Decision 2011: Dolphin players facing free agency next offseason

As a huge Ronnie Brown fan I certainly would like to see him in Miami for the long haul. His skills are nothing short of amazing considering his size. But his injury history cannot be ignored. If he has a injury free season he could really help himself for a long term deal. If he gets injured AGAIN I think our FO will cut ties and rightfully so.

It would be tough to see our favorite player go and especially due to the fact that he pretty much is our QB of the wildcat so he is vital to our offense. I think what it comes down is I don’t want the situation to be similar to JT’s: meaning If he goes I don’t want him in the AFC East and we would DEF need a valuable replacement via the free agency but more likely the draft. I hope Ronnie is a Dolphin for his entire career but IF we happen to part ways we better have a solid young replacement to keep our running game as one of the league’s best.

Ricky wil never leave Miami, he would´nt want to.

But probably as a coach, thats just my gut feeling.

Watching the list of free agents after this season, I get the reaction that its not as bad as I thought it would be. Mainly, there are certain players that are not in my must return list.

I love Ronnie, and if he can pull a good season and stay heathly I would love to see him back again. But, if his season ends short, then i gotta say to move on. It would be too risky in that situation.

My i would like to see return list:

Ricky Williams
Patrick Cobbs
Davone Bess
Chad Pennington as a coach*

Sadly, I wouldn’t be sad seeing the rest of the FA not get resigned.

Pennington will be back unless someone trades for him this year, Ricky Williams will be back if he wants to be back, Hilliard and Cobbs will all but certainly be retained at RB as will Bess and Haynos at WR and TE respectively. The real question marks are Brown and Fasano.

First off, if Ronnie doesn’t start all 16 games this year, then he won’t be playing with us unless he (A) signs for little money over 1-2 years and (B) competes for and wins the job in camp in 2011. We will all but certainly draft a RB in the first 3 rounds next year (Possibly Brandon Saine or Roy Helu given the Height/Weight mold Parcells likes unless we can nab a 2nd round pick and go after Evan Royster or DeMarco Murray) just in case.

Fasano needs to have a good year to justify the FO’s faith in him after passing on a stout TE draft class without batting an eye following an abysmal free agent season. If Fasano struggles, a pass-catching big target TE will be on the Trifecta’s radar. The only issue there is that the 2011 TE class is gonna be a major step down from this past year’s. Watch the Patriots closely and see if they cut any of those draft picks just before finalizing their 53-man roster.

All in all this shouldn’t be disastrous for us since most of our guys will not draw big pay days and others will be quickly re-signed due to their affection for this team. Our worst case scenario is Ronnie gets injured again, Ricky retires, Hilliard proves less than capable after Ronnie goes down, and Fasano stinks up the field. That is a LOT of ifs so we should feel pretty good about where we stand.

DL Tony McDaniel - Might not even survive this offseason. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him cut at the last minute but that will depend on Ikaika Alama-Francis and Lionel Dotson to step up during camp and preseason.
NT Paul Soliai – If Randy Starks holds down NT and Ryan Baker steps it up during camp, Soliai is gonna be SOL. At best he gets retained until Ferguson gets back from suspension and then he is cut to make room for Big Ferg.
LB Charlie Anderson - The depth at OLB is pretty thin so he will probly get a Post-it note with an offer on it around week 16. If Quentin Moses blossoms, Anderson will become potentially expendable.
LB Quentin Moses – This year will be Moses’ best chance to shine. If he can push Anderson for the day of game roster he will probly get a small offer to return. He could get a better offer if Anderson turns down the post-it note and goes elsewhere. Miami probly won’t sign either to long term deals (over 3 years) unless they accept small raises with little guaranteed money since both seem destined to be special teams players/relible backups.
LB Tim Dobbins - is the biggest question on defense right now since he potentially provides us with quality ILB play, strong special teams play, and the potential to start at ILB in the near future. If he demands a big contract he probly plays elsewhere but of this group he will likely be the priority (along with either Moses or Anderson).

The front office might give some a offer to stay,but they wont be breaking the bank.

