Adam Gase needed to be “convinced” about adding Osweiller
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said he needed “convincing” about the addition of quarterback Brock Osweiller. Should Dolphins fans be concerned?
So far the Miami Dolphins off-season has been met with a lot of fan support and media backlash. The Dolphins have had a rough spell since March on social and national media outlets and the hits keep coming.
Miami was a playoff team in 2016, a team expected to make the playoffs in 2017, and have gone from one of the worst teams in the NFL to in some circles “the” worst team in the NFL. Most of this hinges on the fact they are relying on Ryan Tannehill’s knee recovery.
When Adam Gase tells the media that he needed “convincing” on the addition of Brock Osweiller, naturally the red flags go up. Of course the mention of Osweiller typically sends up a flag. Osweiller signed a one year deal with $720,000 fully guaranteed. It’s not a lot.
Should fans be concerned? Not really. No, but maybe.
The comments by Gase were more directed at Osweiller himself. Someone Gase has known since Osweiller was 20 years old and coming into the league with the Broncos.
"“They were selling me,” Gase said. “I really had to go through things and make sure he was good, and understood the situation we were in, and what he was going to be competing for….I wanted to hear him, where he was mentally and what he wanted to accomplish. He wanted to get his career rolling again.” – Via Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel."
To understand this statement you have to look at the entire career of Osweiller. A second round draft pick who was supposed to be the replacement for Peyton Manning. Osweiller began his career with Adam Gase who served as the Broncos offensive coordinator.
Osweiller replaced Manning part way through the 2015 season and led the Broncos to a 5-2 record. Manning would come back and Osweiller would hit the bench. The Houston Texans liked what they saw and signed him to a four-year $72 million contract that off-season as a free agent.
Despite leading the Texans to the post-season, Osweiller was traded at year’s end to the Browns who released him before final cuts. He returned to Denver in 2017.
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Gase’s comments reflect more upon the mental state of Osweiller who went from a promising rookie to a franchise type quarterback to a thud in the span of what amounts to two and a half seasons. Gase told the media that he wanted Osweiller to understand his role with the team.
Still, the fact that a coach who knows a player as well as Gase does needed convincing to bring that quarterback into his fold, is concerning to some degree. Some in the media and some fans on social media will make this out to be an indication of trouble brewing between Gase, Chris Grier, and Mike Tannenbaum.
In reality, the Dolphins had few options in free agency aside from adding a top quarterback like Kirk Cousins whose huge contract is fully guaranteed by the Vikings. Miami opted to stay put in last months draft and did not draft a quarterback.
When Gase said he needed convincing in regards to the QB it’s not clear on if his words were intended to mean convincing by Grier and Tannenbaum, or convincing on the part of Osweiller. Perhaps a little bit of both.