What are the Dolphins Doing?

I just don’t get it, guys.

Can someone fill me in on the plan?

Can someone let me know what the vision is?

Can someone convince me that Stephen Ross is not turning into a less successful Daniel Snyder?

What are we doing?

Let’s talk about quarterbacks for a minute. The Dolphins seem to be waiting for Joey Marino and just killing time with one year fill ins.

Sure, we missed on Peyton. I was bummed, but I wasn’t shocked. Why would he come to Miami? Our perfect season that happened 40 years ago certainly isn’t a draw. Neither is our unstable leadership. I doubt the “rally” of 14 fans protesting to fire Ireland will reassure future free agents who are thinking of coming here. Our hobbled left tackle and stabbed wide receiver (we will get to that) won’t reel him in either.

Peyton wanted to be with people he knew and liked. People who believed in him and would be there for the rest of his career. He wanted a team that would let him run his offense, and had money to bring in his guys. Miami didn’t have that. The Dolphins are a broken organization. We haven’t won a playoff game in 10 years, we haven’t been relevant since Marino, and we haven’t won a championship in 40 years. This is a franchise that is falling from prestige to laughingstock at an alarming rate. We’re becoming the Raiders. All we offered Manning was leverage for his agent.

Then we whiffed on Flynn. I was surprised about that, but actually like Ireland’s maneuvering. He managed to drive Flynn’s price way down, and if there is one man who should know what Flynn is worth, its Joe Philbin. Ireland refused to overpay for the QB and lost him to Seattle. It happens. However, I think this is more about Philbin’s hubris than Ireland being concerned with value. I might be wrong, but most new coaches who are coming off a lot of success, like Philbin is, tend to overestimate their own abilities. Philbin saw what he did with Favre, Rodgers, and a few games of Flynn and probably thinks he has the Midas touch with quarterbacks. He’s probably wrong, but the Miamian in me wants so dearly for him to be right.

Ross’ most anti-Snyderian move was not pursuing Tebow. A move I obviously disagree with. Yes, I am an evangelical Gator fan, and unashamed Tebow fan, but I think the Jets made a great move in trading for him. Say what you want about him as a quarterback, but he definitely has a useful skill set in the NFL. Tebow greatly improves a team’s running game, and scores touchdowns in the red zone. Dolphins’ fans’ biggest complaint these past three years has been Sparano’s infatuation for field goals in the red zone. Now, he’s finally listened and addressed that problem in his offense by getting 240 pounds of concrete and cyanide to hammer the ball through the goal line. Except now he’s coaching for the Jets.

Then we sign Garrard. We signed a Pro Bowl starter at QB! Superbowl or bust! 19-0!

I just don’t get it. Granted, he’s not AS bad as people are making him out to be, but he is not the answer, especially in the long term. I’ll give this to Garrard, he is an average quarterback, who completes over 60% of his passes. He also takes care of the ball. But c’mon. You’re going to leave the hunt for Peyton Manning holding up David Garrard as your trophy? You can’t help it if the league sees you as a joke.

Its like we tried to sign Jay Z, missed on Tyga, then didn’t go after Drake, and decided to bring Mase out of retirement like it was a big deal.

Can’t nobody hold us down.

Its a bad situation, but its understandable that the quarterback search didn’t go as we had planned it. And I don’t mind Matt Moore. For a six week stretch he was a top ten quarterback, and the Dolphins might have been the best team in football. Then Jake Long got hurt, and Moore floundered under pressure. You can make the playoffs with Matt Moore, but everything has to fall just right. Win the Superbowl with Matt Moore? That’s nearly impossible. But that’s not why I’m so disappointed. That’s not why I feel as hopeless today as I did after the 1-15 season. I just want to know: what exactly is the plan now?

We don’t seem committed to anything. There are really only two ways to go as a team, you can try to win it this year, or you rebuild. A team that is trying to win this year goes after veteran talent to add to their core, thinking they are only a few players away from the championship. The Dolphins are doing this by pursuing Peyton Manning, signing Richard Marshall, going after Mark Anderson, resigning Paul Soliai, and picking up David Garrard.

