Today wasn’t your typical quiet Thursday for the Miami Dolphins organization as the team made a plethora of moves. Let’s break them down.
–First move is the Dolphins announced they Cut Branden Albert…but wait, no they didn’t cut him. FAKE NEWS (just kidding people it’s a joke!) A report came out later in the afternoon stating the Dolphins now will not cut Albert as they are getting calls about teams wanting to trade for him. For Miami this is the best news they could have potentially gotten today. IF (big IF) this was the plan all along it is genius by Chris Grier and Mike Tannenbaum. IF they lucked into this then hey, great to be lucky sometimes! There are teams that are desperate for offensive tackles (Carolina and Seattle come to mind) that would probably part with a 5th or 6th round pick to get their hands on Branden Albert with no competition or having to fight for him. If you are Miami after the horrible trade they made to move up and draft Leonte Carroo last year you are wanting to add as many draft picks as possible to make up for the ones you gave away. Win-Win for Miami here.
And yes keeping Albert isn’t an option. He is old, he is breaking down, and you are wasting (yes wasting) an elite talent like Laremy Tunsil in his prime years at guard. So if you want to keep Albert and have that opinion you don’t understand NFL football and how to construct a roster for success.
–The Dolphins cut Mario Williams today in the least surprising move of all time. Mario Williams had a great (yes great) Week 1 game vs Seattle and then did absolutely nothing the remainder of the season. Mario blamed his 2015 poor performance on Rex Ryan and the Bills scheme, well in a totally different scheme, a scheme that was tailor made for him, he was an utter failure last season. I “like” Andre Branch but I am not in “love” with Andre Branch. If Miami re-signs him great if they let him walk I am fine with it. That is a different story, but Mario Williams is easily replaced by someone like Terrence Fede at 1/10th the cost.
–The most interesting move is Miami cut DT Earl Mitchell. Mitchell is an OK player, not great, not awful, but he wasn’t worth his contract. In fact I would NOT be shocked to see Miami re-sign him in a few months at a reduced rate as I don’t think there will be a big market for Earl in free agency.
–Last but not least Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reported the Dolphins are looking to trade for a big-name CB. I have feelers out at this time to see if I can get any idea who that may be. Just Guessing (and I am just guessing here so don’t go reporting DolphinsTalk.com is saying blah blah blah) the two names that came to mind off the bat are Joe Haden and Richard Sherman. Why you ask? The Browns HATE veterans, Haden is starting to become a guy with nagging injurie’s constantly, and if the Browns want to trade with NE for Garoppolo they will want to acquire as many draft picks as possible to recoup anything they give up in that trade. The other name that came to mind (again just a flat out guess) is Richard Sherman. Seattle has needs in a lot of areas and if they could move him, take the cap hit now, and be out of his deal within a year they could re-load that roster. Yes Sherman is great but he has been running his mouth a lot of late making headlines off the field fighting with the league and Seattle drafts so well and has so much depth they could be ready to move on. And Sherman is nearing 30 which is the age where CB’s start to slow down some.
So those are just 2 guesses but something to keep an eye on.
