanking their lucky stars look at what happened when Marshall went to chicago. While he was here they kept him wrapped up most of the time

    This system sucks until it’s blown up from the top down it don’t matter who we sign were 8-8 or 9-7 at best which in our divison still won’t get us to the play offs so don’t get excited about who gets signed the results will be the same

  3. I think Greg Cote got it right in his column:

    “The pressure, of course, isn’t on Suh at all.

    He’s going to do his thing, attract nonstop double-team blocking and still be dominant.

    No, the real pressure is on the team’s management and especially on coach Joe Philbin — all the folks owner Stephen Ross will likely sweep out of here if the season ends with yet more disappointment.

    See, that’s the thing about the Dolphins landing Suh.

    It does not guarantee you will win or succeed.

    What it does is leave you out of excuses to explain why if you don’t.”

    Maybe thats’s why Mr. Philbin didn’t look so overjoyed in the photo:

    1. Case in point, just look at this picture you posted. Which one of these men appears to be attending a funeral? Ok that was mean – Clueless Joe does have the slightest facial expression that might be misconstrued as a subtle smirk.

      Canning my sarcasm, if you were the head coach wouldn’t you be f-ing thrilled Kong just joined your defense? Once again a picture speaks a thousand words.

  4. Any excitement or optimism one feels after finally signing the best DT in the nfl, is instantly dashed as soon as “queasy” Joe opens his mouth afterwards, and says he is looking fwd. to seeing how Suh fits into our scheme of things here.

    Just that one (idiotic) comment from clueless Joe shows you what lies ahead for Suh, and it won’t take him very long to learn just how clueless his HC really is. Unfortunately, I see many more fines and game suspensions in Suh’s future with the fins, due to the awful, (well documented on this website) incompetence of our HC !!

  5. AJ I couldn’t agree with you more. I mean what team TARGETS a high profile player in free agency, pays through the nose for the guy, lands the guy and didn’t (before the proccess began) know how he would fit into the scheam?

    If Joe Robbie still owned the team and philbin (who wouldn’t be the head coach under this senerio but for the sake of this ministration lets just pretend that Joe Robbie would hire Philbin) said something like this how long would it take for Robbie to address the media to correct his idiot coaches comments.

    KONG must be wonder what the hell he got himself into after meeting this group of incompetents but hey expectations will be low and he gets those big paychecks

    1. Author

      Kong is getting his money, and I bet that’s all he cares about. I don’t blame him, I’m just saying. There must be people in Kong’s inner circle (agent, NFL friends, etc) who warned him about how inept Philbin is, yet he went to Miami anyway. The girls, the tax-free money, the nightlife…those are reasons to join the Dolphins. Joe Philbin is the anti-reason.

  6. I’m actually ok with the Wallace trade as they weren’t using him anyway so why pay that much for a guy you can replace in the draft. Stills will probably come close to matching his numbers as well. I’m not saying that it’s a good move as I like Wallace but they didn’t let him fit but when they did try to use him he didn’t always come through like a Dez Bryant would. Maybe they find that player in the draft and become stronger especially in the endzone. Cameron will be a help there and if Clay stays they could cause some trouble!

    1. Author

      Flyer has a good point, but it’s still wrong that they weren’t using him. Philbin has a terrible history of over-using his mediocre talent and not using his stars. That’s why the Suh signing is scary as hell. I can see Philbin using Suh only on passing downs. I can see Philbin talking about “we have to save his energy for later in the year.”

  7. Hickey, Philbin, Lazor….all nitwits. You know I’m nty okay with losing Wallace – AT ALL. Yes, we didn’t use him to his potential, but we moved him around, sent him long on occasion, and he usually drew a lot of double teams. Double teams that allowed the other guys 1 on 1 matches to win (which sometimes they couldn’t). It allowed less pressure on the O-line to protect Tannehill (and the protection was better last season then the one before when Sherm was in charge and had no creativity with the offense or Wallace). And Wallace being there forced the defense to respect his speed and double him, not allowing the D to cheat up to the line and rain in on Tannehill and the running game – remember how terrible our running game was 2 years ago and more? Welcome back).

    People might say “Oh, but we got Stills!” Stills is no Wallace, he will not put up 10 TDs like Wallace did while still being under utilized – which should speak volumes of Wallace’s importance to the offense. Stills is a faster Hartline, he won’t blow the cover off the defense. He won’t command constant double teams, and I don’t think he would be good enough to beat double teams and still be effective as Wallace.