2011 QB Coach – Chad Pennington

Going – Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs, Anthony Fasano, Tony McDaniel, Paul Soliai, Charlie Anderson, Quentin Moses

Staying – Ricky Williams (assuming he doesn’t retire), Lex Hilliard, Davone Bess, Joey Haynos (RFA), Tim Dobbins

Draft needs, 2011 – RB (to learn under/share carries with Ricky and Hilliard), DL, TE, OLB, possibly CB

We gotta keep Ronnie and Ricky (if Ricky dosen’t retire) we’ll keep Davone Bess, maybe Moses (if he can really step up) and CP10, is my real brain killer. If we keep he can be a great mentor, if we don’t keep I somehow don’t see things working out. . . hard to see the future is. My guess is we keep im’. Rest will go.

Also, we draft a top RB in next years draft to pair with Ronnie.

These are also the ones I’d like to see the team keep.

The rest, not so much…

Ronnie, Ricky(so he can pass Csonka on the all time rush list), I want Hillard because i think he can be as good as Ronnie, Bess is going to stay unless RGM is just as good as him but faster, Haynos probably will because he won’t ask for much, Then all i want on D is Tim Dobbins and maybe Anderson.

not if they should but how much for how long. So Henne’s performance this upcoming season will dictate the price range i would think.

other than that it doesn’t look the list of potential free agents is too earth shattering.

I am a big Ronnie Brown fan but unfortunately he has not lived up to 2nd overall pick expectations. Ironically 2007-08 was going to be his best year (1-15 season) before his injury occurred. I give Cam Cameron credit for probably making the best utilization of Brown during his career. Cameron got him out in space. – his 39 receptions in 2007-08 were the most of any season. UNfortunately he only played 7 games that year – he was on pace to catch 89 passes for 889 yds and rush for 1375.

As it is Ronnie has never rushed for more than 1010 yds in a single season.

The guy is a great wildcat trigger man but i would love to see him utilized more as a receiver the way they were doing in 07-08.

The man has said time and time again that his competitive fire still burns and that he wants to start somewhere. Someone in this league will give him that shot (guys like Daunte Culpepper and Ryan Fitzpatrick were starting games last year), and I doubt he’ll turn it down just to hold the clipboard in South Florida. Do I want him back here eventually in some coaching capacity? Of course, but that’s definitely not happening in 2011 and maybe not any time soon after that if Chad has his druthers. I, for one, wish him the best of luck in his quest to regain a starting job in this league.

how come you guys are over looking mister clutch 3rd/4th down cobbs? dont care if he goes or not? are you guys basing your thoughts on production or popularity? give me the guy i can go to. that gives me that thrid and short to keep my drive alive anyday.

sign him.

as my great grand pappy use to say: having sex with a apple pie is NOT the same as with a real girl.. no matter how warm the apples are.

And that guy I would let walk would be Cobbs. I know TS loves him but I would have no problem letting him walk. I hate to sound ungrateful in terms of what he’s done for this team, but I think Lex can do SOME of those things. And at a cheaper price. Not sayin Cobbs would be all that expensive but Lex would be cheaper I’d imagine. If not we more than likely will be looking for a RB in this upcoming draft anyway, so what better way to get the new guy’s feet wet then special teams. My initial thought was Ronnie, but I think the fact that he hasn’t finished seasons may give him a little extra tire tread. However I wouldn’t give him a long term contract.

Well either draft or trade (prob draft) a good RB. Theres no point holding onto a player that helps us win 8-12 games but then gets injured.

If Ricky retires and Ronnie is let go (due to more injuries/or his cost) then its critical that Miami draft another great RB… Our system under the big Tuna is very "run oriented" we need MARK INGRAM, ALA – next year in the draft… It would be terrible to get this team close to a SB this year – and then wind up losing our 2 best backs in the offseason. Even if Ronnie stays we should still draft Ingram if given the chance. We need to reload at RB while the team is in its prime… and I don’t want some second tier RB – we had a lot of those that failed in Miami over the years. UNTIL we traded for RW and later drafted Ronnie to replace the dope smoking RW… We are not that far removed from the old "RB poor" days in Miami…. I never want that again…and this OLINE is built to run ! Lex, Cobbs are not talented enough to carry the load.

ritchie incognito will be a free agent also