Randy Moss is going to the Tennessee Titans, who claimed the enigmatic wide receiver off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.  Since waiver priority is determined by the inverse order of the current standings, the 4-3 Miami Dolphins would have acquired Moss had they decided to put in a claim.  Did the team make a big mistake by passing up the chance to feature two 2009 Pro Bowlers in a revamped vertical game?

There were plenty of reasons for Miami to pass on Moss, who can be the best player on the field if he’s motivated, and a head-case who doesn’t respect his teammates or coaches and carries far more baggage than he’s worth if he’s disinterested. 

Despite playing for Bill Belichick, one of very few coaches who has earned Moss’s admiration, the wide receiver still found a ticket out of New England after questioning his role in the offense and getting into a spat about Tom Brady’s hair (I don’t actually think that last part is true, but it’s hilarious nonetheless). 

Through his career, Moss has been repeatedly chastised for his lack of effort, failure to finish routes and make blocks, and an alarming attitude in the locker room that largely contributed to his release from Minnesota.

But hate him or love him, Moss is one of the most talented WRs in NFL history, and players of his caliber are hardly ever so readily available.  He’s two and a half years removed from a season in which he recorded nearly 1,500 receiving yards and caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes.   For his career, he ranks second in league history in TDs (153), fourth in receiving yards per game (76.6), fifth in total receiving yards (14,778), and eight in catches (948).  Those skills didn’t suddenly diminish overnight.

Perhaps the Miami coaches didn’t think they could keep him happy in a run-first offense, or didn’t want to deal with the distractions and media circus that surrounds the outspoken and constantly unhappy Moss.  But his off-putting personality aside, the Dolphins sure could’ve used him on the field.

The team ranks 25^th in the league in passing plays of over 20 yards (17) with an anemic average of 6.7 yards per pass attempt.  Miami hasn’t had a true deep threat (at least one who can catch the ball) in years, and Moss would’ve commanded double-teams and opened the field for Brandon Marshall — who publicly lobbied for the acquisition — and slot receiver Davone Bess.

It would’ve been a relatively low-risk and low-cost gamble for the Dolphins, since Moss is owed $3.388 million for the remainder of the season, the final year of his contract.  Even he has to realize that at this point, no team would hesitate to cut him if he continues to exhibit an oversized ego and a poor attitude, and that he could find himself out of a job in the offseason if he burns yet another bridge.  

The Dolphins could’ve gotten a playmaker whose talents could’ve single-handedly brought the division title back to South Beach.  Instead, they’ll have to settle for seeing Moss catch passes only once this year, when the visiting Titans come to Miami on November 14.

Hate him or love him, the Dolphins were going to miss Ted Ginn Jr.’s speed and playmaking ability on special teams (not so much in the receiving game).  Sure, he’d run out of bounds and try to avoid contact, but he also ranked fifth in kick return yards (1,296) and 14th kickoff return average (24.92) in the NFL last season.

In comes KR/PR Clifton “Batman” Smith, who could end up rivalring Brandon Marshall as the team’s most impactful and game-changing addition of the offseason.  After being waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, the return specialist chose to sign with Miami after also working out for the Green Bay Packers.

The 25-year-old was initially signed to the Bucs’ practice squad as an undrafted free agent in 2008, and went on to be selected to the Pro Bowl after ranking second in the NFL in punt return average (14.1) and sixth in kickoff return average (27.6).  Despite appearing in only nine games, he finished sixth in total punt return yards and (324), and scored on a 97-yard kickoff return and a 70-yard punt return.  Smith went on to improve his yards per kickoff to 29.1 (second in the league) in 2009, and his career average of 28.3 tops all active players and is the fifth-highest in NFL history.

Smith will likely take over primary punt-return duties from Davone Bess, who’s quietly been one of the worst at the position in the NFL.  Over the last two seasons, Bess has returned 49 punts, the 11th-highest total in the league, but his 8.98 yards per return rank 25th out of 35 qualified players.  Smith’s 12.09 average, on the other hand, is second behind only the New York Giants’ Dominik Hixon (12.15).