    Losing Wallace is a big deal, bigger than a lot of fans are willing to admit, and yes, Minnesota got the better of the deal if AP returns, the much better end of the deal. Some fans might say “oh, he has a bad attitude” or “he quit on the team” to that, I say you are an idiot and sheep. Wallace was benched, you can’t quit if your told you are not going to play. Wallace wanted the ball and wanted to go deep because he was beating his guy routinely and the Saftey was crashing down. Lazor is a total tool, ,y way or the highway type of guy, and he didn’t want to hear Wallace “tell him we need to go deep, give me the ball” anymore so he had the WR coach tell Wallace he is benched. If you think a guy wanting the ball more, who is your best player by the way and can turn the tide of a game on 1 play and putting the ball in his hands gives you the best chance to win – if you think that is a bad thing, then The Dez Bryants, Rice, Moss, Irvin, Carter, Brown, all those guys were problem children, even the great Mark Clayton because ALL of those guys at one point or another wanted the ball more.

    1. Author

      Rod…if only other Dolfans were as smart as you, we’d have a much better fan base. I keep reading all the ESPN comments, and it is truly baffling to see so many Miami fans who think it was great to get rid of Wallace. No, it was terrible. We just took or best offensive player and traded him for some draft pick who won’t amount to anything. How is that wise?

      1. Thank you for the compliment. It is not, not by a long shot and we basically gave him away for peanuts.

        Sometimes when I see fans post the some of the thoughtless and absurd comments they do I think how can some people be so foolish and thoughtless. Then I think about the documentary that followed Lucky, RG3, Wilson, Tannehill, and Weeden. Specifically there was one deranged, maybe high as a kite fan, sitting watching a Dolphins practice who said something to the effect of Tannehill having us in a SB within 2 years and how he was going to better than Marino, much better. I think back to that and “oh, that is how fans can be so dumb”

  8. Overpaid Mike Wallace being compared to Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Chris Carter, or even Dez Bryant. AHAAAAA!! Hilarious!! Thanks Dolphinstruth for giving me my laugh for the day.

    1. Stupidity at its finest. Dude, go back to elementary school, you clearly missed reading & comprehension.

    2. Yeah who needs Wallace. We have the mighty Rishard Matthews good for 19 or 20 TDs a year. Not

  9. Wallace might have been overpaid but that wasn’t his fault…. fact is he was a star and just because philbin couldn’t figure out how to use him (3 step drop and toss the ball 40 yards and let him make the damm play) oh yes what the hell we couldn’t possibly trust a 100million dollar player to make a play like that lets keep the game close and trust a rookie CB to keep the other teams star receivers from winning the game! Ya that = 8-8

    So now that we have given Wallace away (Rod already highlighted the stupidity of that move) we have all this money to go restock the roster right?

    With who?

  10. Rod I don’t disagree but the fact is they weren’t using his talents correctly so yeah Stills could easily match his production or close for far less money….that could be spent elsewhere. For some reason they don’t like confident players who want the ball? We’ll see if their approach works but every team has outspoken alpha males…they need to deal with that or they’ll be fired.

    On another note I believe that they will need to let Clay go. Too much cash and I’m worried about his injuries. Good TE but Cameron will be better in the redzone which is where they lacked. I’d rather see them find another WR a tall one to add another decent redzone target as they can get inside the 20 but couldn’t finish enough. Sims isn’t a bad 2nd option anyway and is cheap. I guess we’ll see but too bad I liked Clays effort but that’s a poison pill deal…

    1. I dunno, I’m not sold on Stills and definitely don’t think the production and his overall presence will be as good as Wallace’s. Hell, we force fed the ball to Marshall the whole time he was here and he didn’t even put up 10 TDs in two years let alone one. Hopefully you are right and I am wrong, but a lot of people are acting like Stills is an upgrade and or has more upside – which doesn’t appear to be the case to me because I’ve watched film on him in the pros (who gives a shit about college, look no further than Ted Ginn’s highlight reel to see what I mean). Hopefully they actually put work (good work) into the o-line so Tannehill won’t be running for his life because that also plays a factor into the production of the other skill players. Financially he is definitely an upgrade, but a couple of days before he was traded Wallace was open to restructuring his contract, which would have freed up some cash, but Dennis Hickey is Dennis Hickey and Joe is Joe.

      Yeah, definitely agree with you on Clay. I love Clay, even since he was drafted I liked him. He was drastically underutilized and under appreciated until 2 years ago, but was still under utilized. Clay is a nightmare for opposing LBs and Ss, they can’t cover him. Unfortunately he isn’t a real TE, never was, he was drafted and used as an H-back before being converted to a TE. From the goaline to the 20 he’ll kill you, but in the redzone he become invisible and that is way too much money for a guy who disappears in the most important part of the field.

      Sims definitely got better as the season went on. He had way to many drops on easy passes and was careless with the ball through most of the season. About the final 6 games or so, he became more and more reliable. Hopefully he keeps on improving.

      I’m hoping in goal line situations they use Cameron, Sims, and even Jordan in packages, that would be insane and tough to defend.

