Extend Jeff Ireland...

[ckparrothead]

You can't move Marshall to safety right now because we have no corner depth behind him. The GM has handcuffed the coaching staff in that way.

[Finland]

Actually, I think the older fans are generally more critical of the current state of the franchise because we hold this team to the higher standard that was set by Shula. Because of Shula I have it hardwired into my system that the Dolphins are the league's most prestigious, storied team and always belong among the elite. I always thought it was the younger fans who crow about Ireland in debates about whether or not he's better than Mueller or Spielman. I mean who gives a ****. Also doesn't Ross deserve credit for Philbin. Or should we reject the reports that Ireland wanted McCoy? Btw, Tannehill is for real and if you're going to credit Ireland for him then you're going to be in Ireland's corner for a long time.

You usually write pretty well, I agree, that Ireland does not get credit for RT. That should land on Sherman and Sherman should land on Philbin. What was Ireland's input and role...no idea, but we know who knew each other and who recommended who. I certainly think you don't talk about extending Ireland yet. Younger fans don't know what it felt like to always be in the game in years gone by. Anyway, yes you wait on decisions, there is a lot to play out yet and the last part of the season will be the better story.

[Finland]

Thats my only problem with the Vontae trade it shows a GM that has tunnel vision , never looking at big picture. I can live with a second for Davis although amazing how this board claims he sucks now, and before he was almost as good as Revis here. My problem with the trade it creates a huge hole in secondary and a draft pick that if we are lucky will be as good as Davis but in reality odds are not with us

I'm not an Ireland fan, but I viewed it differently. You called the action tunnel vision, I gave him more credit and viewed it as obviously he is most concerned with 2013. If the "backroom conversations" are indeed most concerned with 2013, I predict Ireland will still be here. He seems to have some tightness with Ross.

[dcnr226]

Well Im saying he ignored our depth since he traded away Davis. We basically set the team up to have two nfl players at corner and two at receiver and let a bunch of practice squad players make up the depth thats what I mean

You bring up Marshall which is another reason I dont like Ireland he seems to always outbid himself. Who else was going to pay Marshall that money. He wanted to resign in AX and they were like we are not matching that silly offer. The one signing I did like by Ireland was Solai for 2 years 12 million although he stole a check the previous year being way overpaid

I think the defense as a whole has adopted a "bend but don't break" philosophy from the moment they traded Vontae. I think he signed Richard Marshall to play nickel, and then the Vontae trade came about. Knowing that we don't have the corners to shut down opposing offenses, knowing how good our defensive front it, and knowing that our offense was going to TRY and be as aggressive as possible...it's a good decision.

You go to war with the military you have, not the military you want. Sean Smith is becoming very good, we do need a legitimate corner to pair with him but they will try and find that in the offseason. Bend but don't break is smart considering the weakness of our team is the secondary, and there is NO team in the NFL without a weakness.

[dcnr226]

Also regarding "bend but don't break"..I also believe that is why such an emphasis is being placed on the turnover margin.

You aren't running the ball against the Fins, so try your luck in the passing game. We'll give, but we'll also try and take away.

[phintim]

You say Ireland is improving are you basing that on his draft or free agency. Outside of the draft it seems he did not do very good job of trying to improve the team IMO.

Also the question you ask CK moving Marshall would cripple us now in my opinion because the corners behind him are fringe nfl players and corner is a more important positition which is harder to find. My take

#1 Yes I am buying Ireland mainly because of the draft this year and the hirng Philbin. Everyone is making the RT pick a no brainer but there were more nay sayers about picking RT at number 8 then supporters. The season has to play out to see for sure but now it looks dead on and even Ireland I beleive wanted to move back for value. He stuck his neck out and may have gotten rewarded. He and Ross met with Philbin after McCoy and Ireland was premature in his thinking that McCoy got the job before Philbin got that last interview. Thats how those tea leaves pan out.


#2 Thanks for your oprinion I was just wondering based on football knowledge what was the worse of 2 evils having a decent CB and 2 decent safties versus having one decent safty and CB with a below average IMO CB and S. You answered it.

[phintim]

Thats my only problem with the Vontae trade it shows a GM that has tunnel vision , never looking at big picture. I can live with a second for Davis although amazing how this board claims he sucks now, and before he was almost as good as Revis here. My problem with the trade it creates a huge hole in secondary and a draft pick that if we are lucky will be as good as Davis but in reality odds are not with us

I agree with you every step of the way on this move. You would hope Philbin had input into the decision or someone had insight in some issue with Vonte Davis that we just do not know.

[roy_miami]

Well that has been pretty apparent with your posts about Ireland and if we can get someone better then I am all for it. Past GM's prior to Ireland have not been very stellar for quite awhile around here which is as much a reason I find of retaining him than canning him. I am interested to see what Ireland keeps doing now that he is own his own without Parcells and Tony to influence him and beleive he has improved somewhat everyyear since he was hired and improved quite a lot this year.

If Philbin and RT keep performing well and either one does not want Ireland around then IMO you will get your wish.

This is the exact same reasoning people had for keeping Sparano. The old "sure he's not great but we could do worse" argument.

[dlockz]

I'm not an Ireland fan, but I viewed it differently. You called the action tunnel vision, I gave him more credit and viewed it as obviously he is most concerned with 2013. If the "backroom conversations" are indeed most concerned with 2013, I predict Ireland will still be here. He seems to have some tightness with Ross.

Well if he is forsaking putting out the best team possible for next year then he should be fired know for hurting the development of his young qb, . There were many cheap options out there that could have made us a better football team this year. In fact if this is in the convo I would hope Ross would sell the team and take Ireland with him unless they were planning on giving the fans discounts. There was no excuse to roll into the season with as poor a set of receivers and corners that we did. Hell if Marshall and Davis were still here we might be 3-1 and in first place.

[dlockz]

I think the defense as a whole has adopted a "bend but don't break" philosophy from the moment they traded Vontae. I think he signed Richard Marshall to play nickel, and then the Vontae trade came about. Knowing that we don't have the corners to shut down opposing offenses, knowing how good our defensive front it, and knowing that our offense was going to TRY and be as aggressive as possible...it's a good decision.

You go to war with the military you have, not the military you want. Sean Smith is becoming very good, we do need a legitimate corner to pair with him but they will try and find that in the offseason. Bend but don't break is smart considering the weakness of our team is the secondary, and there is NO team in the NFL without a weakness.

I guess you did not watch the defense break multiple times last week. You go to war you dont get rid of valuable assets without a plan in place. as for Sean Smith becoming very good lets wait and see the whole season first, I mean he is the same sean smith that got toasted by Roberts on that 15 yard td on 4th down last week

Also no matter what our secondary is much better with Davis than without. Case in point we are giving up 40 more yards passing per game minus Davis