In even better news, Patrick Cobbs, who’s coming back from knee surgery, will now be relieved from handling kickoffs.  Since entering the league in 2007, he’s posted the second-lowest kickoff return average (20.48) among 72 players with at least 25 returns.  Fifth-round pick Nolan Carroll was also in contention for the job, but didn’t fare much better during the preseason by averaging 22.8 yards on nine returns.

Of course, Pro Bowl-caliber players in their prime don’t get released for no reason.  For all of his special teams contributions, Smith is virtually non-existent on offense, rushing four times for just seven yards last year.  There are legitimate concerns about his durability after a pair of concussions limited the 5-foot-8, 190-pound dynamo to 11 games in 2009 and lingering knee pain forced him to miss two 2010 preseason games.  He’s has also been extremely fumble-prone, losing the ball a whopping seven times (tied with Bess and Ginn, among others, for ninth among non-quarterbacks over the last two years) in only 20 games.

Despite the concerns, there’s no question that Smith is one of the best return specialists in the game and presents a significant upgrade for the Dolphins.  Barring injuries, he’s not likely to receive a lot of carries as the team’s fifth RB, but running behind a better offensive line in Miami should allow him to be a bigger factor on those rare occasions.

Smith will get his first test against the Buffalo Bills, who were held opponents to 21.5 yards per kickoff return (7th-best in the NFL) and 7.7 yards on punt returns (11th), on Sunday.

By now, you’ve probably heard that much-maligned Dolphins quarterback Pat White has been shown his walking papers after one disastrous season in which he became just the fourth QB to not complete a single pass with at least five attempts since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.  It’s hard to argue that it was the wrong decision, especially with three better-qualified players ahead of him on the depth chart, but I’m a little dismayed by how the situation was handled by the coaching staff.

The Dolphins never gave White much of a chance to succeed.  During the regular season, he was inserted into the occasional “Wildcat” formation in which he could never fully show what he had to offer aside from scrambling on the ground.  In the final game, he was thrown into the fire against a stout Pittsburgh Steelers defense in the thick of the Playoff hunt.  And then, in the 2010 preseason, White took nine total snaps (none in the fourth game), kneeling down three times and throwing (and completing!) four short passes in garbage time.

It’s clear that the Dolphins front office was convinced that White wasn’t part of the team’s future plans before the preseason started and didn’t bother to give him an extended look or attempt to increase his trade value for QB-needy teams.  And that’s the part that I’ll never understand.  The Dolphins are hardly the first team to give up on an early-round draft pick — hell, the Arizona Cardinals released Matt Leinart, the 10th overall selection in 2006 — but the fact that White wasn’t on the field for even a single quarter at the expense of injury-prone veteran Chad Pennington, who hardly needed the extra work, or given the opportunity to battle Tyler Thigpen for the third QB spot doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Of course, White isn’t without fault himself.  There have been indications that his heart wasn’t fully into football after he took a vicious hit that knocked him unconscious during last year’s finale.  Despite possessing the quickness (4.44 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine) and shiftiness that would make him well-suited to play part-time wide receiver, a la Brad Smith and Joshua Cribbs, White refused to switch positions and indicated that he’d rather play baseball.  Those aren’t exactly the kind of words that management wants to hear out of players on the roster bubble.

Be that as it may, White is gone and somewhat surprisingly, wasn’t claimed off waivers despite having most of his 2010 salary paid by the Dolphins.  I asked Sun-Sentinel reporter Omar Kelly to do some NFL Betting on where White will end up — the CFL, the New England Patriots, or the New York Yankees.  Kelly didn’t even rule out a full retirement from football to be a “regular Joe” in White’s hometown.

Other News and Notes:

*Did the Dolphins think they could save some money by releasing TE David Martin and then re-signing him after the first week?  It’s hard to believe Miami was prepared to rely on John Nalbone, who entered training camp fourth on the depth chart and didn’t blow anyone away during preseason, in its two tight end packages.  Martin ended up signing with the Buffalo Bills, who quite coincidentally, I’m sure, happen to play the Dolphins in Week 1.  The Dolphins could quickly end up regretting their decision.