      1. Author

        Clay is good, not great. Or at least he is great, but not superb. I( feel he is one dimensional—a fine pass catcher. But the TE position needs to be more than that. he needs to blow defenders off the ball on running plays. He needs to stay in on certain pass plays and become a strong extra blocker. Clay did none of that. He runs great routes, but that’s about it. I’d love to keep him, but I don’t think it’s panic time if he goes.
        The real question is why we didn’t pick up Jimmy Graham when the Saints were getting rid of him.

        1. Graham? While he is a talent, elite talent, his blocking is not what he is known for or even a plus of his, he is a fast TE with GREAT jumping ability and hands. He works and has florished because the system he is (was) in, but i doubt he could be as effective in a pro-style or west coast offense, which requires a TE to block. Plus, could we actually afford him?

          As for Clay, what a lot of people forget is that he wasn’t drafted to be or play TE, he lacks the physical capabilities to be one. He was an H-back in college and drafted as one. Miami basically put a peg into a circle by putting Clay at TE. And yes, he could be very effective, but only from the goal line to the 20, inside the twenty he was just a body. In terms of redzone threat, Cam is definitely up upgrade.

  11. Stupidity? An insult from a guy that just compared Mike Wallace telling his coaches that he wasn’t going back in the game unless he got the ball to some of the best true #1 receivers in the game asking for the ball more. Problem is Mike isn’t a true #1 receiver. And maybe Lazor just wasn’t that excited about opening the offense up to a receiver whose only asset was speed and who would never ever catch a deep ball if it wasn’t perfectly thrown because for some inexplicable reason he refused to ever sellout to catch a pass. There were at least three to five catchable deep balls the past two years that he didn’t get because he refuses to ever extend himself for the ball. Now to his credit he was markedly better as an overall receiver this year and made some big catches but if a guy tells his coaches that refuses to go in the game unless he gets the ball that’s pretty much career suicide. At least telling your boss something like that in the real world is. How can any coach maintain order after that if they let any player get away with something of such a nature? Riddle me that. Mike Wallace was the highest paid Dolphin for two years and one of the highest paid receivers. Now at his contract size, his first year cap hit was around 17 mil, he should either have been a top five player at his position league-wide or at least the best player on the team. He was neither. Looks at guys at his position with similar contracts. Calvin Johnson for instance would be the best player on over half the teams in the league and the second best on the rest. Suh was the only player on his roster hands down better than him in Detroit but that’s Suh. How many teams have a Suh level talent(elite) player regardless of position? Point is Mike had to get cut. At that salary you need intangibles like leadership. Meaning you don’t refuse to quit if you don’t get the ball. You go out there and impact the game other ways. When have you ever seen Mike put a killer block on anybody a la Hines Ward? When have you seen Mike actually put a great downfield block on anybody? Big player receiver making lead receiver money. Hell, making top five lead receiver money. Trust me, he’ll be restructuring to stay in Minny. They won’t keep him around next year at that price. Devante Parker and Dorial Green-Beckham are guys that should be around when we draft at 14th. Parker would be a great addition due to his size, length, vertical,and the ability to high-point footballs in traffic consistently. You know, attributes that a true #1 receiver should have. And to insult someone you should at least know your players. Kenny Stills is a comparable player to Mike Wallace. Not quite as fast but his skillset is similar and he actually has a better understanding of the finer nuances of downfield receiving/route running. Meaning he knows how to get open downfield. Speed is over-rated at the receiver position if it’s primarily what that player relies upon. Makes you one-dimensional. Does that sound like someone you know? Oh by the way, Crabtree is still on the market. He’s a match-up nightmare when healthy and would fit our short to intermediate passing offense perfect. He just needs to be paired with the right qb/system.

    1. Yes, and at it’s finest. At first I laughed upon reading your post because I glanced all the way at the bottom and saw you suggested picking up Michael Crabtree – that alone spoke of your football knowledge and I.Q. But I decided, why not indulge you?

      I see you are a man of narrow thought. Compared? As competitors and guys with a desire to win? Yes, definitely, and that is what was intended in the comment, but I see you took it to …well, wherever you wanted to instead of simply asking – you assumed, like most careless and thoughtless people do.

      I don’t think you are …enlightened at all. Wallace is suppose to sellout for a ball? Nearly all of Tannehill’s passes to Wallace were under-thrown, or dramatically overthrown… I love to see Jerry Rice or Cris Carter, even Randy Moss dive 5 yards (15 feet for those keeping track) for a ball – that is just ridiculous to expect and ask for when some of the best athletes the NFL has ever seen aren’t capable of doing so.

