Miami Dolphins: 43? Bowles? Soliai? Some Dude From Cincy?
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins made headlines over the weekend when they appointed Joe Philbin to be their 8th full time HC in franchise history. There was a collective sigh of relief from fans all around the world when it appeared for a short period of time that the Dolphins would possibly have to move to a tertiary list of possibilities. Over the course of the last few days, Joe Philbin has been spending time with his family, working to relocate them to Miami, interviewing current staff, and planning on his own staff.
While all of this was going on in Miami, General Manager Jeff Ireland is in Mobile, Alabama for Senior Bowl week. He spoke with media yesterday and we will give you some insight into what he said further down the page.
Yesterday presented the first glimpse of what the Philbin system will look like. Oddly enough, the offensive side of the ball hasn’t bee discussed all that much in what appears to be more of a wait and see approach with Mike Sherman who is still the top consideration for the Tampa Bay HC Job. Defensively however, changes are made and on the way.
We start with the retention of Todd Bowles. It is being reported that he will be let out of his contract soon and will no longer be a coach in the Miami Dolphins organization. The top choice for DC is Kevin Coyle the DB coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. Coyle may not have an extensive resume but he is very close with new HC Joe Philbin as they both come from the Mike Sherman tree.
Philbin will need people he can trust and rely upon. The move will almost assuredly signal a move from the 3-4 base defense to a 4-3 and will immediately call into question the Miami Dolphins current roster to fit that scheme. Luckily for Miami, the Dolphins have been running a 34/43 hybrid over the past few seasons so the staff only need to shuffle positions in most cases. There will be more on the roster after Coyle is formally announced as the DC.
The shift however will impact DT/NT Paul Soliai who is on the way out of Miami. Franchised last season and now considered a waste of 12 million because he will not likely be re-signed, Soliai will likely find testing the waters to be a major contractual windfall. Yesterday he was named as a replacement to the AFC Pro-Bowl squad and should easily turn that into a contract that encroaches on the high 40 million dollar range.
Also being discussed today is the salaries of several players who may find themselves looking at free agency as well. The most notable of which, as pointed out today in the Sun-Sentinel, is Safety Yeremiah Bell, the last remaining player on the Dolphins who was actually drafted by Dave Wannstedt. Bell is scheduled to make over 6 million this season.