Today marks the weekend opening of Ice Age 3:  Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the Fan Sided Network has posted a blog about the aging NFL veterans who really should be hanging up their cleats instead of lacing them.  You can read that by clicking here.

That whole concept led me to thinking about these Miami Dolphins.  The roster.  The aging veterans who should be calling it a career.  Is there a Brett Favre on the team?  An over the hill veteran who really needs to take a long look in the mirror and cry “No Mas!”  The answer is simply no.

The Phins have 4 guys on the team that are over 10 years in the league. Chad Pennington is the youngest of the bunch at 10 years NFL service.  He is followed by Joey Porter at 11 and then Jason Ferguson and Jason Taylor with 13 each.  Of those 4, an argument may be had in regards to Ferguson but even then it’s a bit of a stretch.

Ferguson seems to have become a bit younger since joining the Dolphins and there is no reason why he shouldn’t make an impact on the defense in his 13 season.  While the years ahead of him are dwindling, he still can play an important roll on the team and anchor the 3-4 defense until the Phins can find a younger solution.  Ferguson doesn’t need to retire just yet.

The other 3 are a bit less debateable.  Jason Taylor is only a few years removed from defensive MVP and last years one season in Washington while injury fatigued was hardly an example to why he should call it quits.  In Miami he should return to his former self albeit in a more limited roll.

Chad Pennington has some good football left in him and his age isn’t creeping on him as it does on other QB’s.  Mainly because in CP, the long ball is not any more a threat today as it was 6 years ago.  He still uses his brains to run the team and that doesn’t change with age.

Joey Porter was on the verge starting last season but his 17 sacks a year ago put an end to speculation that he is done.  This season with Jason Taylor back in the mix, could provide the opportunity for Porter to become a dominant force once again.

The Phins also only have 4 guys with 8 or 9 years experience and only Ricky Williams is likely to find himself out of football in the next two years.  Will Allen, LB Akin Ayodele, and TE David Martin are all in that group as well.  David Martin may not be on the team come September.

While Dawn of the Dinosaurs will likely take home this weekends box office championship, the Dolphins list of aging veterans and over the hill never were’s looks to finally have gone the way of the dinosaurs.  If you are looking for ancient relics to pour over, take a look towards New England and their linebacking corp.

The New York Jets will open the season without one of their big 2008 free agents, LB Calvin Pace.  Pace, who was sought after by the Miami Dolphins chose money and New York over Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano.  Pace helped the Jets last year as one of their most dependable tacklers.  He has now been suspended.

The NFL handed down the 4 game suspension after Pace was found in violation of the leagues policy of performance enhancing drugs.  Pace claims the violation was as a result of over the counter drugs that he was not aware contained league prohibited ingredients.  His suspension will allow him to practice with the team as well as participate in pre-season games.

When the Jets finish their pre-season schedule, Pace will begin his suspension and will not be allowed to practice with the team until October 5th.  His first game back will be on Monday night in the teams first contest of the season with the Miami Dolphins.

“I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the league’s guidelines,” Pace said. “I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization, as well as the fans. Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.”

The Miami Dolphins have hired themselves a newbie PhinPhan.  O.k. so Mike Dee is 45 years old and has been a huge fan since the Dolphins knocked off the Bears back in 85.  While that hardly makes the then 21 year old a “newbie” the truth is that many fans of the Dolphins were born into the Phinatic Phandom.

I’m not knocking Mike Dee at all, in fact, I envy him.  So naturally I have to find some fault with a guy 5 years older than myself who has what I would describe as “the best job in freaking world”.  Dee, a former MLB executive has been long rumored to be joining the Phins.  That rumor is now a reality.

Dee was an integral part in turning around the attendence of the Boston Red Sox prior to the team winning…got that New England fans…you didn’t support the Red Sox until Dee got you buying tickets…THEN they started winning.  Amazing how many come out of the woodwork when a team is winning.  Oh, I digress but in the words of Lee Ann Womack…”she makes such an easy target”.

Dee also served with the San Diego Padres and was a major reason that John Henry of the Red Sox was able to gain 50% of NASCAR’s Roush racing.  Red Sox President Larry Luchinno had this to say about the new Phins CEO.