      Lazor not wanting to open the offense to a speed guy? Clearly you know nothing about Lazor. Tannehill is a very intelligent guy (he had the option of being a surgeon had he not wanted to play football) and a very capable QB but does Lazor eve let him audible? FACT – NO! And even Tannehill and the rest of the offense had standoffs with Lazor about taking more shots down-field – this is ALSO FACT and can’t be disputed – if you kept up with Dolphin news you would know this. Wallace also told his coach he refuses to go back into the game unless he gets the ball? Where do you get this nonsense from, do you even read from credible sources or check them? Wallace got into a heated argument with Lazor about getting the ball to him deep because not only was he beating his guy routinely, but the Saftey was crashing down on, leaving Wallace 1 on 1 (go watch the game if you didn’t catch it the first time) but Lazor is a tool and he will only do it his way and nobody else’s. So what resulted from the heated exchange was Lazor sending the WR Coach to TELL WALLACE HE WAS DONE FOR THE DAY. That’s right, not only did Lazor not have the balls to do it himself, but he BENCHED Wallace, Wallace didn’t take himself out of the game like so many sheep swear happened. They swear things happened that way but yet Hartline and Gibson went on record saying that Wallace was benched. Coincidentally, both are gone. Anyway, I digress.

      First year a cap hit of 17 mill? You are ridiculous and a troll, because you can’t be that ignorant. Wallace and the offenses lack of production in his first season was a product of Mike Sherman’s lame and predictable offense – hence even Tannehill publicly stated he lost confidence in Sherman (career suicide for denouncing your coach?) – hence Philbin was given a task he did not want to do, which was fire his buddy and mentor, Mike Sherman. Now a year later in a new more open offense, Mike Wallace puts up 10 TDs and Ryan Tannehill throws for over 4K yards and Miller runs for over a K. All because of a new unpredictable offense and definitely because of the presence of Wallace. The curious part about Wallace was he scored 10 TDs without even being used properly… now imagine if he was, we could tack on 5 to 7, maybe even 10 more TDs to his 10. And I never seen Rice or Carter or Moss put killer blocks on anybody … your argument and point are moot. Wallace was brought in to make the offence better and give Miami its first legitimate deep threat in years, which he did. If you are too narrow minded to see that, then that is just how you are.

      Insult? i was just pointing out the obvious 😉 Stills is not even in the same ball park as Wallace in the speed department. Ok, one final point of yours I will put to bed. Basically you are saying Wallace is a one trick pony, right? Fascinating how a one trick pony could put up 10 TDs when he wasn’t using his one trick. Curious, isn’t it? – OMG, maybe he isn’t a one trick pony after all and all that talk that he is is just hatorade from the jealous and uneducated.

      Before you come off spouting like you actually know anything about football, do yourself a favor and look at the whole picture, use critical thinking, or just don’t say anything at all, you would look a lot smarter.

  12. Author

    The Wallace debate continues. And now even the Pouncey brothers are weighing in and mouthing off. These are the same two brothers who publicly show support for Aaron Hernandez. Mike Pouncey barely escaped unscathed from the Wells Report. They’re not exactly scouting experts, ya know?
    I still say Wallace was by far the best receiver on our team. He really started to heat up as the year progressed. Personally, I love the fact that he got in the coaches’ faces about being open. A smart coach would AT LEAST listen to what he was saying and review some film at halftime. But in Philbinland, any player who speaks to a coach is traded or cut. Just ask Jared Odrick. Or Reggie Bush. Or All Pro Brandon Marshall. Or All Pro Vontae Davis.
    Let’s be clear about this: Wallace was not cut because of money or because of lack of production. he was cut because he told the coaches he was getting open. And Joe Philbin simply does not allow his players to talk back to the coaches.
    It’s a ridiculous system that costs us great players every year

    1. I saw that, but what really gets me about that is they didn’t even mention Wallace’s name once. To me it just seems like an interview where a general question(s) was asked then they took snippets from the interview and said “they said this about Mike Wallace” – for all we know they could be talking about Jonathan Martin.

      Exactly! That was the issue, questioning and getting in the coaches faces. While I don’t think getting in a coaches face should be applauded unless it is provoked, one thing I have noticed (besides Lazor being a tool and not wanting to listen to the players) is Philbin doesn’t like any players to be in power positions, we all saw it first hand with him dissolving the players council on Hard knocks and he doesn’t tell Lazor to give Tannehill the power to audible. A coach should be open to taking suggestions from his players, that is what makes a good coach or supervisor or boss – no one should rule with an iron fist. Bush was vocal and he was sent packing under the guile of “he moves to much east and west, not enough north” …guess based on that Miller should be next to go.

      But Marshall and Davis being sent packing were definitely warranted. Marshall dropped more passes than Ginn and… well, besides all the on field stuff, he always got injured in the off season which prevented him from getting in sync with the rest of the team during camp, and the final straw outside of not producing up to his contract was him and his wife getting arrested at the club for assault a day or two before the trade.