*In a less surprising move, last year’s third-round pick, WR Patrick Turner, was released over the weekend and signed with the division-rival New York Jets.  Undrafted rookies Marlon Moore and Roberto Wallace must have extremely impressive during practice for the team to keep them at Turner’s expense, because there isn’t a glaring difference in the preseason numbers.

Player	Rec	Yards	YPC	Long	TD
Marlon Moore	9	106	11.8	34	1
Roberto Wallace	8	101	12.6	31	1
Patrick Turner	5	90	18.0	34	0

Turner could revive his career with the Jets while playing alongside his former USC QB Mark Sanchez, but chances are slim after he couldn’t get on the field last season and was beaten out by a pair of undrafted rookies in camp.

UPDATE: Yep, Turner has already been cut and is now on the Jets’ practice squad.  So the Dolphins paid him a $714,000 signing bonus and $310,000 in salary to make zero regular season catches and become a practice squad player on a division rival a year later. Awesome.  (more…)

According to multiple reports, the Dolphins have traded fan favorite Greg Camarillo to the Minnesota Vikings, who were in desperate need of a wide receiver after losing Pro-Bowler Sidney Rice for the next eight weeks.  A hard-worker and one of the most sure-handed players in the league, Camarillo will always be remembered for his 64-yard game-winning score from the immortal Cleo Lemon in Miami’s lone victory of the 2007 season.

Ah, good times.  It’ll go down in Dolphins history as the team’s version of the improbable “David Tyree catch” in Super Bowl XLII.  But much like Tyree, who suffered a season-ending knee injury the following and wasn’t resigned by the New York Giants despite his heroics, Camarillo lost much of his speed after tearing his ACL in 2008 and was set to enter the 2010 season as the team’s fourth receiver, at best. 

In return, Miami will receive defensive back Benny Sapp, who’s started only 17 of 86 career games, recording 140 tackles, 4 interceptions, and six fumble recoveries.  He’s not likely to significantly help the Dolphins’ secondary, aside from adding a little depth and injury insurance while Will Allen recovers from knee surgery.  Hell, 37-year-old Warren Sapp would’ve been a more exciting pick up, but alas.

The bigger outcome, is that Patrick Turner, last year’s third-round pick, will now almost certainly make the final roster.  Turner, who was active for only two games and failed to register a catch in 2009, wasn’t a lock to make the team going into training camp.  While his size (6’5″, 220 pounds) and athleticism make him a tough cover, the former USC standout had trouble grasping the fundamentals and getting off the line of scrimmage.  Turner certainly didn’t help matters by missing time with a back injury and reportedly not exhibiting a strong work ethic or sense of urgency during training camp.  He was even listed behind undrafted rookie Marlon Moore on Miami’s initial depth chart.

It was a football decision for both sides, plain and simple. The Dolphins wanted the leverage of waiting until after the Draft, while Jason Taylor jumped at an offer he feared wouldn’t be there come April 24.

The 35-year-old linebacker claimed that the New York Jets were the only team that showed interest in signing him, and wanted to continue playing football at the risk of waiting for the Dolphins to make up their mind. A part of me hates him for choosing to go to a rival he’d publicly hated and ridiculed for a dozen years, whose fans, in his own words, “take the ‘cl’ out of class.”

But as Taylor himself has shown, there’s no such thing as loyalty in sports, and I don’t fault him for going to a team that wanted him more (although it still troubles me that Taylor would be satisfied with getting the only ring of his career as a member of the Jets).

I fault him for berating the Dolphins front office for not showing him the respect he deserves when he’s continuously failed to give them the same courtesy.

Two years ago, after the Dolphins finished 1-15, Taylor wanted out of Miami in order to play for a Super Bowl contender in the latter stages of his career. The 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year opted to compete on Dancing With the Stars rather than attend the team’s offseason conditioning program, enraging new head of football operations Bill Parcells. Despite having two years left on his contract, Taylor announced that he only planned to play one more season.

When he was shipped to the Washington Redskins in July 2008, he quickly reversed course and said he’d honor the remaining two years of his deal. Despite his worst season in a decade — just 3.5 sacks in 13 games — the ‘Skins, who finished last in their division, wanted to keep Taylor for another season. But in a feud reminiscent of Dancing-gate, he refused to work out with the team during the offseason in order to spend time with his family, and was soon released.