”He’s a bona-fide first-round draft pick for the front office,” Lucchino, the Red Sox president, said. “He’s got enormous energy and has spread his wings in every business issue that can confront a franchise. On top of that, he has the sensibilities of a sports fan.”

Dee was recommended to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross by former owner Wayne Huizenga who knew Dee.  Dee is the second executive hired by the Dolphins today, following earlier news that Miami developer Jorge Perez joined the team as Vice Chairman.

IN OTHER NEWS…Miami Dolphins 1st round pick Vontae’ Davis has been cleared by Champaign, Ill police of an arrest that has now been officially been classified as an identity theft case.  Davis was reportedly arrested on June 9th but has maintained that he was in fact in Miami participating in OTA’s, something that the Dolphins confirmed.

The sunshine in Folsom prison may not be very bright according to the late Johnny Cash…or for that matter the disenchanted career of Jaoquin Phoenix, but it seems that Miami Dolphins J.D. Folsom will be seeing that cash coming round the bend.  According to a report by Scout.com, JD Folsom has agreed to a 4 year deal worth 1.8 million with a 62,000 dollar signing bonus.

Folsom becomes the next rookie of the Dolphins 9 picks to sign.  OT Andrew Gardner, WR Patrick Turner, and TE John Nalbone have all agreed to deals while Chris Clemons is expected to be announced soon as well.

The 6′3 230 pound LB from little Weber State college will compete in a unit that has a lot of potential but few stars.  Folsom could be a candidate for the practice squad if he doesn’t make the teams 53 man roster an unlikely scenario barring injury or excellent special teams play.

Folsom like many of the Dolphins drafted and un-drafted rookies has tremendous upside but lacks pedigree and experience.  He will compete against several LB’s with more experience.

You may remember his name, albeit vaguely. Jorge Perez was part of the Stephen Ross contingent that was trying to by the Miami Dolphins a year ago.  For whatever reason, the South Florida developer never became a partner with Ross who bought the Phins outright from Wayne Huizenga.  Today, the Phins are set to announce that Perez will be joining the executive staff along side former Head Coach Don Shula.

Jorge will serve as the teams second “Vice-Chairman” a post currently held solo by Don Shula who will continue to hold that position despite the hiring of Perez.  Perez confirmed that there is still ongoing talks regarding his joining the team as a minority owner.

”I am talking with Ross about becoming vice chairman of the Dolphins and making a substantial investment in the football team as a partner,” Perez said. “But it’s all subject to league approval.”

Team officials say that while talks are ongoing, nothing is imminent.  Perez is a long time friend and business partner of Stephen Ross so the likely addition of Perez to the team as a minority owner is likely at some point.

Perez is well respected in the Miami market and a long time Dolphins fan.

The Miami Dolphins have been searching for outside anchors on their offensive line ever since the name Webb graced the aqua and orange.  Last year, the Phins made no hesitation when they signed Michigan OT Jake Long 5 days prior to the start of the draft.  With year two underway for Parcells and company, Vernon Carey locked down for the foreseeable future, what else could the Oline have to show?  How about improvement?

The Dolphins were weak running the ball last season out of their base offense.  Right or left the team never found a groove.  Despite Jake Long’s Pro-Bowl birth, the Phins couldn’t put together the kind of in your face offensive attack that Bill Parcells likes to run.  They addressed the Center position in free agency, but who else will make this team a better unit as a whole?

Jake Long: Will Jake feel the sophomore slump?  Not likely.  If there is one thing you can say about Jake Long it’s that he learns quickly.  Not schemes and defenses but from his own mistakes.  Jake rarely makes the same mistake twice and his competitiveness allows him to walk off the field breaking down how to improve his game in his mind.

Last years Pro-Bowl birth was no fluke despite the fact that he was not a first ballot option.  Some argued, I was one, that Jake deserved the spot that was given to Cleveland Browns’ OT Joe Thomas.  Long anchored the left side of the line admirably and his switch to the RT spot outside RT Vernon Carey helped the Phins excel in the WildCat formation.  It’s expected that Long will continue to get better.  Barring injury, Long is the long term future for this team at the position.

