Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's some of what you might have missed hile you were out and about:
CULTURE CHANGE COMING
Besides the many changes we are likely to see on the field for the Dolphins, Tim Graham wrote a brief article about the culture change that players should expect off the field as well. It's very well known how relaxed the locker room was last year despite all the losses (with domino games and card games and such). Don't look for that same "laid-back" feel from this new regime:
"Those domino games often seemed more bitterly contested than the football games on Sunday," Shropshire wrote.
With Parcells running the show?
"For all the players knew," Shropshire wrote, "Parcells was watching them on some hidden surveillance device, making sure that nobody was laughing, playing (around) or thinking about anything but football. ... The game-room effect is no longer in place in there."
Not surprising at all, but is good to know that these players will take this game to heart more than they seemed to last season. For a lot of last year, I got the feeling that us fans cared more about the outcomes of the games than these players did. And that feeling does really stem from the coaching staff and front office. So the players better be advised; things are changing in South Florida.
SALGUERO SAYS DOLPHINS LOOKING INTO ANDERSON
The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero spent an hour and a half on 790 The Ticket today. One of the things he said was that he believes the Dolphins are looking into possibly trading for Derek Anderson. However, it's important to note that this is just speculation.
However, I wouldn't be shocked if it was true. After all, what better way to get people to believe the Dolphins will take a QB #1 overall than to claim the team is interested in trading picks for a player like Anderson? With that said, I'd still be shocked if the Dolphins did trade for him and I, for one, wouldn't really want to trade for him. We've talked at length about why I'm opposed to trading for Anderson. And much of it can be summed up here. But, again, I think that if there is any truth to what Salguero claims, it's probably just another way the Dolphins are looking to drum up interest for a potential trade out of the #1 pick by getting the teams that want a QB (Matt Ryan) to believe that Miami will take him if they keep the pick. Or it could also just be Salguero trying to drum up interest for his blog at the Herald so he can get as many hits as possible. Either way, I'd be shocked if this happened.
FRANCHISE TAGS AND FREE AGENCY TALK
We are now less than 3 weeks away from the beginning of free agency. And with that comes the mid-February chatter and franchise tagging. Here's just a brief summary of what's going on in regards to the Dolphins:
Barry Jackson, of the Herald, reports that the Dolphins have reached out to Michael Lehan about re-signing him, according to his agent. Jackson also reports that Keith Traylor's agent has said his client will not retire. However, the Dolphins could still release him.
The Denver Post is reporting that there has been some talk over in Hawaii that Marcus Trufant plans to "cash in big" in free agency and could pass up Champ Bailey as the league's highest paid cornerback. Personally, I thought Asante Samuel would actually be the one passing up Champ. Regardless, with the large amount of cap space the Dolphins have and with both of those 2 being young, I really hope the Dolphins make strong plays for one of the two top cornerbacks.
As for the franchise tag, the Eagles have franchised tight end L.J. Smith. Also, Adam Schefter reports that the Ravens will likely franchise defensive end Terrell Suggs. So those are two guys you all can cross off of your wish list.