Rebuilding teams, dump pricey veterans to create cap room and acquire picks to build around their young core for a future title run. The Dolphins are also doing this by trading Brandon Marshall away and cutting Yeremiah Bell.

I don’t have problems with the Dolphins pursuing either plan. We have a good defense and may be a few pieces and a lot of luck from a wild card spot. However, the Dolphins have a lot of holes and do not have many truly elite players. I would understand if we cut our losses and built around the few young, rising stars we have.

Instead, the Dolphins decided to do both. You can’t do both! Its one or the other. You can’t go into rebuilding mode on offense while strengthening your veteran defense. The stripped down offense will keep you from the playoffs and the stout defense will keep you from a high draft pick. You know where that puts you? 8-8. NFL purgatory. Where we have been for 10 years.

The problem goes back to the Dolphins having too many blueprints and no consistency. Ireland still has some of Cam Cameron’s guys on the roster, Parcells’ guys are still under contract, and he is just putting his own guys into place. But this season we added another blueprint. Another leader, with another vision for the team in Joe Philbin. Philbin and Mike Sherman want new guys on offense to fit their scheme, they want to get rid of Sparano’s pieces and bring in their own. Except, Ireland is still on thin ice. Ross’ unwavering commitment to Ireland seems to be wavering some, after the JefFIREland protests and all. So Ireland is trying to rebuild and win at the same time.

That doesn’t work.

I shouldn’t say that so flatly. It works sometimes, but you have to hit on your draft picks. Your rookies have to play very well right out of the gate, and you need to supplement your team with high impact veteran free agents. Sadly, Ireland doesn’t have the best track record in either of those categories. Ireland’s continuous misses on second round picks and constant rejection by prized free agents are evidence of that. For this plan to work, you have to get really lucky. Like the Bengals did last year by hitting on Dalton and A.J. Green in the first round and matching them with a veteran defense for a surprise playoff run. Read that again. OUR BEST HOPE IS BEING THE BENGALS!

I don’t disagree with Ireland’s thought process all the time. He made some smart moves when he was out from under Parcells, and he refuses to commit big money to players who don’t deserve it. He hasn’t killed the cap with a mediocre team, he just can’t bring in the talent to make us better than mediocre. I think he is a smart guy but I think he is just a crappy salesman. So is Stephen Ross. That doesn’t matter much when you are drafting college kids with no options, but it won’t win over Peyton Manning, Jim Harbaugh, or even Ryan Clark.

For the Dolphins that shouldn’t matter. We are not one player away. We are not two players away. Our best isn’t good enough. We don’t need a quarterback for a three year playoff run, we need to build this organization from the ground up. We are just getting the foundation together and people are screaming for us to slap on a coat of paint. We have some young pieces here, but we need a cornerstone, a franchise QB. As much as I would have loved to see number 18 in aqua and orange, we need to find our own guy in the draft. The good news is that the price for first round picks has gone way down. Now it is not such a risky investment. A Jamarcus can’t sink your franchise like he could in the past. So what should we do? Pick a QB in the first round! The last one we picked in the first round was Marino! I don’t think Tannehill is a 1st round pick, but if he is the best QB available, take him. If he doesn’t work, take another QB in the 1st round next year. Stockpile them. Keep picking them until you find one. Because when you find one, you become relevant, and you win. Keep taking QB’s until we find our Matt Stafford, our Cam Newton, or even our Andy Dalton.

I know how quick fans are to call for the GM’s head. But I value consistency so much that I end up defending Ireland. I just don’t want to bring in another blueprint. I tell people to give him a chance to get his own players, lets see the whole puzzle before judging the pieces, trust the vision. Give him a chance to build through the draft. So we miss on the quick fixes, we can still build for the long haul, the right way, with young talent. But its getting harder to do. Normally, I can see a GM’s reason for making a move. I can understand his logic even if I don’t agree with it. Currently, it just looks like Ireland is scrambling. I don’t see his logic in the process and have a hard time discerning the motivation behind his moves.

A real leader will make unpopular decisions if they are the right decisions. He will make those decisions if he has a vision he believes in, and sees the team or organization moving towards the fulfillment of that vision.

But today, I fear that Ireland may be leading us all in the dark.