Miami's Future

Alright, so as of now, I think Miami has done a very good job of retaining their talent and going after free agents and upgrading in other areas...but what happens when you develop the top talent...then other teams start salvating at the chance to sign them as free agents and we end up losing out...well this is exactly what might happen.

Currently, our main piece in our 3-4 Defense, the NT is on a franchise Tag for a whooping 12 million...and we have until Sept 20th to extend him or we let him hit the open market next year.  We all know how tough it is to find 3-4 NT's...especially good ones...and we don't have any1 grooming to come take over should Soliai leave...Miami is going to be forced to pay him atleast 9-10 million a year and that SOB David Canter is being as greedy as it gets with his client.  I personally feel Soliai also owes something to Mia for giving him 4 years to develop and 12 million this year, not to mention the highest paid Dolphin defender ever. 

Next is Dave Canter's other client, Sean Smith.  We currently have Vontae locked up until the end of 2013...and Smith is under contract until the end of next year.  But when they both hit the market, it is going to be one expensive payday.  It will be very difficult to retain both of them and again we find ourselves in a position of, do we have to choose between the two or pay a ton for both?  I dont see any easy way out of this bc both are bright young stars, but what I would do is extend both now while they are as cheap as they will ever be.  Lock them up, and then start drafting guys in the next few years to develop under them. 

Finally, D-line...Kendall Langford is turning into a stud of his own and is a free agent next year.  We need to extend him badly...we gave Tony Mcd 2 years which was good and we have Odrick under his rookie contract, but Merling is most likely going to be traded in the next few weeks and Langford is one of the best 3-4 DE's in the league.  I think 4 mil a year with some incentives would be worth it and probably get it done but who knows. 

Lastly, Cam Wake....this guy is playing for peanuts compared to his value...and he wanted an extension but we just don't have the money for it right now.  We have him for 2 more years and should give him a nice raise if we were able to afford it.  Keep in mind he is 29 years old and Miami isn't sure of how many years he has left of top tier effectiveness.  This is another decision where Miami will need to draft a youngster and hope they can develop and find the next cam wake/demarcus ware.

If you noticed I keep referring to the draft to find the answers, and why, because we can lock them up for 5 years...if you have a CB or OLB develop in his 2nd year...then you have 3 more years of cheap labor until they break the bank.  Currently, my guess is that Miami wont pay Soliai bc they can't afford him.  Our Offense is actually pretty cheap as it stands aside from bmarsh and Jake.  But Henne is a free agent next year and unless we draft a 1st RD qb, we need to pay him or someone else a few million.  Good thing is we saved a lot of money on Carey's contract but bad news is we need to fill that side of the line next year as well.  This cant all be fixed via draft. 

Personally, if I had to make the decisions, I'd wait on Henne or a QB till the offseason, find a RT or RG that's about mid tier like a Max Starks or Brian Waters for a year or two and pray we hit on some draft picks on the o line aside from the first rounders.  Then give Langford his 4 million, and Randy Starks will have to go in 2 years...give Wake his money as long as he's producing and unfortunately let Soliai walk because he's just not affordable at this rate.  I'd extend Smith and Vontae in the next year and give them the same contract.  Probably 5 year extensions...

At that point, your left looking for a NT who u hope you can find in the draft or a fill in like an Aubrayo Franklin for the next 2 years until you groom one of your own.  I think this is the best way of keeping the majority of your talent and having only 1 position to fill.  If both the DE's are very Solid then it might make the job easier on the NT so he can have time to develop.  This next draft needs to be focused back on O-line, D-line and OLB IFFFFFF we don't go QB and Henne performs as good as we "hope"

I know the cap is going up in the next few years but I don't know how much, but at some point you have to trust your scouting and recruiting guys and hope you can stay competitive.  Teams like GB and Pitt who have great scouts and GMs are able to do this without overpaying for there own talent, I'm hoping we can do the same because you cant give everyone 10 million a year...

you thoughts...