Dolphins swim through the Caribbean

Here's a story I was completely unaware of. It's not football related but it is Dolphin-related.

Apparently Jason Taylor was being sued for reneging on a real estate deal in the Virgin Islands. Well, yesterday he was cleared of all liability due to misrepresentations by the seller. Here's the link to the Associated Press story.

So this is what JT has been up to in the time off between OTAs and Training Camp. Of course, if you have to show up for a court date, it might as well be in the Virgin Islands...

NFL goes Dolphin-Crazy!

There's nothing like turning to the 'main-est' of the mainstream NFL coverage, the NFL itself and finding a plethora of Miami Dolphin coverage there. I gotta be honest, I sometimes go months at a time without visiting NFL.com and I usually only do to see if they've mentioned anything at all on NFL Network about my favorite team.

So imagine my surprise when they post not one but several videos and an off-season round-up about the Dolphins all on one day.

NFL.com's Vic Carucci is keeping the rest of the world informed about the Dolphins.

And in addition to that, Jason Taylor made it on to the NFLN team cam (probably only because he's friends with Chris Cooley):

There is also a video about the QB situation at Carucci's article (linked above). Most of it is stuff we already know as obsessed Dolphin fans, but it's still nice when we get a little National exposure, and I can't help but see the irony in the fact that two days ago we were collectively moaning about being the red-headed step-child of the NFL.

Is this the end of the drought? Or just a courtesy to Dolphin fans to keep them from b*&%hing for the next 3 months?

Salary Cap Schmalary Cap - A Financial Bit o' Tin

• Turns out Jason Taylor is not THAT cheap. Let's clarify the contract because there are a lot of conflicting reports in the mass media. Here is what JT actually costs.

$400k signing bonus (this is the 'guaranteed' money)
$700k salary (i.e. $43, 750 per game)
$500k incentives (these are always kept private, but I would guess they include staying healthy, participating in a certain percentage of plays or games, and number of sacks.)
This adds up to $1.6 Million total. But wait...that's not the ACTUAL total, is it...
Turns out Taylor is still owed approximately $1.7 Million by the Dolphins from his previous contract. Ah yes, that means Jason Taylor is scheduled to smack up the Salary Cap for $3.3 Million in 2009! Cheap for Jason Taylor, sure, but still a sizable blow to the Cap.

• Will Allen was ACTUALLY scheduled to hit the cap for $4.9 Million this year making him the fifth-highest paid player on the team behind Joey Porter, Jake Long, Ronnie Brown and Vernon Carey. Then he was to be a free agent in 2010. Now with his re-signing, it's unclear how much he will hit the cap for but let's assume it will be more, since his guaranteed money went from $900k to $10 million over 3 years (this could be very erroneous reporting and may turn out to be significantly less).

• Channing Crowder signed a 3 year deal that will hit the cap for $3.5 M in 2009. Strangely enough, they managed to sign him without any guaranteed money. He either has the worst agent in history, or he really loves that Miami fishing.

• Lousaka Polite got a pretty good deal for a relatively unknown full-back. As long as he keeps his YPC average above 1 yard, he'll be getting about $1.8 Million this year.

• Rookie Tight-End, John Nalbone, will have to compete with David Martin, Anthony Fasano, and Joey Haynos for a roster spot but for now he'll put a $483k dent in the cap.

While this is highly-speculative, and I'm no math expert, and even less of a salary cap nerd, I did do some math for this post and came up with an approximate projection of $8.9M of current cap room for the Dolphins.

This may seem like enough to sign the partnership of Smith, White, and Davis, with possible room for a low-ball contract for a rookie wide receiver, but one must factor in that Matt Roth, Anthony Fasano, Davone Bess, Ricky Williams, Jason Ferguson, Tyrone Culver, Dan Carpenter, John Denney, Ronnie Brown and even Chad Pennington will have their agents attacking the front office for extensions of their own, though I suspect they will tell both Brown and Pennington flat out that they won't talk contract until 2010.

So, you can see there really isn't a lot of cap room for the Dolphins to work with here. It's clear that we can't afford to trade for Anquan Boldin, or to extend Ronnie Brown's contract. This time last year we had only a handful of players who wanted an extension, and we also had more than double the cap room we have now (and this was AFTER Jake Long and Justin Smiley practically mugged the salary cap).

So unless Pat White plans to play for potato chips and Wilford will void his current contract in favor of a box of oreos, this could get ugly, and players could be let go simply to save money (see Jason Allen, Ronnie Brown, Randy 'Freightliner' Starks, etc.)

