We have definitely began that slow period in the football season. It's "the calm before the storm," that time between the end of OTAs and the beginning of training camp. It's a miserable time for football fans, that's for sure. But I'll try to do what I can to pass the time. So here are some Dolphin nuggets:
DEADLINE: JULY 1
Well, it's not exactly a "hard" deadline or anything, but it would be great news. Jeff Ireland has said on Monday that he wants to get the 3 remaining unsigned draft picks signed to deals by July 1st. This would definitely be newsworthy if the Dolphins can pull this off because, most of the time, a team won't have all their picks signed until mid-July at the earliest.
The great thing about this is that there really isn't any reason why this won't get done. The Dolphins obviously already have their 1st round pick locked into a deal. Chad Henne has said that he wants to be in camp on time so that he can battle for the starting job. It's also already been reported that the Dolphins and 3rd round pick Kendall Langford have begun contract talks. The other player, Phillip Merling, has the same agent as both Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano. Therefore, Merling shouldn't be a problem signing.
The bottom line here is that getting all the draft picks locked up by July 1st would be a wonderful accomplishment for this front office - and it can be done. Just goes to show you how much more efficient this front office runs than in years past.
TWO "Bs" TO BE HONORED
The Dolphins announced today that two members of the "Killer Bs" would be inducted into the Dolphins Honor Roll. Doug Betters and Bob Baumhower will be honored at halftime of the Dolphins' home game against the 49ers on December 14.
And while this is truly a great thing for these 2 all-time greats, that's not why I bring this up. No, the reason I bring it up is because I want to point out the kind of respect this new regime is already getting from these past all-time great Dolphins. Says Baumhower of the current state of the team:
"We all know that Parcells knows how to get it done. It looks like, to me, that these guys got it going in the right direction, and it’s exciting to have that spark of anticipations that seems to be going around right now. Looks like leadership’s where it needs to be. It looks like we’ve got a good team.”
From your mouth to God's ear, my friend!
And you can watch the entire press conference from today's announcement over at MiamiDolphins.com.
FEELY NOT GOING ANYWHERE
Much was made recently about how Jay Feely was basically told to shut the hell up. and while I don't agree with impeding on a man's first amendment rights, it's hard to argue with not wanting to have a loud mouth kicker (of all positions).
Bu the idea that Feely could lose his job because of this is just stupid. The Dolphins have already cut Dave Rayner, meaning Feely's only competition will be rookie Dan Carpenter. And while Carpenter's college numbers aren't too shabby, Feely was 21 of 23 last season and is a proven commodity.
And it seems that Harvey Fialkov feels the same way. He writes the following in his blog at the Sun-Sentinel:
Kicker Jay Feely, one of the best golfers in the NFL (one handicap?), was bummed he couldn't play in the best-ball tourney today because he strained an oblique muscle (side) during kicking drills last weekend.
He'll be fine by training camp and regardless of Feely's belief in free speech, there's no way he won't be the Dolphins kicker this year. He only made 21 of 23 field goals last year and those misses came on muddy fields. And I don't see how the current regime could hold his lack of touchbacks against him when Rev. Cam ordered him to squib kick all the time because he didn't trust his coverage units.
Just one of the many bad coaching decisions by Cam Cameron - good person, bad coach. I'll be anxious to read how Feely does on kickoffs once training camp opens up. Let's hope for some consistency in getting the ball inside the 5 yard line.
Thoughts on anything Dolphins below...