Miami Dolphins front office must learn to counterpunch
It’s truly difficult for me to build up a sizeable measure of outrage or indignation simply because the Dolphins didn’t land Peyton Manning.
Look, they saw an opportunity, took it, and failed. It’s disappointing. But that’s always been the risk of NFL free agency. It’s a hit and miss proposition from start to finish and no one ever bats .1000.
So to the mob that wants you to believe there’s chronic ineptitude in the front office, or lack of vision in ownership because Manning won’t play for Miami, I say save your displeasure because other questions loom, other issues beckon that could ultimately affect this franchise longer than the uncertain remainder of Manning’s career.
Rather than spend today writing angry e-mails about the Manning chase or yelling at the Dolphins ticket representative trying to collect a renewal fee, ask these simple questions:
Is there an outlined plan for this offseason?
What is that plan?
And if there is no reply or you get a Ralph Kramden hamana-hamana-hamana from the person trying to sell you the seats, then it’s time to worry.
The concern here is not that the failed Manning search offered a peek into an organization with no vision or plan. The opposite is actually true.
Unlike any other chase for a player, the Dolphins knew they were going to pursue Manning even before they hired new coach Joe Philbin. They had already identified Manning as their chief target before Manning was even cut by the Colts.
And when the time came, reports suggest the club put on as much of a press as it could, enlisting present and former players as well as all the top members of the organization to woo Manning.
So clearly there was thought put into the effort.
And, just as clearly, there was a pecking order and attack strategy in place in case the reach for Manning fell short. That strategy was to pivot to free agent Matt Flynn and try to sign the Green Bay reserve at a reasonable price so he could, at minimum, compete with Matt Moore for the starting job and more likely be the club’s leader in 2012.
All of that is sound. All of it is logical.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t issues.
While the Dolphins were busy plotting the chase for a quarterback, busy trying to improve the offense, it seems there was a lost focus on doing other things. Several agents that talked to the team in recent days while the Manning chase was on was told the team couldn’t really make any other significant moves because of the salary cap.
One agent portrayed the front office as “too worried about No. 18” to pull the trigger on any other significant move. Another agent asked why the Dolphins seem to have trouble doing more than one thing at a time.
Actually, the better question might be why the Dolphins seem to have trouble doing more than one net positive thing at a time.
That’s because even as Miami was waiting on Manning, receiver Brandon Marshall was traded for a couple of third-round picks. Miami had been talking to teams for weeks about the prospect of trading Marshall.
No follow-up move
But when the enigmatic wide receiver got into another nightclub fracas in New York last Monday, his fate was finally sealed and the decision was quickly made to jettison him. I have no problem with the move except this:
There was no follow-up move in the works.
The Dolphins didn’t add talent by subtracting Marshall, no matter your opinion of his locker room standing or ability to distract. The Dolphins, looking to improve a paltry offense, got weaker by trading Marshall.
Weaker. Worse. Less talented.
And no previously planned counter move was made. Unlike the New Orleans Saints who let All-World guard Carl Nicks go to Tampa but immediately replaced him with cheaper Ben Grubbs, the Dolphins had no credible Marshall replacement on deck.
No top receivers
And now the wide receiver market — at least the regions where the top talent resides — is a ghost town.
The Dolphins might argue they couldn’t sign a high-priced wide receiver anyway because their modest salary-cap space wouldn’t allow it without interfering with the ability to sign Manning.
That answer would be the most frustrating thing we could hear from this team.
Simply, how is it that a team without any foundational superstar, without a franchise quarterback, without any history for making the playoffs or even reaching .500 the past three years could be so spent against the cap?
The Pittsburgh Steelers are just about maxed out against the cap. The Texans, Saints, Falcons, Giants and Lions all had less space than Miami when the league year began this week.
But those teams are good.
They have stars that make plays and get paid like it.
How is it the Dolphins, bereft of game-changers, could be relatively so cap poor?
That’s the kind of stuff that should raise eyebrows. That, much more than a failed Hail Mary to Peyton Manning, is the kind of situation that should cause concern.
(source Miami Herald) 
Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football
on 11:53 p. m..
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