Miami Dolphins Add Two….Wait For It….Cowboys!

Saturday night I asked Tony Sparano what the process was for finding new players to add to the roster. Is it a process of he and Jeff Ireland sitting down and deciding who is the right fit? Sparano told us that in regards to free agency there is a list of players that they think will get cut. A list of players that are already free agents, and a list of players they believe will get cut for salary cap reasons.

He went on to explain that he evaluates the roster and reports to Ireland that there is a need, Ireland and he then go over the list of available players and then see if those players are a match for the team. Today, the two of them identified two problem areas. Defensive tackle and cornerback. Then, the two decided that the best fit for the Miami Dolphins were former Dallas Cowboys.

The Dolphins, who released Larry Johnson earlier today also released pass catching TE Dante’ Rosario who they picked up a week and a half ago. They signed DT Igor Olshanksy and CB Nate Jones.

I’m not sure what film Sparano is looking at, but I think from the game film that I have seen, Nolan Carroll should have lost his job and the team should have actually played Rosario. The fact that once again the team has failed to address the most glaring problem on the team…the very “Offensive” line, tells me they are relying far too much on Marc Columbo and Vernon Carey to hold it together. Earlier this off-season the team passed on Guard Brian Waters…who is tearing it up at the age of 34 in New England. They also passed on Shaun O’hara and Rick Seubert as well…both former Giants.

I’m not upset as some are about the two opening season losses. The truth is both teams were tough home opponents. I’m not overly disappointed with the play of the offense…sans the offensive line but am very disappointed in the defense. I can’t however buy that the “vaunted” front seven suddenly forgot how to play football. So somewhere there is a coaching issue or a game plan issue or both. But on offense, the team has done nothing to fix the issue.

Tony Sparano vowed to stop playing roulette with his lineman during training camp and he has actually done that. He has stuck with the Carey move to guard and the Columbo move to RT. Unfortunately, neither have improved the line play. When you have to use a back-up tackle as a TE to help out your RT who can’t block and they opponent still gets pressure on your QB…you may have a problem.

As far as Olshansky is concerned, I actually don’t mind the move all that much. It’s obvious there is a problem on the D’line and it could be a few banged up players. Local media was speculating earlier that there could be an injury to Randy Starks. Olshansky’s deal is for one year. The signing of Jones would have been better accepted if not for the fact that the team still retained Carroll on the roster.