      Davis, management just had enough of his ass. Since his rookie year he was constantly late to meetings and at times would show up drunk to these meetings or practice and break curfew. Two years in a row he came into camp out of shape and that was pretty much it. Oh, let’s not forget his inconsistent play. I did like Vontae, loved how physical he was, attacking the run when it came his way unlike bitchass Sean Smith. Also, his hands were GREAT, but he was inconsistent, unprofessional, and immature. It is hard to believe he did all of this considering who his older brother is, but clearly they are(were) two different people.

  13. Kenny Stills not on the same level speed wise? Wallace ran a 4.33 at the combine. Stills ran a 4.38 at his combine. A .5 second difference. Yeah I agree Stills is way out of his league. So far out of his league that he became New Orleans primary deep threat in his first two seasons in the league. As far as Wallace I do remember mentioning that he had a much better year in 2014 than he had in 2013. However if you go back over his entire time in the league he has only had double-digit tds only one other time and has never had an 80 plus catch season. A primary receiver that has never caught 80 balls in a six year career while playing several full seasons and at the cap hits the Dolphins were taking for him. Him being cut was too be expected. The sideline tiff last year just exacerbated it. I would have prefered them to cut him after the coming season when his dead money was off the books or to even restructure him to a more cap friendly cap hit because he is a talented player and he is dangerous but he’s no week to week game-changer like you seem to purport. If he was he would have never hit free agency in the first place. Pittsburgh didn’t re-sign him because they were in a bad cap situation and he wasn’t an irreplaceable player to a team that actually drafts well. Any Jeff Ireland free agency splash picks from 2013 were destined to get cut by the new Dolphins front office because they were either poor fits or underperforming their contracts or both. Hartline, Gibson, Wheeler, and Ellerbe were all going to be cut in the offseason soon as free agency approached for the aforementioned reasons. Your assertion that the receivers were cut for sticking up for Wallace is absurd. Hartline, while a steady contributor in the past, was due to make 6mil a year. After Landry emerged his goose was cooked as he was pushed to the 3rd receiver spot. Who pays a #3 receiver 6mil a year? And Gibson dropped enough balls last year and struggled coming back from his injury to warrant his release somewhat. As far as your comments about what happened on the sideline I can only go from the info I get off the sports reporting sites I read daily to get my news on the Dolphins and other teams that I follow and of course you never know what is accurate or not so let me apologize for being such as troll. Excuse me also if I don’t necessarily accept your explanation of the events of Wallace’s benching as fact even with it being so well-crafted and despite it sounding so plausible simply because this is the first time i’ve heard it. It could be the truth or simply be something you made up for arguments sake. Maybe you were on the sideline that day too. Keep in mind that Wallace publicly complained about how he was used and not getting the ball deep after wins. First game of the season last year when we blew out New England ring a bell? To me that says that he wanted to catch deep balls and make big plays more than he wanted to win. I could be wrong about him. Tanny spreads the ball around and is not a proficient deep thrower at this point so Mike may not have ever been truly happy in Miami or even content. Good luck to him in Minny. And you’re laughing because I said Crabtree. Attitude questions, achilles injury aside. He was a pretty good target in the short to intermediate passing game for Alex Smith and Kaepernick and is not afraid to go over the middle consistently. And he posted solid numbers in a run heavy offense playing with some less than impressive qbs. But please show everybody how you know so much more than this troll who suggests he would be a solid pick-up. And in closing, as far as Mike’s ten tds. Lazor did do a better job of utilizing him in scoring situations. Mike made some great catches in scoring situations this year but there were also obvious attempts to get him the ball in red zone situations so he could be the one to score and specifically to keep him happy. Example being the Detroit game where they sent him in motion down near the goalline and hit him with a swing pass that any receiver on our roster could have walked in. So I’m sure they were tired of his ass considering whatever they did to apease him he wouldn’t be happy regardless. Signed troll that knows his players and there cap numbers and knows when they don’t fit. Might not hurt you to know yours a little better.

    1. So you took a couple of days to do some research… at least you are trying. But alas your lack of common sense astounds me still. 40 times me nothing once pads go on, anybody with common sense and football knowledge knows this, you should too. Some guys are just as fast with pads on, most guys lose speed with pads.

      And Wallace isn’t a primary WR like say Marshall is, a guy who gets force fed the ball. Could Wallace be, sure, why not? But in Miami when you are only getting 6 maybe 7 TARGETS at most a game (that doesn’t mean you will get the ball, just means you are the first read – a defensive shift or change in coverage may dictate the QB to move on to his 2nd and 3rd read) not much you can do. And once again, it all goes back to Lazor and his play calling, which I’m pretty sure we can all agree can be over cautious and frustrating at times, maybe even a bit too repetitive. Lazor doesn’t utilize his players well at all. How many times did he abandon the run way too early? Not use Clay? Couldn’t get Hartline involved in the game or simply not dare take a couple of shots down field to keep the defense honest in some games?

