From Fasano & White To Buffalo & Skins…Just Another Manic Monday!

UPDATE:  The NFL and the NFLPA who will be meeting on Tuesday for more rounds of CBA talk, are also negotiating a rookie salary cap that will put the money in the pockets of the veterans.  Read more on this here and expect a longer opionionated take in the future from me.

The season for the Miami Dolphinscame officially to an end 3 minutes before the team lost their final regular season game to the Pittsburgh Steelers when the Houston Texans knocked off the NE Patriots.  In doing so, the Phins finished with 3 consecutive losses to match their 3 losses to open the season and they secured the 12th pick in the NFL’s upcoming draft.

The Dolphins are in the midst of their exit interviews with players as they all go about their separate ways and the team evaluates every position from front to back, sideways, top to bottom, and then back again.  Over and over.  All leading up to the start of free agency in March.

But while the Dolphins have had a busy day internally, some teams have had their business done on the public front.  From Pat White updates to the future of Jason Taylor and Anthony Fasano to Buffalo and Washington, here is a look at the manic monday that was.

Pat White:  White has been released from the hospital and was at the teams training facility today according to local media.  It appears that he suffered a concussion.  He will have the entire off-season to recover.  Ugly hit…good to see it was nothing too serious.

Jason Taylor:  Taylor finished his one year season with the Phins with 46 tackles, 8 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and an INT.  According to local media, he will be heading to the golf course to think about his future while the Phins decide theirs.  He has said that he wants to play a 14th season but where that will be is now up in the air.

Anthony Fasano:    He has already lost some fans simply by his play this season that had him catching only 31 passes and now, he may lose a few more as he looks to make bank this off-season.  Fasano has informed the media that he is now a “businessman” and that he is hoping for a new CBA by March so that he will be an unrestricted free agent.  If there is no CBA he will remain a restricted free agent and property of the Phins.  This will be a common theme among many potential NFL free agents this year.

Chad Henne:  Henne said that he was seeing double coming out of the locker-room on Sunday and that he couldn’t utilize his depth perception and that was the reason he wasn’t in the game.  This can be looked at in 2 ways.  His pissed off demeanor on the sidelines was nothing more than his intensity in wanting to play and not being able to or he was flat out told to sit down because of it and he was spewing the “good soldier” lines.  Either way, he couldn’t have been overly thrilled watching E3 QB Tyler Thigpen throw his name into the QB competition this off-season.  Somehow I think Henne likes challenges.

Jim Reid:  The Dolphins have officially lost their first coaching assistant under this new regime.  LB coach Jim Reid has taken the WV DC coaching job.  He informed his players today.  Reid had been long rumored to be in line for the job.  The team is coached by former Miami Dolphins’ WR Brandon Londons’ dad.

With the season over, that can mean only one thing.  The 2010 NFL schedule has been cemented.  The Dolphins of course will play home and away to their AFC East rivals but that is only 6 of their 16 games.  The remaining games will be home against:  Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Chicago, and Detroit with away games against:  Baltimore, Cincy, Oakland, Green Bay, and Minny.

Conversely, NE will play the same with different home/away teams but will play Indy and San Diego instead of Tenn and Oakland and the Jets will play Denver and Houston.

The Bills?  Well, not really a priority right now as the team not only fired their interim HC but also the entire coaching staff from top to bottom.  The team hired a new general manager when they promoted Buddy Nix.  The team will now focus on hiring a new HC.

The Bills weren’t the only team to chop some heads as the Washington Redskins made all the rumors official when they terminated Jim Zornas the HC.  Now, with at least 2 HC positions open, the name of Bill Cowher will pick up steam…as will Mike Shanahan who was flown into Washington early Monday afternoon.

Wes Welker, the little man that “does”, won’t for the remainder of the season as he tore his ACL in Sundays contest against the Texans.  It makes one wonder why he was in the game at all considering the Patriots hardly made any real effort to win the game from the start.  Tom Brady who “supposedly” had 3 broken ribs and a broken hand miraculousy healed during the game.  He now only has one broken rib and a broken finger.

For those Dolphins fanswho still rant about Welker and what he has done since leaving Miami…Julian Edelemanwho replaced Welker immediately saw his best day as a pro.  He caught Welker like numbers with 10 receptions for 103 yards.  All about how you use them.

The Wild Card weekend will be awfully familiar this week as 3 of the 4 games are rematches from this past weekend.  The Jets will play the Bengals, the Cards will host the Pack, and the Cowboys will play another showdown with the Eagles.  The Patriots will host the Ravens.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Manic Monday” was a song by the all girl 80’s pop band “The Bangles”…yes, I’m old.