Jeff Ireland is turning the Miami Dolphins into a second-rate franchise that struggles to bring in top free agent talent unless they grossly over-pay them like Cleveland or Buffalo, if he hasn’t done so already. How much longer does he get to try to convince us that he actually knows what he’s doing and isn’t just horrible at his job?
Tuesday afternoon he said, “We are halfway through the player acquisition period,’’ and “Let the process play out.” I think he thinks that he’s going to have a big second half. I don’t see how that is even possible, unless he knows some big huge secret which we don’t. There will be no more players available that are anywhere near the caliber of Peyton Manning, Matt Flynn, Eric Winston, Mario Williams and Vincent Jackson. The right way to look at the Miami Dolphins current situation is, it’s already at the halfway point but all the free agents actually worth acquiring are gone and the Dolphins failed to get any of them. That is a big time fail.
In regards to the acquisition of David Garrard, this is what he said, “I’ve kind of been chasing him since Chad (Henne) got hurt last year.” There are so many problems with that statement I’m not sure where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the obvious first: maybe if you spent less time chasing David Garrard around you would have actually caught PeytonManning.
Second, what does the fact that you even had to chase David Garrard say about your overall job performance? It can’t be good. If you’re the GM of an NFL franchise, and have to do anything more than just pick up a phone, call an unemployed David Garrard and say ” Hey Dave, this is an NFL team, want to be a millionaire again?” in order to get him, then you are horrible to the point that you’re a joke. That should be the final nail in the coffin to your firing.
Third, what’s Jeff Ireland trying to say here? What’s his point, purpose, goal, etc? Does he really think that he is going to convince Miami fans that we didn’t lose the Peyton, Matt Flynn, and (to a much lesser extent) Alex Smith sweepstakes but rather we won the David Garrard 50/50? Does Ireland really think fans are going to start buying season tickets in droves for the chance to see David Garrard play QB?
Here is some more insight into the Dolphin free agent strategy from Ireland, “We’re going to always make value-based decisions,’’. I don’t get this bargain basement, value shopper mentality that has permeated the Dolphin front office for years. This constant need to scrounge through other teams trash hoping to find some buried treasure. Fans are sick of the front office running the team like its a pawn shop by jamming second-hand players like David Garrard, Kevin Burnett and Marc Columbo down our throats. There is a reason their former teams either let them walk or let them go, it’s because they are just polished up turds and not diamonds in the rough as Ireland and Co would have you believe.
This makes me so angry that in protest I’ve cancelled my plans to buy a new Dolphin jersey this year (It was gonna be Odrick based purely on his awesome Pee-Wee Herman sack dance. Respect). In fact, for as long as Ireland is with the team, I vow not to buy a new jersey, unless it’s a player he either signed or drafted and is now on clearance because they are no longer with the team.
Name me one thing, one move, one decision, that Ireland made which has worked out. If you say Jake Long, then you must be kidding. You really think that it’s a notable accomplishment when the team with the #1 draft pick makes a good decision? Doesn’t that fall into the category of just “doing your job”? What has Karlos Dansby really done? You traded two 2nd round picks for a player (Marshall) who you traded after two years, and no playoff appearances, for two 3rd rounders. Second round pick Pat White is not even in the league anymore and I’m pretty sure Shawn Murphy isn’t either.
Cameron Wake? Maybe, but is that the best you got? Because if that’s all, then I contend Ireland’s most notable accomplishment in his Dolphins tenure so far is calling Dez Bryant’s mother a prostitute, and that is ridiculous. Right now if any reasonable GM in the league who was faced with the possibility of a wide receiver corps led by Brian Hartline would rather have Dez Bryant instead of Jared Odrick and Koa Misi. And can someone please explain to me why in the 2010 draft, which was stocked full of tight ends, they did not get Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez or even Dennis Pitta, when it was obvious that the team needed an explosive tight end?
I do not understand the lowballing of Matt Flynn. I have to admit, when I thought it would take no less then 5 years and at least 50 mil to sign him, I wasn’t so sure it was a good move. But when I saw he signed for only 3 years 26mil total and only 10 guaranteed that seemed like a more then fair price to pay for a potential 26 year old starting quarterback who already knows your brand new offensive system. Maybe he would have worked out, maybe he wouldn’t. It’s widely speculated that Miami is now going to draft a quarterback, Ryan Tannehill with the 8th overall pick in the draft. Maybe he’s the real deal, maybe he isn’t. But if both players are going to involve significant levels of”maybe” then why not sign Flynn and use the 8th pick to fill one of the teams other glaring needs like SS, RT, WR and a second pass rusher? That would seem like solid strategy to me.
And speaking of the draft, that stunt you pulled with Andy Dalton last year was ridiculous (during his standard pre-draft interview, getting to know you vist to Miami before last year’s draft one of the asst coaches barged in pretending to be a “diva receiver” and started yelling about getting the ball more). I’m sure when that plan was concocted you probably thought it was so smart, you couldn’t wait to watch it play out, the suspense was killing you. You were sitting there on the edge of your seat enjoying the smell of your own farts, thinking it was the most brilliant breakthrough in draft evaluation since the Jimmy Johnson value chart. Wrong, it is the second dumbest thing I have ever heard of a professional sports franchise doing (2nd to calling someone’s mother a prostitute of course). I’m willing to bet Andy Dalton still cracks people up with that story as he warns players around the NFL not to sign with Miami because they are a joke.
robfgilligan 