      In Pittsburgh Wallace did turn the tide in games or greatly improved field position because Big Ben could actually hit him down-field and Pittsburgh wasn’t afraid of taking shots down-field. But since Wallace left, Pittsburgh hasn’t been the same offensively have they? If you say they have then you don’t keep up with the rest of the league – and no, they haven’t gotten better. Make no mistake about it, they miss Wallace and I’m sure if they could afford it, they would love to have him back because he is a game changer and momentum swinger.

      The sideline blow up is a result of a guy wanting to give his team the best shot to win and he was tired of not being heard, not being used to his full potential, and his OC refusing to take into account his concerns, which was echoed by Tannehill and co. throughout the season. Personally, I would like a guy like Wallace who has a competitive fire in him like Marino did (do you know at all how Marino would yell and curse at his o-line and WRs and even Gary Stevens when those guys would mess up? guess we should have traded away Danny boy too right?). But I guess it would be safe to assume you would want a drone playing for you with no voice or thought of his own, a guy who won’t tell you you are doing wrong when you are doing wrong or could be doing better. The sign of a good leader is taking into account what those around have to say – Lazor isn’t a good leader and neither is Joe.

      And that swing pass you are talking about, Wallace was fast enough to make it, none of the other guys would have been. As for the Patriots game, was Miami in control the whole game? NO! They had to come back after halftime, it literally was a tale of two halves. Mike commented he would like to have taken more shots down-field because the defense was crashing down, that is his forte and there were a few times he shook Revis, so why not?

      Crabtree is a joke, acquiring him would be acquiring an inferior Brian Hartline because he lacks breakaway speed like Hartline, he isn’t faster than Hartline and he is a poor route runner unlike Hartline, nor are his hands as good as Hartline. Shit, if we get the Crabs, may as well trade him for Hartline, why take a step backwards? Jennings would be a much better pick up, even Wayne, and that is outside of his (Crabtree) bad attitude (funny how you talk about Wallace’s attitude but have interest in Crabtree when he has a bad attitude for no reason) and injuries.

      Say what you want about Alex Smith and Kap, but both are pretty decent options for QB (not superstars, but serviceable guys who can win some games) and both would put balls in his hands and he would drop some pretty catchable balls. And it says a lot that Vernon was considered the biggest threat on offense and not Crabtree.

      As far as caps numbers go, Wallace was willing to restructure and since Miami is in a win now mode, as per Ross’ mouth, they could have kept him one more year before sending him off. Also could have asked Grimes or Wake to restructure, but that would make too much sense, right?

      And do us all, if not me a favor. Act like you went to school and learned about writing, break up your sentences if you are going to write novels (which I don’t mind reading) – less strain on the eyes and I would be more inclined to read if it was done. Otherwise I won’t give a though-out response and this won’t be fun anymore.

  14. Author

    No we are officially without Charles Clay. Tannehill will have to find new favorite targets, and soon.
    I think the money issues are overrated. I do not care how much we pay whom. It’s not our money, folks. Who cares.
    Name me one superstar All-Pro who we had to release strictly because we had no money? NONE! Teams creatively bend the cap every single year. It’s a fact. If you want to retain a player, it’s easy.
    No, it’s not about money. It’s about Joe Philbin not knowing how to use his players. It’s about Philbin’s belief that only silent players ae acceptable. Philbin thinks that if you are quiet with your words, then that is more important than scoring TDs. Are these jusy my opinions? Perhaps. But they are opinions backed up by three long years of facts.
    We don’t have to debate if Wallace was traded because of his 40 time being 0.5 seconds better or worse than someone. No debate about Wallace’s salary. I’m telling ya, those factors are irrelevant. Wallace was traded because he spoke up.
    Just like Odrick. Reggie Bush. Marshall.

