I miss Wes Welker.
The last time the Dolphins were this bad, Wes Welker was the only bright spot.
Its frustrating to see us with two wins and look across the East Coast to see Wes Welker threaten Jerry Rice's single season receiving record.
That tiny white man can play.
I remember watching Wes Welker play for the Miami Dolphins from 2004-2007 and slowly morph into everyone's favorite player.
The dude did everything. He returned punts, kicks, caught passes, even kicked a few field goals for us.
Everyone was bummed when the Dolphins traded him to the Patriots. He was the only weapon that worked against the Pats. But we all consoled ourselves, told ourselves that Welker was an was a flash in the pan and we won the trade. I remember talking myself into the thinking that the Dolphins could find a bigger, more prototypical wide receiver for the 2nd round pick that New England gave us that would surpass Welker's production.
I was wrong.
When you have a talent like Wes Welker, you hold on to him.
The Patriots gave us their 2nd round pick and 7th round pick that year for Wes.
So, now that we have four years of perspective on the move, what did the Dolphins end up with?
In typical Dolphins fashion, we replaced a dazzling skill player with offensive linemen.
The first cog in that trade was Samson Satele, who was picked with that second rounder. Ol' Cam Cam also picked a guy named Abraham Wright with that 7th round pick, a defensive end I've never heard of, and unless you are Abraham Wright's mom, you've never heard of him either.
This was during Cam Cameron's one year reign of "failing, forward, fast." For some reason, Cam had an obsession with the Pacific islands and loved to draft Samoans and graduates from University of Hawaii.
Samson Satele was a part of that bunch, an undersized center from Hawaii and a two year starter for the Dolphins. He didn't miss a game and proved to be a solid piece of the 2008 "wildcat" team. He was a big part of that offensive line that bullied front sevens and created a potent rushing attack.
But Satele couldn't last under Parcells. Parcells hates exceptions. He has standards for every position and if someone doesn't fit the physical parameters, they are gone. He is known for not drafting exceptions because before you know it, there is a team full of exceptions. Which is a fine system if you find players that fit your expectations and have, you know, talent. But instead he drafts 6'5 wide receivers like Patrick Turner that everyone says has no big play ability and very little potential. You have to love it when your team takes fliers on guys with limited potential.
So Satele was replaced by the bigger Jake Grove, and traded to Oakland for a 6th round pick. Grove signed a big contract but never could match the production of Satele and flamed out after a year with the Dolphins. The offensive line clearly took a step back and the running game suffered as the Dolphins limped to a 7-9 record.
Following the paper trail from Wes Welker, the Dolphins performed the worst magic trick in the world and transformed a 2nd round pick into a 6th round pick.
That 6th round pick became Andrew Gardner, an offensive tackle that has been an occasional spot starter at various points on the line and was soon released. He now plays with the Texans. A far cry from the Pro Bowl receiver we traded away.
That's where the value completely ends.
So lets review that one more time. The Dolphins say, "Hey look at that guy Welker. The fans love him. He does everything well. He provides a spark whenever he touches the ball. The Patriots want him. Stupid Belichick. We can get a better player with that 2nd round pick. A strong player, a center."
Then that center slowly turns into an empty roster spot.
Four years later, the Dolphins have nothing to show for the deal and the Patriots have a future Hall of Fame receiver who might set the record for most receiving yards in a single season.
We essentially gave the Patriots Wes Welker for NOTHING.
But hey, at least we didn't repeatedly try to fix the offensive line with resources from the Welker trade, then fail so badly that we had to take ANOTHER center, in the first round four years later.
Look, I know that you can look at any team's history and find bad trades. I get it, everyone misses occasionally. But to watch the Dolphins make a succession of moves like this, in which every transaction was questioned every step of the way, and the Dolphins consistently receive diminishing value in return, shows why the Dolphins are in the toilet and the Patriots are looking for their fourth Superbowl win this decade.
The reason why the Dolphins magically turn value into trash is because the lack of continuity in the front office. There is so much turnover every year, that new management comes in and ships out established talent to bring in their own guys, even if they don't get full value in return for their moves.
What you end up with is talented players being traded away for cents on the dollar and bits and pieces of several different visions from several different coaches. The Dolphins are made up of patchwork veterans that Saban brought in, terrible players from the Cam Cameron era, hulking overpriced lineman that Parcells drafted, and flashy ragtag players Sparano and Ireland signed in an attempt to save their jobs.
You can't build a winner like that. You can't take the various blueprints of different failed coaches, mash them together and win a Superbowl.
The sad thing is, this will only be more of the same in the coming months.
Sparano will be fired, and a new coach will come in. He will get rid of the few talented guys that Sparano acquired, just to separate himself from the past regime. He will want to put his own mark on the organization and trade away players at a discount to give him the flexibility to bring in players he likes.
Continually developing the players and not reaping the returns on that time investment.
What happens is that the Dolphins keep conceding value until their is nothing left.
They end up with lopsided deals like Wes Welker for nothing.