Some Tins Come In Bits and Pieces

• According to Drew Rosenhaus, this is the year Yeremiah Bell will make the Pro-Bowl. While I expect Bell to play at a high level as he did last year, I think the insertion of Gibril Wilson, combined with more trust in Tyrone Culver, and the youngblood, Chris Clemons, I can't help but feel that Bell with get fewer snaps (I think that's the goal of the Trifecta, for every position, sharing the workload to help prevent injuries and to keep everyone fresher and faster) and thus reduce his stats which plays the biggest part in pro-bowl voters minds. Of course, if the shake-ups eventually lead to him getting 7 interceptions and 5 forced fumbles, then who cares how many tackles he ends up with, right?

• Not Dolphins-related but considering he was one of my top 2 Miami 2010 Draft targets, and would've been one of my targets this year had he come out, I had to mention this. Boston College star linebacker, Mark Herzlich, has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Ewing's Sarcoma. So while this probably means a sudden and shocking end to his NFL career before it even started, the harder pill to swallow is that this cancer, which only affects 250 people annually in the US, can be fatal 20% to 30% of the time. I wish him all the best as he will have to undergo chemotherapy and thus will likely lose a significant aspect of his self, which is to say his athleticism.

• Plaxico Burress is apparently in talks with at least two NFL teams according to his agent. I'd bet good money that one of those teams is actually the Giants trying to get some of their money back. The other team is likely the NY Jets.

• Former Dolphin kicker, Jay Feely is obsessed with Mike Vick. They started out in the NFL as rookies together in Atlanta and their lockers were next to each other for four years. In those four years, despite considering Vick a good friend, they never hung out outside of football. And now he regrets not being there to mentor Vick into becoming a man. He also blames all of Vicks actions on his circle of friends. Last time I checked, the most important factor in 'becoming a man' was to take ownership/responsibility for your actions, not to blame them on something else. Another Feely-ism, his blog profile photo is of him holding up a big fish on a boat and he's wearing a NY Giants sweatshirt. Bet the Jets love that.

• We talked about the new Madden 2010 game here but I kind of glossed over the new 'pro-tak' technology because I didn't really know what it was, but this video pretty much explains it in its simplest terms. There's even a couple of plays with Ronnie Brown in it.

• And finally, back to Jason Taylor and what he'll be doing in June (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried): click here.

The 2009 Miami Dolphins Linebackers - The Beginning

The following rundown was compiled by part-time blog contributor and full-time Knight of the Realm, The Knight Who Says Ni! who e-mailed it to me before scurrying off to find a shrubbery (one that is nice and not too expensive). Before we get into it, keep in mind that the Dolphins began the 2008 season with only SEVEN linebackers on the active roster and ended the season with TEN, after adding two for special teams and an aging vet when Crowder got hurt. Two of those players, Kershaw and Walden, are still on the roster as of now.~Tinshaker

OLB Joey Porter 6-3 250 - A seasoned pass rush specialist at this point in his career. If we can get some pass rush from some of the other OLBs we can keep Joey fresh all game and all season long. If we can cut his plays from what seemed like 45-50 last year to 30-35 this year, we might have a fresher more productive Joey late in the year as opposed to last year when he seemed to wear down.

OLB Matt Roth 6-4 270 - Now that Roth knows he's a SOLB on this team, I'm sure he spent his off-season conditioning himself to play OLB, not DE. Roth was up to about 283 last year and maybe dropped some weight during the season. Roth is a big guy and I don't expect him to drop too much weight but I could see him at 265-270 this year. That's his edge, a big physical guy to match up on TEs, set the edge against the run and provide some pass rush. It was his first year as a 3-4 OLB so I think we can expect him to get better, not worse. He was pretty good last year.

OLB Jason Taylor 6-6 250 - We all know what JT is capable of. Yes he's getting a little long in the tooth but I still think he has something left. The best role for him at this point in his career is being a pass rush specialist. Instead of the 50+ downs a game he's played for most of his career, maybe now it's 25-30. He can help keep Porter fresh. His presence also allows Cameron Wake to develop for a year and not have the pressure to be the 'other' pass rusher right off the bat.

OLB Cameron Wake 6-3 255 - The 2-time CFL Defensive Player of the Year is now a Dolphin. He has the size, speed and athletic ability. Does he have the other intangibles that make a good OLB? We're going to find out. We're looking for him to provide some pass rush for us and be one of those guys who can rotate at OLB.

OLB Charlie Anderson 6-4 250 - Last year was his first season as a 3-4 OLB after playing in a 4-3 in Houston for 4 years, mainly playing special teams. He did show some signs as a pass rusher there as well. He should be further along this year but this year is make or break for him in my opinion. After 6 years in the league you are what you are. Now is his time and I think he knows it.