  15. While I agree that Philbin sucks as head coach and has jettisoned good players that we need like Dansby simply for being outspoken the fact still remains that they guys that were cut were on terrible contracts. Nice guy, model citizen, locker room cancer either or. Mike’s days were numbered as soon as Ireland was axed. Dan Marino was the face of the franchise, and a top player, maybe the top player at his position when he played. The less expendable the player the more leeway he gets. There are a few non-expendable players in the league. Mike Wallace while talented definitely isn’t one. Torrey Smith and Desean Jackson are comparable players. We have to differ about Lazor as offensive coordinator. I feel that he improved and settled more into his job as the season progressed. Kinda hard to utilize Clay correctly with that knee injury that slowed him down most of the season. Plus it took Tanny a few weeks to get acclimated after struggling in the first few weeks of the season. And whose to say that some of his more dubious decisions weren’t clueless with his hands on the override button. Like in the Green Bay game when we were too conservative late because Joe told him to run the ball instead of letting him be aggressive. I still believe Crabtree is a better fit for what we do, can be had cheap due to little interest, and and has more upside at 27 than Greg Jennings who I feel has already played his best football. Plus by being shunned in free agency Crab may feel like he has something to prove if he can shake back from his rapid assortments of injuries. Drops weren’t always a problem for this dude. He actually had solid hands early in his career. He’s no speed guy and i can’t argue about his route running because I truly don’t know but he would provide a veteran receiver that can man the 3 spot for a lot cheaper than Hartline. Personally I don’t see Hartline as a better player. He never scored nine 9 tds in a season like Crab has and despite having a couple 1,000 yard seasons and being a solid option he doesn’t find the endzone frequently enough or make splash plays consistently enough. Truthfully Hartline is the 3rd receiver on a good team and that’s his upside. Crabtree at this point may be trending that way but he definitely has #2 receiver upside still. I from what we’ve done in free agency so far, Jordan Cameron and Brice Mccain, that’s what Tannebaum and company are going for. Younger players with upside.

  16. By clueless I meant Clueless Joe with his hand on the override button.

    1. Author

      We understood. Whenever anyone uses the word “clueless” around here, we know EXACTLY who you’re talking about. 🙂

  17. Lazor improved? Tricky to really say, as you said, it was a new system, so the players have to get acclimated to it and it usually takes half to a whole season for the offense to learn the playbook and be in sync. I would give credit more to the players if anything. But, in his defense, the last two weeks he allowed Tannehill to go deep and it was successful. Maybe since the season was lost, he decided “what the hell, why not?” Or maybe he decided to trust his players, who knows.

    Either way, he never gave Tannehill (and to my knowledge, still has yet to say he will) the ability to audible, which in and of itself is absurd. While some people may bash Tannehill for accuracy, or arm strength, pocket presence, etc I think everyone can agree he is smart and is at least adequate enough to read an NFL defense. Tannehill doesn’t even have the ability to audible to a pass if he reads a run blitz, which is just crazy because in the NFL you have to be able to adjust to your opponent during the game.

    Miami was GREAT at making half time adjustments both offensively and defensively, but should we have to wait till halftime to get back into a game? I will say Lazor is MUCH better than Sherm or most OCs we’ve had recently (has to be, all we get are dinosaurs), he is young with a fresh approach, moves guys around and made great half time adjustments during most of the season. BUT, he could be better by trusting his players and letting go of the ego, quit with the my way or the highway bullshit and trust the franchise QB. And BTW , I understand and agree about Clay’s injuries but when Clay was healthy, he didn’t use him much or as effectively as he could have.

    We’ll agree to disagree on Crabtree joining Miami. But Hartline is a better player for the simple reason that he is a technician, although limited my his physical skills he knew how to manipulate DBs to draw PI calls and that boosted his route running ability, which is why he was Tannehill’s go to guy, he would always be open in years past when Tannehill needed him to be.

    As for Jennings, I’d take him blindly just based on how badly he was abusing Grimes in Week 16 (watch the tape if you can, Grimes had a lot of trouble keeping up with an old guy), while on the flip side, there is no doubt in my mind Grimes would shut down Crabtree. Jennings only had 3 rec for 56 yards and a TD but whenever they needed a play they went to Jennings he got 1st downs and a score and was beating Grimes bad off the ball. Now, if the Vikings had AP and Teddy had a couple of years under his belt, Minnesota probably wins that game because Miami didn’t really have to worry too much about the the run and focused on the pass against a rookie QB. Jennings with a good QB is still dangerous – I can’t say the same for Crab because he is lazy and refuses to get better.

    When a guy tell the greatest WR in NFL history he isn’t interested in training with him or being mentored, that dude is a waste of space and that is what Crabtree is to me.

  18. One correction Rod

    Miami was great at making halftime adjustments until the last four games of the season

    Look at our third quarter production numbers the last four games compared with the rest of the season

    Did opposing teams figure Miami out

    Maybe but I don’t think so I think It was a result of Philbin consolidating the decision making back to himself as he felt the season slipping away.

