Miami Dolphins added former New York Jets general manager Miami Dolphins added former New York Jets general manager

Will Tannenbaum Influence Miami Dolphins’ Off-Season?

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The Miami Dolphins added former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum to play the part of football czar or Executive Vice President – Football Operations. The questions now becomes what kind of influence will Tannenbaum have on the Dolphins off-season decisions? It’s a fair question.

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The Dolphins maintain that Tannenbaum does not have say over the roster and that Dennis Hickey is the one who makes those decisions but many speculate that is only a ruse to hide the fact the team didn’t interview a minority candidate to the position first. If Hickey is indeed the only one who makes the final calls will he embrace the knowledge of a former GM to help him? Will he pick his brain about some of the impending free agents the team could be looking at? If he is smart he will.

Of course none of that really matters if Tannenbaum is the one who ultimately calls the shots or implants his thoughts into Dennis Hickey’s brain as a quasi-ultimatum. While Hickey may have Stephen Ross on his side this year there is no guarantee that same support will exist next year and Tannenbaum may become the guy to decide Hickey’s fate.

Needs for the Dolphins are plenty this off-season and several players have ties to the former Jets executive.

At cornerback Antonio Cromartie has a history with Tannenbaum as does defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis. In addition to those two it’s been rumored that the Dolphins will try and land free agent linebacker David Harris who was part of the Tannenbaum Jets. It’s not uncommon for teams to use the experiences of staff when it comes time to decide on what new players should be added but how much influence a particular person has can leave a lot open to interpretation.

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Miami needs to make both sound financial and personnel decisions this off-season as it appears they are ready to part with some pretty increased salaries. If the Dolphins can’t turn it around in 2015 a new head coach and new GM could be added ahead of the 2016 season and if that happens, a lot will ride on the holdover contracts from this off-season. It’s a tight razor the Dolphins are walking and while Tannenbaum isn’t openly making the decisions, he very well be making them behind the scenes.