Dolphins Planning Big Move?

The Miami Dolphins have asked G Vernon Careyto take a cut in pay from his nearly $7 million salary due this year in order to make room for a salary cap addition, I believe.  And since obviously the Fins have not been spending the big money this year signing marquee players (except possibly Reggie Bush…), this means that they could be paving the way to be able to sign a larger and more expensive free agent.

The Fins are still under the salary cap at present and do not need to make a change in order to maintain status quo (continued poor competition at QB and strong likelihood of another sub-par season). Speculation and some news data has been present on the subject, notably I am referencing a recent story in the Miami Herald. Bottom line is: look for the Dolphins to come back and try to make a move on Kyle Orton.  Especially now with Marc Bulger having retired today and the Free Agent market so dry.

Overall, it looks like the big winners from this year’s off-season acquisitions are the Philadelphia Eagles, who signed numerous players and did well in the draft, the Arizona Cardinals (did well in strengthening their needs), Atlanta Falcons (seem very poised for playoff contention), the Detroit Lions and the New England Patriots (simply from the strength of their drafting and number of picks, etc.).

The worst seem to be the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts (who did virtually nothing to help their team this year), the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders & San Francisco 49ers.  It is notable which category the Dolphins fit with right now because they seriously need to win or there will be changes to the entire coaching staff and probably Jeff Ireland is out the door as well. Certain teams did fairly well but did not address their major area of need this year such as the Washington Redskins (need a QB), Tennessee Titans (have a few needs still), Seattle Seahawks (QB and a few other needs).

Cincinnati and Cleveland both are now certifiably horrible (they were at least interesting to watch before). Teams that clearly got stronger include several of those with good signings and drafts (see above) and in particular the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans (they will win their Division this year). Then there is a range of Question-Mark teams that seem to have improved but will need to play well, perhaps overachieve, to see the playoffs.  These include Kansas City, NY Jets (don’t believe last year is an indication of this year), and the Saints of course.  The Saints?  Not really improving relative to the rest of the league at this point, unfortunately.

But the Dolphins are not done and they will acquire a QB from somewhere.  Could even be Carson Palmer!