    I think lazor left alown will give us the fire and creativeness we saw in the first four games

    I think Coyle the first four games showed what he can do with the defense

    And then after that I think we saw philbin at first acting like he was a great coach and started telling the experts how to do their jobs and that went to hell and then as a desperat man he took more control and then the whole thing went in the drink

    Nothing ab

  19. Nothing about thiS offseason is going to change next years outcome unless philbin resigns….

    1. Brian, totally agree and I have posted here many times the same mantra. We can beatch and moan ( bec we all need to get it out) but there is no doubt in my mind and many other Dolfans, that unless this coach is gone, we might as well prepare for another blasé season. It’s Tanny’s season to show or go-I can’t give him any more time to show me “something, anything” to give me confidence that he is the QB for our future. I have been a Dolphins fan for many many years and the franchise needs to get an identity back-Philbin does not have the ability to get that swagger attitude. It’s not in his DNA. But Rex does and is. We will be bottom of AFC East. I wish some billionaire would make Ross an offer he can’t refuse and send him back to his trust baby, UMich Ross Business School. Well, they got the coach HE possiblelycould have brought to Miami, but we all know how that FIASCO went! That’s our owner!

      Frustrated for years - formerly anonymous
  20. Frustrated for years – formerly anonymous

    Yes I hear you loud and clear but I don’t think that its fair anymore to hang that “show or go” around Thills neck anymore. I think last year was a great year for him.

    Consider the coaching fiasco he has going on all around him ever since he came into the NFL and I think last year was the worst performance by Philbin and it was obvious that eather Coyle gave up at some point after mid season or was stripped or both and that Lazor was on the same track especially the last 4 games.

    THill has never been given the opportunity to shine verticlly down the field. I think this if Marino was drafted last year and was going into his 2d year philbins priority would be making the offense NOT all about Marino! Limiting his vertical passing and benching him for defying him. At which point Marino would tell him to go to hell and Marino would be traded at the end of year two to the Jets, Bills or Patriots for a 2d round pick.

    I used to coach semi professional basketball and we always preached the system and we had to have a good system becasue we were a small school and we played most of the big schools and we didn’t have the talent to stack up to them so in order to win at all we had to have a good system and we could plug diffrent players in there year after year (the school had a lot of turnover).

    It seems to me that philbin has that same mentality but I just don’t think that transcends to the NFL where there are no poor players. They guys we think suck are still great athletes.

    The thing is that when I coached once in a while a real natrally gifted athelete would show up and we would still run the system but we would make every exception for the few players who excelled.

    I just don’t think philbin understands how to do that.

    If Aaron Rodgers signed I think Philbin would plug him right into his system where Thill is now and we would see the same results. I mean Thills completion rating and passer rating was very good. Decision making much improved. Seemed to have no problems reading coverages at all. But still has NO ABILITY, 0, NADA to audible on the field…….

    Absolutly stupid and that only goes back to the HC and his dumb system

  21. T-Hill is young and promising and has made me a believer through his improvement the past two years despite playing behind a terrible o-line in 2013 and a o-line that crumbled in 2014 after Albert got hurt. He was our offense in 2013 because our run game was non-existent with the o-line we had that year. This guy has improved his play despite a porous o-line, learning a new offense, an inept head coach, and not having a true #1 receiver. Quarterback is such a glorified position that if a team wins more than it loses the qb gets the credit even if he just hands it off 65% of the time(Russell Wilson) and gets the blame if his team is a perennial loser despite the fact that his performances may be consistently at or above NFL standard. There are only about four qbs in the league that can win consistently with little run support as long as their teams defense is passable. The rest need the same thing Tannehill will need to win consistently. A solid defense, consistent run game, stout o-line, and solid play-makers in the receiving core among other things. Look at the elite qbs or look at the consistently good teams then look at their o-lines. Ravens, Pats, Steelers, Seahawks, 49ers, etc.., all have very good o-lines consistently. That’s a big part of the reason that they are in the play-offs on a regular basis. Give Tannehill that and he will take that next step. The talent is definitely there. About 10 teams will be lining up to sign him if he hits free agency. Which he won’t. Because not even Miami is that stupid. This little diatribe was aimed at the gentlemen with the show or go comment. As far as Crabtree I always gave him the benefit of the doubt because he played in a run heavy offense and I always wanted to see what he could do in a more pass-friendly environment. I felt like with a better qb he could at least be as good as Roddy White was in his prime. Maybe I’m wrong about him and Jennings is better like Rod said but i’d still take Crab if he could be signed cheap on a show me contract. Questionable attitude aside he has decent yac ability and has a physical presence at the position which is a stark contrast to Hartline. The fact that he isn’t good for yards after contact or at all physical is the reason he was phased out of the gameplan last year. He doesn’t fit Lazor’s style of offense and even restructuring his contract wouldn’t have changed that. Charles Clay and his tackle-breaking abilities make him an ideal fit for this offense or at least it did until Buffalo priced us out of the equation. They crippled us but put themselves and Clay into a precarious position as he will have tremendous pressure trying to live up to that huge contract, they payed him more than Vernon Davis, and they will have a hard time justifying an obviously terrible contract when he doesn’t.

Leave a Reply to Brian M Cancel reply