Vernon Carey: Carey finished last season with a serious question mark.  Where would he be playing this upcoming season?  Until what would seem like hours, it appeared the answer was somewhere else.  However the Phins made Carey a reasonable offer that kept him in Miami where he not only has played his NFL football but his college ball as well.

Carey is not the road grading type OT that the Dolphins normally would employ but he is very consistent.  Consistency on the right side is something that they Phins have needed for a long time.  Carey never wanted to leave Miami and the deal he signed prior to the start of FA will keep in Miami for another 4 years.

Strong and athletic, Carey is in no danger of losing his job but he has room to improve, something that Tony Sparano will make sure of.

Brandon Frye: Listed as a tackle on the Dolphins official roster, Frye has been getting a lot of work as the teams RG and so far has been somewhat impressive.  While Donald Thomas appears to be coming back the injury that put him on IR last year, the job won’t simply be handed to him because Frye isn’t ready to give it up.

Frye could make for a very interesting option to the Dolphins considering he plays both guard and tackle.  It’s that value and his improvements that make him one of the solid locks to make the roster.

Nate Garner: Garner is entering his 2nd season and will add depth to the field.  The issue here is that it will take injury to thrust Garner into the starting line-up.  He has a lot of upside but has not realized his own potential…but of course he is only a 2 year veteran.  The Phins are in a good position to keep some talent along the line of scrimmage and because of that, Garner could find a landing spot on the final 53.

Andrew Gardner: Gardner was a Dolphins draft this past draft and has a long way to go before he locks down a spot, still, the Phins saw similar potential in Donald Thomas late in last years draft.  Can Gardner be the 2nd late OLineman that can come in and start?

Gardner may find that the practice squad awaits him and I suspect that barring injury to the starters, that is where he will wind up.

SirVincent Rogers: Rogers is a rookie who will try and prove that he belongs on the Phins roster either as a 53 or a PS player.  The talent in front of him however makes his options limited.  Rogers will likely be seeking employment before the end of training camp.

Jake Grove: The Phins have only one true “center” listed on their roster and his back-up will be a G/C player.  Despite improvement from 2007 2nd round selection Samson Satele, SS didn’t fit the smash-mouth play that Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland like to see.  So they traded him to Oakland after signing free agent Jake Grove.

Grove is a former 2nd round selection who has yet to stay healthy enough to warrant the high selection.  However, when healthy, Grove is a monster.  A mean monster.  His tenacious attitude and desire to punish defenders will elevate the more finesse style that the Dolphins have played in the past.

Grove will work on opening up holes in the middle of the line that seriously lacked the ability last year.  With Grove, the Phins will have more strength up front holding down the fort and opening lanes for Ronnie Brown and company.

Overall the Oline will be another year away from being more cohesive.  Much like last season the Dolphins will need to hope that the injury bug stays away and that the younger guys will play over their inexperience.

The Phins have some options with the guard position ( a look at that spot will be coming soon) which will allow them some flexibility with their decisions at tackle.  Rogers seems like the obvious choice as a cut casualty and Andrew Gardner will likely end up on the PS which will leave the Phins with 4 active on the roster.  A fair number that will be supplemented by multi-ability OG’s.

The Miami Dolphins and Jason Taylor could likely play out a familiar scene next  year when the DE becomes a free agent.  Taylor acknowledged to the media that he has no immediate intentions to call it a career following the 2010 season.  In fact, he said that he will be around until, “They kick me out”.

The returning DE is under a one year deal and that came after some dancing by Bill Parcells and side-stepping by GM Jeff Ireland.  Following the draft, the Phins brought Taylor home.  The issue at hand is really who does Jason Taylor take the place of?  If you listen to Ireland and the Tuna, JT is a “progress stopper” meaning that a younger guy is losing reps and not getting the experience so that an older “named” player can be on the field.

The media and blogs alike, this one included, has hashed, re-hashed, and then flipped the hash over and did it again on everything concerning Jason Taylor.  It started with the conflict between Parcells and Taylor over his “Dancing with the Stars” instead of off-season workouts.  That led to the trade to Washington and his eventual return.  Now it seems that next year will play out somewhat similar if Taylor truly feels he can and wants to play longer.

