The Dolphins and their Draft
General Manager Jeff Ireland freely acknowledges that owner Stephen Ross' presence will be felt Thursday night in the Dolphins' draft room when the team makes its first-round pick.
"He'll be sitting right next to me, I'm sure," Ireland said Monday.
But Ireland tried to convince skeptics that he and coach Joe Philbin - not Ross, who bought the team three years ago - will make the call on the eighth overall pick.
Ireland wanted to shoot down media reports that Ross is pressuring him to choose Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the first round.
"Steve is very engaged, but he's also very supportive in leaving the decisions of the draft to me and coach Philbin and our scouts," Ireland said.
Ireland appeared on the mid-day webcast Monday of ProFootballTalk.com to respond to reports by the website and Sports Illustrated's Peter King that Ross wants to draft Tannehill in an effort to boost season-ticket sales and ease the sting of a lackluster off-season.
Ireland said that if Miami chooses Tannehill, it won't be because Ross ordered it.
"He understands the thought process, he stands by our draft analysis, he knows the kind of preparation that goes into it and he's fully supportive of us making the best pick that improves our football team the best," Ireland said.
In an email to ProFootballTalk.com, Ross said Ireland has final say on draft day, with input from Philbin and his staff.
"They're the ones who have spent months reviewing tape, scouting, and gathering information from every source available to them," Ross wrote in the email, which was published on the website. "They have kept me fully informed about their draft analysis, and they have my full support and backing whoever they decide to pick."
A Dolphins source said Monday that members of the football operations staff are concerned by Ross' increasing involvement in football matters, although not necessarily with the Tannehill decision.
Ireland said he and Ross talk about football frequently.
"He throws some things out there, we discuss it," Ireland said. "But they're just conversations. They're not recommendations by any means."
Many observers believe the Dolphins need to draft Tannehill to solve the team's quarterback conundrum and improve the team's image among fans and media after failing to land Peyton Manning, Matt Flynn and Jeff Fisher this off-season. The Dolphins haven't drafted a quarterback in the first round since Dan Marino in 1983, and have cycled through 16 starting quarterbacks since Marino retired in 2000.
But Ireland reiterated that Ross has "absolutely not" put pressure on him to make football moves that would help sell season tickets, which are hovering in the 30,000s, their lowest level in three decades.
"We just want to win. That's one thing that Steve is absolutely adamant on," Ireland said. "And his commitment and support to winning are absolute. It's not ambiguous at all. And he supports the people that are making decisions from a football standpoint."
Ireland confirmed that the team released defensive Phillip Merling on Monday. Merling, the first pick of the second round in 2008 (32nd overall), had just five starts and 3.5 sacks in four seasons.
Merling signed a restricted free agent tender April 10 that would have paid him $1.26 million this year, but the Dolphins had no plans to have him on the roster. They offered him the tender with the hope that another team would sign him, which would have given the Dolphins an extra second-round pick. Once no other team signed Merling to an offer sheet, the Dolphins waived him.
Ireland also said the team was not aware that linebacker Koa Misi was facing legal troubles in California when he was arrested last month.
Misi, entering his third NFL season, pleaded not guilty to three felony charges last week, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
The arrest is related to an alleged drunken altercation that occurred in April 2011, during the NFL lockout. Eleven months later, authorities charged Misi with battery with serious injury, residential burglary and dissuading a witness.
"We did not know that," Ireland said. "I'm not even sure that Koa knew about the charges until he got arrested."
(source Palm Beach Post)
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