In May 2009, he signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins, insisting that his heart was always in Miami. After Taylor turned down an extension in November because he felt “it wasn’t the right time,” he said Miami withdrew the proposal and never spoke to him again.

But according to a recent report, he actually declined another offer after the season, which included a significant raise, and the team was unsure if he wanted to continue playing after he underwent late shoulder surgery. By the time he was finally ready to talk, the Dolphins wanted to wait until after the Draft before making a commitment to a player who was on the downside of his stellar career.

Regardless of who’s to be believed, Parcells is as old school as they come and doesn’t let fan sentiment or presumed loyalty influence his business decisions. Hell, he cut Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, who’d just set the NFL rushing record, shortly after coming over to the Dallas Cowboys. Parcells likely believed the team was better without the aging Taylor, even as a situational pass rusher, and certainly wasn’t going to reward him after he turned down at least one confirmed offer.

Watching Taylor line up against Dolphins in Jet green next season will be heartbreaking for many fans, many of whom will never forgive him. The irony is, he essentially chose to sign with the AFC East version of the his old Redskins squad, a New York team that has acquired numerous over-the-hill players to assemble a paper champion that’s destined to finish around .500.

Thanks for the memories, JT, and good luck with your future acting career. And thanks for at least not pulling a Brett Favre and dragging this soap opera through the entire offseason.

About a dozen members of Dolfans NYC met up at the NFL draft. There were more of us originally planning on going but there was rain and some miscommunication and not everyone showed up. Still, we had a pretty nice group as we waited in line for 5 hours on Wednesday and 3 hours on Thursday. A few of us even went back the next day, but we only stood around for about an hour. It was an awesome time despite the lines. All the football fans were talking smack and talking football. We all love the game and it was just a great time.

I can’t tell you guys anything you probably don’t already know about our draft picks, but I did meet one of Jered Odrick’s high school coaches and he had nothing but amazing things to say about the guy. He said he will make our OLB’s so much better because the Olinemen will never be able to get past him. He talked about the guys character and how psyched we should be. My freshman year roommate at Penn State still lives in State College, PA told me a lot of the same stuff, and compared him to Pittsburgh DT Aaron Smith. That’s some high praise.

Anyway, this update is mostly just to share with you some of the pictures I took at the draft. There are some nice ones, check it out.

Ps. Check out our new t-shirts in the pictures!

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I bought a Ted Ginn, Jr. jersey before the start of the 2009 season and targeted him in the middle rounds of my fantasy football drafts.

It’s easy to forget now, but after Ginn’s terrific sophomore campaign, he had “third-year breakout” written all over him.  In 2008 — when the Dolphins went 11-5 and won the AFC East — he led the team in catches (56), receiving yards (790), return yards (711), and all-purpose yards (1,574; 18th in NFL), while scoring four touchdowns (two receiving and two rushing).  Those numbers may not jump off the page, but they stacked up very favorably to several All-Pro wide receivers who blossomed after their second seasons, including Steve Smith (1.0) and Santana Moss (not to mention, Steve Smith (2.0) and Sidney Rice last season).

Of course, Ginn didn’t come close to living up to the expectations thrust upon him as the Dolphins number one WR, taking a major step backwards to the point of being benched in favor of rookie Brian Hartline.  Ginn had only 38 receptions on the year, tied for 69th among WRs, and his 11.95 yards per reception tied him for 68th with 74-year-old 32-year-old Laveranues Coles.  He dropped nine passes — Dolphins fans would argue that’s actually being generous — which tied him for fourth in the league behind Dwayne Bowe (11), Vernon Davis (11), and Santonio Holmes (10).

Despite his struggles on offense, however, Ginn was sensational on special teams.  While his critics often lamented him for avoiding contact by running to the sidelines, Ginn led the league in yards per touch (17.9), ranked fifth in kickoff return yards (1,296), fifth in yards per return (24.92), 10th in all-purpose yards (1,826), and tied for fourth in non-offensive touchdowns (2).

