Some Dolphin OffSeason Notes

[Coachnorm]

It's so unfair, really. Us Miami fans hear not a goddamn thing out of the organization until training camp starts in July, but the team starts OTAs at the earliest possible date. I'm glad to hear things appear to be going well for St. Louis, my favorite aunt and her family are Rams fans and long time season ticket holders and if they pay what I suspect they do it must be hard to watch such a horrid product for eight weeks out of the year.

Despite having a reputation for being cheap fiscally conservative, Bill Parcells has given the green light on approximately $136 million in free agent contracts so far. It is a Miami club record but it could also be considered a trend.



Last Year, The Dolphins added 11 free agents to contracts worth a reported $103.6 million, which broke the previous record set in 2006.



While these figures are estimates they should be fairly accurate. You get clues when the coach lets you know the re-signing of safety Yeremiah Bell, offensive tackle Vernon Carey and linebacker Channing Crowder, was an investment of "$70 million on three players to make sure those players were here."
Safety Gibril Wilson and center Jake Grove cost a combined $57 million.

Then there was the combined $9 million more on cornerback Eric Green and offensive lineman Joe Berger.


It is true that you don't hear much from real newcomers to the team as the Dolphins don't offer them up for interviews until they have been indoctrinated into the Dolphin way of doing things.


There have been a lot of visits to town, the latest, USC linebacker Rey Maualuga is among the players meeting and greeting Team Miami Tues, according to his representation at Premier Sports & Entertainment. San Diego State linebacker Russell Allen is also scheduled to be among the players visiting today, according to his agent Steve Caric.


In an interesting note the Dolphins have been using Backup QB Chad Henne to workout with WR prospects this offseason. A nice touch here as he appears to be the QB of the future. I even read where they brought Henne along on a rare road trip to tryout a WR. This is a good idea as you are getting your future QB interacting with Wrs who could become future Dolphin Wrs.

 

[DearbornDolfan]

It wasn't just a WR, it was every WR from Florida and UNC that declared for this year's draft, plus they've scheduled all those players for private workouts. I knew about Maualuga, but not Russel Allen. Louis Delmas has a private workout scheduled with the Dolphins and worked out William Moore privately during his Pro Day, although they've shown no real interest in Patrick Chung.

 

[Mike]

Lets just use this as our "official" Dolphins offseason thread

What are the thoughts regarding Pennington this season?

We know Pennington's track record. Good one year, bad the next. Last year, the guy had a pretty good season. Some of that was Pennington, some of it was the smoke and mirrors offense that seemed to get exposed at the end of the season.

If Pennington struggles, how much rope is the coaching staff going to give him? Does Miami feel they have what they need on the roster if they were to go another direction at quarterback?

 

[Phicinfan]

What are the thoughts regarding Pennington this season?

We know Pennington's track record. Good one year, bad the next. Last year, the guy had a pretty good season. Some of that was Pennington, some of it was the smoke and mirrors offense that seemed to get exposed at the end of the season.

If Pennington struggles, how much rope is the coaching staff going to give him? Does Miami feel they have what they need on the roster if they were to go another direction at quarterback?

I have seen at least one report that they will use this pre-season to develop Henne. With the goal of him taking over next year. Not sure what happens to Pennington...or how long the contract they have him on is.

 

[DearbornDolfan]

I think Pennington is going to have a better year. I mean, yeah, he just had the best year of his career, but that was coming off a major injury. His production had nothing to do with the Wildcat, he only had one play in which he was directly involved. He has a full year in the offense and the unit as a whole is as complete as you can ask. There needs to be more talent if the Fins want to reach the Super Bowl, but I believe the unit if functional at a high level.

That said, Henne is obviously the future and I expect he will get plenty of playing time in pre-season. He's going to get a lot of reps and will probably come in during junk time when the game is so far gone or so well in hand that any screw ups won't really matter.

 

[DearbornDolfan]

I have seen at least one report that they will use this pre-season to develop Henne. With the goal of him taking over next year. Not sure what happens to Pennington...or how long the contract they have him on is.

This is his last year. There's been speculation that if he does well this year he'll be offered an extension with salary equivalent to a high-paid backup.

 

[Coachnorm]

Pennington Signed a 2year deal for 11.5 million.

 

[Coachnorm]

Edgar Thompson, of the Palm Beach Post, reports Miami Dolphins WR Greg Camarillo (knee) said his goal is to have no effects from his reconstructive knee surgery by the start of training camp. "So as soon as Day One comes, I don't want to have any setbacks, I don't want to be held out of any drills. I want to be as though I wasn't hurt," Camarillo said

 

[DearbornDolfan]

COACHES CORNER: Could the Dolphins be going to a new base coverage? - ThePHINS.com - Miami Dolphins Forums

Dolfanmike's a coach and uses the Quarters coverage for his team, so it's no surprise he wrote an article detailing what the scheme is and why the Fins are a perfect fit. Turns out he was right. Gibril Wilson has admitted that the Fins will be going to Quarters in a recent interview.