Hello all!
It's been a while since I have written on here but I have been keeping up with some of the NFL transactions, especially the ones the Phins have been making.
First and foremost, I want to give major props to Jay for calling Julius Thomas to Miami this offseason FIRST on this little ol' fan only blog! Honestly, when I read what you wrote Jay, I loved the idea but didn't see how the hell it would ever come to fruition, I thought it was a pipe dream. In the end we pretty much picked him up for a seventh round pick, we gave up a 2017 Seventh rounder and got a 2018 seventh rounder for Brandon Albert. Think about that, a TE that proved he can be elite in a Gase offense for a seventh rounder? Absolute no brainer for me. So it's like we gave up nothing as did Jacksonville for B.A. The kicker is going to be in the deal Thomas gets, he has agreed to restructure his contract so we shall see what comes of that. The word in Jacksonville is that he couldn't stay healthy and couldn't block for crap which is why they wanted to unload him. The Miami staff will have to work on his blocking if that is true or maybe the scheme change will help? Denver had a decent running game with the offense they ran that Thomas was in so who knows. What gets me excited about Thomas is if we resign Dion Sims. We will have 2 really good TEs. I personally believe Dion Sims is a better receiver than most people give him credit for. Our offense with 2 capable receiving TEs and one that that can mow over MLBs in the run game?! Vicious...
I said it all of last year and I'll say it again one more time! A winning season last year was a great accomplishment. Making the playoffs, win or lose, had me ecstatic! There were games that they could have played better and won but who the hell would have guessed a 10 win season and a playoff berth for a rookie head coach with a rookie DC? Not to mention all the damn holes we HAD on the roster. LBER, which is still somewhat of a hole. CB, which was a hole early on but turned out to be a strength late in the year. Maxwell played great, Xavien Howard has me excited as hell if he can stay healthy and Tony Lippett came straight out of nowhere to be a pretty good CB, that is a huge credit to the coaching staff for developing players.
We have to resign as many of our own FAs as we can without being stupid as well as extend a few. Kiko and Reshad Jones are deserving of an extension. I would love to resign Stills but if he wants 12 Million per year, I say let him walk. We have to sign Jarvis Landry, if he wants 12 Mill a year, I say we have no choice, sign him. It didn't help that Antonio Brown just got 17 mill a year either. We also have to find at least one free agent guard and draft one.
As for Tannehill, there are reports that he will have a full offseason program and that his knee is "as healthy as it's gonna get". If he would have had surgery, he would still be rehabbing for most of the offseason and training camp. He has said he will be playing next season with a knee brace as a precaution, not a necessity and that his mobility will be the same as it was without it. That's a win in my book. He was told when he sprained it that the best course of action would be to pretty much let it naturally heal with some sort of strengthening regimen, it seems to have worked out great. He was also told that having surgery would not guarantee he could not tear or sprain it again which I believe had a lot to do with the decision.
Going into this offseason is a great feeling. We filled a giant hole in TE with Julius Thomas and that move just makes sense but we can go into free agency and the draft with the least amount if holes to fill that I can remember. Most of our needs are on defense and this draft just so happens to be a DEEP defensive draft. And I mean wwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy freakin' deep! Only 7/32 projected "Top Prospects" are on offense! Which is great news for us because that means defensive talent GALORE!
Phins Up!
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6 comments
If Phins can get 4 players out of this draft, that would be a total homerun. One LB, DE, G, DB. Then in Free Agency 'double down' on the same top three needs - LB, DE, G, then WR -Still's replacement, (sorry but he is not getting $10-$12 M from Phins). That's 8 new players to go along with last year's 10 win team. 8 new in, and 8 out > Albert, M.Williams, Stills (Caroo's time to shine after giving up 2 picks to get him last year), Mitchell, Bushrod, Rambo, Jenkins, Misi.
Hope top pick is either DE Taco Charlton or LB Z.Cunningham
TE is no longer the pick after JT trade. Go Phins !!
You just got me fired up in February! Great piece and thanks for the nod. I look at Stills the same way- and your point about AB is very impactful. Landry's price tag just went up. great article.
Great Article. Thank you.
I'm a bit concerned about the JT trade but I trust Gase can make him better. Stills (As a spacer) can be replaced cheaply in Free Agency.
We need to get some good free agents to complement the draft. Because we have so many holes to fill the 43 million we have is going to go real fast, even if we get a little more by cutting Misi etc. I'm very concerned about it. Think about this.... We need to keep around 7 for the Draft and we like to keep a cushion for next year let's say 7. That knocks us down to 29 mil. From that I'm hoping we try to extend Landry and Jones which could easily take below 20 mil maybe even to 15. Then we re-sign Damien William, Sims maybe Bushrod for a backup, Jones or Gray (TE's) Leaving us what 12 - 15 mil to sign a couple decent Guards, LB, DE and DT. The budget is tighter than we realize even if we don't keep a cushion this year. If our front office can work some miracles we might get one real good FA and several stop gap or role players. With a harder schedule this year it is going to take some real work just to get back to 10 wins. So as happy as I am about this past season I'm moving ahead with tempered excitement and reasonable expectations until I see enough to believe otherwise. Phins Up!
We shall see what happens in FA with new players and who we decide to keep and release. That all sets up the draft. I believe we need 1 LBer, 1 guard and maybe a DE depending on what happens with Andre Branch. I feel pretty good about going into the draft if we can accomplish that in free agency
As we add FAs, we will be cutting guys to make room, which will bring some cap space. Not all of it but some.
Upgrades at LB, DE and DB.
Must add a LG and some depth along the OL
First round I would grab the LB unless a stud CB falls. Plenty of good DE in this draft class to wait until 3rd round so 2nd round get a good guard.