He single-handedly led the Dolphins to a road victory against the New York Jets on November 1, 2009, becoming the first player in NFL history to record two 100-yard return TDs in the same game (and in one quarter, no less), on a day when the Dolphins mustered just 104 total yards on offense.  I proudly wore my Ginn jersey, just as I did on every other game day, and heard his name praised for perhaps the only time that season.

The very next week, the Dolfans’ love-hate relationship with Ginn was right back on, as he was yet again getting blamed for a loss to the New England Patriots.  He managed just one catch for seven yards, dropping several passes late in the game, and wasn’t as dramatically effective in the return game.

Once the Dolphins acquired Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos last week, Ginn became immediately expendable.  The San Francisco 49ers acquired him for a fifth-round pick (145th overall), hoping to use him as a situational deep threat while reviving one of the league’s worst return games.  Still only 25 years old and among the fastest and most athletic players in the league, he leaves Miami with 128 catches for 1,664 yards, a modest 34.7 receiving yards per game average, and five receiving touchdowns over three seasons.

For Ginn, it’s a fresh start in a place where he doesn’t have to deal with the giant shadow of being selected ninth overall in 2007, and hearing the boos that have haunted him since draft day, when fans were hoping to land Brady Quinn (how did that one turn out?).   While he certainly didn’t produce as well as expected, he was routinely forced to play a role that wasn’t suited to his strengths and became the scapegoat for the team’s offensive struggles.

Could Ginn have been better utilized in the slot and opposite Marshall, a true number one possession receiver?  Could he have stretched the field and found himself wide open down the field when Marshall faced double teams?  At the very least, could a proven return specialist, whose role will now need to be filled by the undoubtedly slower Davone Bess, Patrick Cobbs, and Brian Hartline, have made the offense more productive and dangerous than any player the Dolphins can draft in the fifth round?

“I wouldn’t say a sense of relief, but it’s always good to have a new start,” Ginn said. “Leaving Miami, I don’t hold any grudges, no bad feelings about anything. My time was up there. I enjoyed it there, and now it’s time to move on.”

I truly hope that he does well in San Fransisco, and while I’ll always cheer for Miami, I’ll be sure sure to wear my Ginn jersey the next time he plays against the Dolphins.

Wow. We just traded two 2nd round draft pics to the Broncos for Brandon Marshall. That is nuts.  I went to bed and when I woke up we were suddenly a much better football team.  And yes, the pics are worth it.  Marshall has had domestic violence issues and problems with Josh McDaniels in Denver, but as far as I am concerned he is well worth the risk.  He is going to make Chad Henne so much better, he is going to spread the field and make the run game so much better, he is going to make the recievers so much better.  The Phins are evidently trying to trade Ted Ginn, but with Marshall there is no way you can double Ginn, or Bess or Hartline or whoever is on the other side.

Someone pointed out on a forum that this trade could be a good PR move and mabye lessen the hurt of Jason Taylor going to the Jets, but to me this is a response to the Jets trading for Cromartie and Holmes.  It also takes away a second round pick that could have been used to fill the whole that JT and Porter left.  If we resign JT we can wait another year to see how Cam Wake pans out before drafting an ouside linebacker early.  We can focus on nose or safety with our first round pick and spend the rest of the draft trying for the other.  OUr offense could use another guard and maybe a TE, but other than that, it’s really all defense in the draft. I can’t wait.

Speaking of the draft, Dolfans NYC is making a group trip to Radio City Music Hall for the draft.  You have to get in line at 10pm on Wednesday night to get a wrist band and then come back the following afternoon to get in line for tickets.  DolfansNYC is going to meet up around 6pm at a near by bar and send scouts out to see if they are giving out tickets before 10pm like they did last year. We will be sending out a Facebook message and email with all the details, so make sure you join our Facebook group.

Also, Michelle is going to be filming the Draft and our meet up for MiamiDolphins.com so anyone who comes out can get in the video and see yourself on the Phins official web site.  That should be big press for the club!

