Dancing Around Dansby
By Brian Miller
The fans of the Miami Dolphins are getting giddy like a 5 year old a week or two away from Christmas. They lay in bed, close their eyes, and have visions of Karlos Dansby dancing in their head. While Christmas for a 5 year old is rarely a let down, for Dolphins fans, the Dansby dance will be.
"“To be wanted, to have a team that really needs me and wants me there in the organization — that’s my biggest thing right now for this offseason,” Dansby told Miami radio station WQAM. “A team to step up to the plate and say, ‘Dansby, we want you. Dansby, we need you. You are our type of guy and we are going to ride with you.’ Just ride with me man and let me be that guy.”"
Dansby is the hot name heading into the free agent period which opens on March 5th. He is the LB that everyone wants. At the age of 28 he will be young enough to sign a good 4 year deal and still only be 32 when it runs out. A quick hard hitting LB who excels at stopping the run, Dansby would be that dream come true. But if history has anything to say about these Miami Dolphins shot callers, Dansby has already priced himself out of the organization without asking for a dime.
Earlier this week Karlos said that his first choice would be to play for the NY Giants and then mentioned teams like Miami and Washington. Basically, he put it out there that he wants to play for anyone who is willing to “want” him. With that comes a bidding war and these Miami Dolphins don’t play that game.
You only have to go back to the whole Calvin Pace deal of two years ago. The Phins had an offer on the table, Pace ran off to NY, called the Phins to match and the Dolphins pulled the offer. Do you really think that despite an uncapped year the Phins will try and outbid anyone? Regardless of how good Dansby is?
There has been a rumor floating for sometime that Bill Parcells told Dansby after a game in Dallas that he “liked the way he played”. That doesn’t mean “I want to pay you a 24 million dollar signing bonus and 10 – 12 mill a year”. Dansby will command around that 10 to 12. The guaranteed part is up in the air.
Either way, one of the few players that can come in and change the landscape for the Dolphins will not likely so much as visit the Dolphins but instead will likely be an early signing of someone on the 5th when that mid-night trend continues. The Dolphins don’t mind spending money but they don’t throw it out there or allow themselves to be a bartering chip or be pitted against another team to up the price. Dansby will be no different.
It’s fun to dream, but those sugar-plums just don’t dance.
In other FA news, the Carolina Panthers are said to be interested in adding a speed burning WR. Number 1 WR Steve Smith came out and publicly stated that it was needed to take pressure off of him. The first name that comes to mind for many Phins fans of course is Ted Ginn.
Ginnhas the speed but lacks the hands to consistently be an impact. Could his speed alone take the pressure of Smith? Maybe. Will the Dolphins and Panthers discuss a trade? Not likely.
Despite the poor showing by Ginn since being drafted, the feeling is that the Dolphins brass haven’t completely given up on Ginn yet…it’s more conjecture than fact derived from solely from the way the team speaks about him and the fact that Ted Ginn does indeed possess speed.
If that isn’t enough, the realization that I completely loathe him being on this team should be enough to guarantee him back for a 4th season.