Will Dolphins Karlos Dansby Be Next Veteran Out The Door

If everything goes according to the first few weeks of HBO Hard Knocks’ season, the Dolphins will make a move sometime after Tuesday’s airing of the show.  First we saw the opening episode where the Dolphins chose Eric Steinbach over Braylon Edwards, then we saw the release of Chad Johnson, then the Karlos Dansby audio interview on local radio calling out his coach and the naming of Ryan Tannehill as the starting QB.  This week, it’s the Vontae Davis trade.  Will Karlos Dansby be out the door next week?

The Dolphins have made no bones about what they want on the field in terms of character and you have to wonder to what degree linebacker Karlos Dansby‘s knee is preventing him from practicing.  Dansby has not been on the field since he called out his coach and GM Jeff Ireland.  It’s only summation but it seems a little odd.  For Dansby however I would have to imagine if that were the case, we would know about it already.

We saw the trio of Dolphins veterans talk to Joe Philbin about a “Player Council“.  Dansby was one of the three who wanted to be on it and form it.  Philbin said that he was fine with it but wanted to wait until after the 53 man roster was finalized.  Could that be an indication that he is hoping that Dansby will not be here when that 53 is, finalized?

Since Dansby has arrived to the Dolphins VIA free agency, he has never come close to matching his production in Arizona.  He has arrived overweight and out of shape to camp, not something that a leader does, and has failed to bring the TE coverage that he was capable of doing with the Cardinals.  He has struggled to make game changing plays consistently and while he is a veteran it’s plausible to ask if he is really the overwhelming best player in the middle of the defense.   Kevin Burnett has also played the middle and  it’s realistic given Dansby’s production to believe that Burnette could at the very least match him statistically.

When you begin to factor in salary, cap hit, production, leadership, health, and everything else, it’s easy to see why Joe Philbin may opt to move him.

The Dolphins have a huge need at WR and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaches or GM Jeff Ireland who stated that the team will in fact look at making a trade for a WR if they can find one that makes sense for the team.  Rest assured you can take value, production, salary, and leadership into account and then compare it to the compensation of the trade.  Will Karlos Dansby be a part of a deal for a WR that lowers the draft pick compensation?

The Dolphins thought that Dansby would be the missing piece of the Dolphins defense.  The backbone that stood out and led the others.  Instead, they found that Dansby needs a better support staff.  The Dolphins thought, or perhaps they thought that Dansby would be the guy who elevated the guys around him.  He didn’t do that.  It was a common belief that guys like Channing Crowder would play better with a guy like Dansby.  That didn’t happen.  Karlos Dansby has never come close to the leadership or productiveness of Zach Thomas.  While not many can, Dansby was thought of as that top tier guy.  It’s what the perception was coming out of Arizona.  Instead, he needed more support to elevate his game.

The Dolphins may not trade him, they may not even try to trade him.  A lot of speculation, at least by the fans is that Matt Moore or David Garrard will get traded to a starving QB team.  Just yesterday the Buffalo Bills made a move for Tarvaris Jackson out of Seattle.  So teams are looking.  The Dolphins can go into the season with Kevin Burnett on the inside and Karlos Dansby somewhere else.  They can’t go into the season with the wide-receivers they have now.

Time will tell but something says the Dolphins are not done yet.  Perhaps that something was Jeff Ireland saying as much following the trade of Davis.