Lastly, we have some more exciting news!  We will have DolfansNYC T-shirts for the draft.  They are aqua with the DolfansNYC logo printed on the front.  They are insanely bad ass.  They will be on sale at the draft meet up and at games next year for $15.  I hope you pick one up so we can really represent at the draft.  We spent a good deal of money on them, so we need to sell a bunch of them to break even.  After that the money will be used for promotional stuff for the club, raffle items and other club expenses. Last year Michelle and I dropped a lot of money on this club, and it would be nice to at least break even this year. Anyway, the shirts will be amazing so I don’t think I am going to have to guilt anyone into picking them up… heh.

The shirts won’t be ready until next week, but to see the logo in action, check this picture Michelle took of the DolfansNYC banner her friend printed up for us. This will be hanging out front of Third and Long every Sunday.  Get excited!

The Dolphins are planning big things for the fans for the upcoming draft.  I just got this in my inbox from the Dolphins.

MiamiDolphins.com will provide live video coverage as General Manager Jeff Ireland hosts his annual pre-draft press conference on Thursday, April 8, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. After the press conference at 1:00 p.m., Ireland will take part in a 30-minute Live Video Chat with Dol-Fans. We ask that fan please be sure to submit your first name, city and state with their question. To submit a question for the Dolphins General Manager, please go to www.MiamiDolphins.com/AskJeffIreland.

Its not often that the Dolphins give access to Jeff, much less fan access, so I hope you guys take the chance to send in a quesiton or two.  I know I have a lot to ask… although very little of it has to do with the draft.

I think my first question might be HOW THE HELL DO YOU LET JASON TAYLOR VISIT THE STINKING JETS!!!?!?!!!??

Good lord, my heart is breaking today.  Let’s just hope this is a smoke screen that actually works in getting JT signed for another two years.  I want him to retire a Phin and it’s not like we are swimming in pass rushers…

On a club update, we are trying to organize a trip to watch the first round of the draft live.  We wanted to do a draft party, but I think we instead are going to bring out a group to the draft.  Hopefully we will have t-shirts by then! Get excited.

And lastly, remember to check out Run Ricky Run on ESPN on April 27th.  It should be really intresting.

Go Dolphins!

Free agency is just a few days old and it has been an exciting one for the Dolphins!  We cut Joey “Bitch, Moan and Won’t Play The Run” Porter,  “Garbage” Gibril Wilson and Akin Ayodele.  We also let unrestricted free agent Nate Jones leave for Denver. In the process we resigned Chad Pennington as a back up and paid former Cardinals inside linebacker Karlos Dansby a dump truck of money to come play for us.  And as we speak we are trying to hammer out a deal for Steelers safety Ryan Clark. One of my best friends is a Steelers fan and spoke very highly of Clark.  So did Peter King in this weeks MMQB.

I am extremely happy we resigned Penny and and pretty upset we let Nate Jones go.  Rarely do you get a player so happy to be a role player and Nate Jones loved the nickle.  He always made plays when he had to and he played is ass off on special teams.  The only problem is that Will Allen is probably going to be playing nickel next year so we had to let somebody go.  Speaking of Nate Jones, Michelle met him last week and has a video message from him that will be going up on this website so check back then.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you guys a funny story.  Saturday night a friend of mine texted me at 330 in the morning to tell me he was hanging out with a Dolphin.  He is a pretty well known musician but doesn’t know anything about football.  He didn’t know who the guy was, but he knew I was a Phins fan so he texted me. Turns out the guy he was hanging out with was Ted Ginn.  He told me that Ted Ginn called me a bitch because I didn’t want to go hang out.  I texted something about dropped passes, but then I sucked it up and met them out.  It turns out that it wasn’t Ted Ginn at all.  I mean, he looked vaguely like him, but he was too short, fat and old looking to be one of the fastest men on Earth.  I decided not to call this guy out, so I posed awkwardly for some photos with him and played a long.  At one point he pulled me aside and thanked me for not blowing his cover.  It was pretty funny.  I had a good night hanging with them anyway, so it wasn’t a total bust.  I even got a fake autograph!

Anyway, here is a pretty funny picture of me and the fake Teddy Ginn.  And remember, come back on Wednesday to check out the Nate Jones shout out.  Probably one of the last things he ever did as a Dolphin. See you soon! Go Dolphins!