Kind of bored on this dreary Saturday morning in Scranton, and I feel like writing because I just can’t stop trying to bring joy to your lives. So, I thought about going through the more important Dolphin’s related news items of the week and if it goes well, try and make this a regular thing. I’m not going to cover every single move they make, and I’ll probably miss a few things. But, I’ll recap the moves and situations that I feel are the most paramount and interesting from our lovable and generally interesting yet bewildering franchise. I’ll do my best to keep things in chronological order. If I mess that up and it bothers you, get out of my room.
-Brian Flores was hired on Monday, a day after masterfully owning the Rams’ offense in the Super Bowl holding them to 3 points. I wrote a really good blog as soon as he was officially hired about my thoughts on the hiring. I’ll recap those those thoughts in this Dolphin’s news recap. My thoughts on the hiring of Flores is who the hell know how he’s going to do? You couldn’t begin your tenure with any more momentum in being the play caller for the defense that just shut down whiz-kid McVay, so that’s nice. He’s bringing over a few Patriots’s coaches such as Chad O’Shea, who seems like he will only be here for one year because I think he’ll be a head coach next year. So, you’d like to think that transforming the Miami Dolphins into the Miami Patriots is smart if you’re into winning. But, we’re all aware of the track record of how Belichick’s henchmen fare when they leave the hand that feeds. Maybe Flores will be the guy to break the hooded one’s curse. The last thing I’ll say about Flores is that you can’t really think he’ll do much worse than Gase, but anything is possible.
Here’s a list of the staff that Flores has assembled. The name that sticks out the most is Jim Caldwell. I feel like Caldwell being the Asst. head coach will be good for the first timer in Flores. He’ll be a good guy for Flores to check with when making those big decisions. A Yoda if you will.
-Todd McShay and Mel Kipper agree that Kyler Murray will be selected by the Dolphins with the 13th pick. I’m not a big mock draft guy, and I’m even less of a mock draft guy three months away from the draft. So, Kipper and McShay agreeing for once saying that Murray is going to Miami in February doesn’t make me tingle at all. The thought of Murray being the guy to launch the new era of Dolphin’s football seems a stark contrast of all the reports we’ve seen of the Dolphins looking to actively not try and win many games this coming year, or tanking for all you woke folks out there. I never really got on board with the tanking talk because I think it really only means that the Dolphins will be getting younger and cheaper, thus, most likely leading to a low win total, which puts them in good position to select their QB of the future in the better QB class of 2020. As for Murray playing for the Dolphins, it would be fun and it would make it easy for many fans to have mega interest in the team, but I’m just not sure if he’s the guy I want to hitch my wagon too. I want a QB that can stand in there and throw accurate darts when everyone knows he has to throw accurate darts. I don’t think Murray can do that consistently. More likely, he’d try and evade and make a play, something that works well in college, but doesn’t trend in the NFL especially in the biggest of games.
-Speaking of QBs, the Dolphins are the favorites to land Nick Foles next year, according to Bovada.
I really don’t think at all that Foles will be the guy QBing the Dolphins mainly because I do believe that Miami is looking to rebuild next year. To me, if that’s what you’re trying to do, you’re not bringing in Foles and paying him the kind of money that he will yield, which will probably be around the Alex Smith deal or at worst what Case Keenum got, which was 2 years for $36m with $25m guaranteed. I think Miami goes cheaper at that position and will look for their franchise QB in 2020. I like Foles, and if the team was a QB away I’d say sign him. But, the Dolphins are many players away.
-It appears the Dolphins will be releasing Danny Amendola. Even with Flores, O’Shea and other Patriot descendants heading south, it doesn’t look like GM Chris Grier is looking to keep Amendola for another year. I’m not at all surprised by this mainly because I figured the Dolphins wouldn’t perform well this year, which meant that a whole new regime would come in and clean house. And at $6m next year, there’s no way to justify keeping Amendola who only had 59 catches for 575 yards. With a better QB Amendola is valuable. With a bad QB, which he experienced here in Miami this year, he won’t play as well. That being said, you might as well pencil him in to reunite with Brady in New England, and while you’re at it, mentally prepare yourself seeing Amendola make a few clutch plays next year especially against the Dolphins. You’ve been warned.
-The Dolphins have resigned long snapper John Denney.
There aren’t many guys on the planet that are living perfect lives where everything is smooth for them. But, John Denney might be one of those guys. He’s 40 years old, has played in the league solely for the Dolphins since 2005 meaning he’s been able to live in South Beach for 14 years, plays the position of long snapper meaning he’s probably extremely healthy compared to other guys who have played in the NFL for 14 seasons, has made quite a bit of money as a professional athlete, is a fan favorite on the team, and oh by the way, is really good at his job. Not a bad life and by not a bad life I mean, it’s one of the best lives going. So, to all you parents out there, if you want to get your child in sports, forget throwing a ball or shooting it, teach them long snapping.
-There was loose talk this week that Jakeem Grant might be getting traded to the Saints. If you connect those dots, you’ll notice that his former special teams coach in Miami, Darren Rizzi, is now doing the same in the big easy. Honestly, I would of been weirded out if this rumor didn’t pop up. It’s one of those rumors that if you’re a Dolphins or Saints fan you easily rationalize in your head happening. I really don’t think Flores will get rid of a young, electric, game changing player like Grant. There really wouldn’t be any point to do it and I think Flores knows that.
BTW- No need to congratulate me on writing a blog about Dolphin’s news and not mentioning Tannehill. It was the least I could do
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