2013 Free Agency Preview

[JMelHo]

Originally Posted by Kemp17

Yeah Gaither is guaranteed next year. So we ought to roll with him. He's only costing us about 4.5M next year, which is beans for a good left tackle. When he's healthy, his play is quite a bit above that pay grade.

Kinda hard to be healthy when he fakes injuries.

[Kemp17]

Originally Posted by JMelHo

Kinda hard to be healthy when he fakes injuries.

I don't think he can fake it that well. His issues are actually to be expected with thoracic disc herniations which just happen to be really rare.

[darth1050]

Jake Long is likely headed for free agency next year. Any chance we could pick him up, or is he going to be too expensive.

[Kemp17]

Long is an odd case and will likely get tagged. He was arguably the best tackle in football for 3 years, but lately his play has been mediocre due to nagging injuries. So do you pay him Joe Thomas money based on his play before his knee started bothering him, or do you pay him much less based on his recent play? And would he even take less?

To me, Long's situation is screaming for the franchise tag. The Dolphins can then have him on a one year deal, he can have time to get his body right, and they can decide if they're comfortable with a long term investment. So I don't believe he'll be an option in the end.

[chargersfan85]

Originally Posted by Kemp17

Long is an odd case and will likely get tagged. He was arguably the best tackle in football for 3 years, but lately his play has been mediocre due to nagging injuries. So do you pay him Joe Thomas money based on his play before his knee started bothering him, or do you pay him much less based on his recent play? And would he even take less?

To me, Long's situation is screaming for the franchise tag. The Dolphins can then have him on a one year deal, he can have time to get his body right, and they can decide if they're comfortable with a long term investment. So I don't believe he'll be an option in the end.

The tag for OT is 15.365 million. I dont think the dolphins will tag him at that price

[Kemp17]

Don't be surprised. The other alternatives are to let a guy go who could potentially be one of the best left tackles in the league, or to sign a guy to a big deal who has the potential to severely underplay that contract. They might decide that his services and one more year to decide is worth the 15M.

[v-jaxdabeast]

I don't see why people would want to take olb round 1 instead of OT, OG or cb. Its a need, no doubt, but not our biggest need at all. Plus there aren't any good 34 starters that are gonna be there when we pick, unless you want to take bruce irvin 2.0 in mingo. Someone like vic butler, who has been pretty good in the absence of spencer, would be a good signing IMO for depth and pass rush.

One thing i wonder, is if we are on the board and Joeckel is available, and we take him, where does he and gaither play? Gaither failed miserably at rt in kc and Baltimore, but would he be able to play there? On the flip side, would we put joeckel on the right side? If so, it would be a waste of top 10 pick to use on a RT.

[Kemp17]

Originally Posted by v-jaxdabeast

I don't see why people would want to take olb round 1 instead of OT, OG or cb. Its a need, no doubt, but not our biggest need at all. Plus there aren't any good 34 starters that are gonna be there when we pick, unless you want to take bruce irvin 2.0 in mingo. Someone like vic butler, who has been pretty good in the absence of spencer, would be a good signing IMO for depth and pass rush.

One thing i wonder, is if we are on the board and Joeckel is available, and we take him, where does he and gaither play? Gaither failed miserably at rt in kc and Baltimore, but would he be able to play there? On the flip side, would we put joeckel on the right side? If so, it would be a waste of top 10 pick to use on a RT.

OLB is a need because Ingram and Johnson are our only OLB's under contract in 2013 and JJ is getting old (and isn't much of a pass rusher). And you'll notice I'd like to take a pass rusher high because I'd also like to address a couple of needs through FA (corner and guard in a perfect world). So it's not like I'm advocating for ignoring those positions. A rookie corner likely won't be much of an upgrade in his first year- a good veteran likely would be.

And Joeckel would play the right side until Gaither goes down. After 2013, Gaither's salary isn't guaranteed so we can cut him and move Joeckel over permenantly as our left tackle. Gaither's durability is way too big of a concern to rely on him as our left tackle of the future. I would be all for releasing him now if his salary wasn't going to be owed to him regardless. A healthy Gaither and Joeckel would be such a huge upgrade on the outside, and we would have a legitimate option next year for when Gaither gets hurt (as opposed to couting on Mike Harris).

[RyanMathews]

A guy we can pair with Ingram could be Cliff Avril. He's pretty young as well, picked the same year as Larry English except Avril is actually good. If we sign Avril then we can focus on OT, OG, and CB in the draft.

[Kemp17]

We could, but there is a way better (and bigger) FA class of corners than of pass rushers. Avril is going to cost a lot more than a comparable veteran cornerback. And I don't think he's all that effective. He's played the left side his entire career and has only been truly good in spurts. I don't think he's the ROLB this defense needs. Plus he's kind of a knucklehead.

Also, a rookie pass rusher stands a better chance of helping than a rookie CB IMO. Joe Haden, Patrick Peterson, Morris Caliborne. All of those guys struggled, mightily at times, as rookies. It's a very hard position to play right away.