The first name will obviously be New England when and if this happens.  Will the Dolphins see enough in JT this year to keep him under wraps?  JT obviously wants to stay in Miami but that will not be up to him.  In an off-season with little distractions thus far, it’s obvious that no one is looking ahead to next year, clearly not the media or the football starved fans.  Still, it brings up noting because in the end, Jason’s future will come down to, not next year, but his performance this year.  That is relevant.

Can JT stay healthy?  Can JT return to his dominant force that netted him a league Defensive MVP award?  Will JT assist the development of the youngsters or hinder it?  All valid questions and all relevent to the future of Jason Taylor in Miami.

The Miami Dolphins have locked up 3 of their 9 draft choices by adding Patrick Turner to the list.  Turner, the Phins 3rd round pick in this past April’s draft joins TE John Nalbone and OT Andrew Gardner as the three.

The USC WR caught 49 balls last season with NY Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez.  His contract is a 4 year deal that pays out rookie minimum amounts in all 4 years but has a performance bonus of 2.1 million in 2012.  The max deal should he receive that 2012 bonus would be 4 million.  He will receive just over 700K as a signing bonus.

Turner joins the Phins with a plethora of “potential talent” but no clear cut number 1 WR.  Turner could be the big, fast, WR the Dolphins have been looking for but he is unlikely to make a major impact in his first season.  The Phins are closing in on a deal with Safety Chris Clemons as well and he should be signed by weeks end.

Hey all!!!  So, I am, once again, out of town enjoying my 2nd to last vacation before the kick-off of the 2009 regular season.  I will miss the 2nd week of August as well…ouch!!!  I wanted to take a moment to give you all a couple of things.  One, the training camp schedule is listed below…I swiped off Armando’s blog.  2nd, the FanSided Network is having a contest to see who can get the most readers signed up on the RSS feeds.  I have given all of the other sites a full 4 day head-start…so let’s go Phinatics, click on one of the links below and sign up for the Phinphanatic RSS feeds for your homepage!

Here is the link to the feed sign up.  Have our articles sent to your Email, your google reaader, and a few others.  Sign up and let’s put Phinphanatic.com on the top list of Fan Sided Network sites.  Follow the link and input your information after choosing your feed….THIS IS FREE…so check it out!!!

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Phinphanatic

Practices are open to the public until August 22nd.  The training field has a viewing capacity of 2,000.

Date                           Morning                                                         Afternoon

Aug.    1   Sat. PLAYERS REPORT TO CAMP

Aug.    2   Sun.           9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug.    3   Mon.                                                                                 2:00 p.m.

Aug.    4   Tues.          9:00 a.m.                                

Aug.    5   Wed.                                                                               2:00 p.m.

Aug.    6   Thurs.        9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug.    7   Fri  .                                                                                   2:00 p.m.

Aug.    8   Sat .                                                                                   2:00 p.m.

Aug.    9   Sun. PLAYERS OFF

Aug. 10   Mon. 9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug. 11   Tues.                                                                                  2:00 p.m.

Aug. 12   Wed.         9:00 a.m.                                                                    

Aug. 13   Thurs.                                                                                2:00 p.m.        

Aug.  14   Fri.             9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug. 15   Sat. 10:15 a.m.

Aug. 17   Mon. DOLPHINS VS. JAGUARS AT LAND SHARK STADIUM, 7:30 P.M. (EDT), WFOR-TV

Aug. 18   Tues. PLAYERS OFF

Aug. 19   Wed.         9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug. 20   Thurs.        9:00 a.m.                                                         5:00 p.m.

Aug. 22   Sat. DOLPHINS VS. PANTHERS AT LAND SHARK STADIUM, 7:30 P.M. (EDT), WFOR-TV

The Miami Dolphins‘ 5th round pick, Clemson safety Chris Clemons, ended a two round “huh” from the fans when their picks were announced.  Clemons is a tough hard hitting safety who earlier in the off-season impressed his coaches and new teammates with his signal calling and play.

Clemons’ agent has announced that the Dolphins and Clemons are closing in on a contract.  TE John Nalbone signed a contract prior to the start of the teams OTA’s.  His deal was for 1.75 million over 4 years.  Nalbone was taken 4 spots ahead of Clemons so the contract is expected to be similar.  The deal could be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

Clemons would be the 3rd draft pick signed by the Phins who would still have 6 left without contracts.