OLB Erik Walden 6-3 245 - He has the size, speed and aggressiveness to be a 3-4 OLB. Does he have the skill set to be a pass rusher in the NFL? If not will he convert to the inside or just remain a backup LB and special teams ace? That's what we're going to start to find out this year.

OLB Quentin Moses 6-5 260 - He was a highly touted pass rusher coming out of Georgia in 07 and fell to the 3rd round for Oakland. He was cut and claimed by Arizona, cut again and claimed by us all in that same year. He's still with us so the trifecta must see something in him. He looks the part with his large 6-5 260 frame but does he lack the other intangibles to make him a pass rushing beast? I think this is his last shot to make the Dolphins. If he doesn't improve we'll go in another direction with someone else. The signing of JT might be the beginning of the end for him.

ILB Channing Crowder 6-2 245 - We all know what we have in him. He's a smart, active, energetic, physical and fast LB who can do a little bit of everything but does not excel at one thing. He's probably best making tackles all over the field and he's adequate in coverage. He's not a big play impact guy but at only 26 years old and now in his 4th year with 3-4 experience and with one year under his belt as the 'Mike' LB calling the defense, I think we can expect more from him this year and I would bet you Channing agrees.

ILB Akin Ayodele 6-2 245 - A solid veteran who plays smart and physical despite not being a great athlete. He adds leadership and experience to a relatively young team. You needs guys like this. That said we need to challenge him this year.

ILB Reggie Torbor 6-2 245 - That challenge could come from this guy. Now that he has a year playing 3-4 ILB under his belt coming from a 4-3 defense with the Giants, he should be ahead of where he was last year. Hopefully he'll think less and just play. I liked the way he played for the Giants. He could do a little bit of everything and he's active. He didn't seem as comfortable with us last year.

LB Tearrius George 6-4 260 - He has excellent size, he was very productive in the CFL and now he has a chance to prove that he can play at the NFL level. Is he a WOLB a SOLB or an ILB? With the signing of JT I say it's backup SOLB and ILB.

LB Orion Martin 6-3 260 - He looks like the same type of prospect/project as George. Same size and plays similar if you watch some video on them. The trifecta must have seen something in him to sign him as undrafted rookie FA. Is he a WOLB a SOLB or an ILB? With the signing of JT I say it's ILB.

ILB William Kershaw 6-3 240 - Another undrafted LB from 06 who has bounced around a bunch of teams' rosters thus far. He has to step it up and show he can play ILB at the next level this year or I don't see him making the team. I don't think there will be enough roster spots to develop him. Maybe the practice squad if he's still eligible.

ILB J.D. Folsom 6-3 240 - Our last draft pick in the 7th round. The trifecta likes his size, intelligence, character and hustle. He will have to win a spot on special teams to make the team. He's a long shot but you never know.

That's 14 LBs and outside of Porter, JT, Crowder and Ayodele, most of these guys don't have a lot of 3-4 experience. So with a year or two of experience for some of them, I would think they would be ahead of where they were last year. When they don't have to think too much they can play faster and we can do more creative things with them.

There will be a lot of competition this year for probably 8 spots. I'd say there is only 1 spot open if you consider Porter, Roth, JT, Crowder, Ayodele, Wake and Torbor locks and I do. 7 LBs will be competing for one spot. That's good competition. But who knows, another LB or two could step up and surprise us by knocking someone else off. That's what competition is all about. There are only 5 LBs on this team from past regimes in Porter, Roth (DE), JT, Crowder and Moses. It didn't take long for the Parcells LB mold to take place.

New Dolphin - Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor is a Dolphin. Again. I'm not going to freak out, or float in exultation either. We all know what Jason has done as a Miami Dolphin. We don't know if he can still do it. He might be able to, he might not.

The real question for me is if he's going to attend the OTAs that he famously skipped last year. He was remarkably out of football shape last year and it ended his season very quickly, after suffering two injuries in a month's time.

I do find it somewhat ironic that as we spent the last two days here discussing the new up and coming pass rushers on this team, the team was hammering out the contract terms to bring Taylor back. Does that mean our discussions have been in vain? Didn't they say that they would wait to see how Wake and Bake (these things write themselves!) turned out before making a decision on Taylor? They obviously didn't wait. Maybe they thought the Pats were about to make their move.

When I see him actually attending the OTAs and Camp and 'showing up' I will be as giddy as the rest of the fans. But until then, I'll move with cautious optimism, and hope for a re-birth of the Dolphins' sack monster.