Dolphins In The Doldrums… Storm Coming!

 Doldrums Time: What The H*ll Am I Gonna Do On Sundays Now?

It’s THAT time of year: Endless analyzing, scrutiny, and regurgitation of the Super Bowl.

At least this post Super Bowl we Phins fans get to chomp on a Pats defeat and arguably one of the best Super Bowls since Eve ate the apple… or at least since David Tyree’s miracle catch in Super Bowl XLII to save the Perfect Season.

This is the time of the year where the spouse leaves the room at the mere mention of football. It’s her time of year. She’s had her fill of football…

Even your football buddies are avoiding you.

Having survived the first day of the week at work, there’s no Monday night massacre to ease the pain. You actually–sort of–look forward to getting out of the house on Sundays. But the sports itch is there lurking under the surface. It doesn’t help that the Miami Heat leaves you wanting.

Desperate, you watch a baseball game… if you can call spring training a game.

It’s total NFL withdrawal time, otherwise known to PhinsNews fans as those fatal Dolphins Doldrums.

WAITJUSTADARNEDMINUTE! There’s Lots of Football Going On!

Then you realize that the NFL calendar is chock full of ‘games’ this time of year… for the Owners, General Managers, Scouts, Coaches–just head games, of course. Like yesterday for instance was the first time the Phins could sign a CFL player not already under contract or with an option for 2018. Think Cameron Wake! Ok, that got your attention.

Yeah, it doesn’t take a pay per head bookie software to bet this grasping at straws… so let me double down on it a bit more.

Just imagine if the Phins signed Mr. Football, Johnny Manziel, to back-up Tannehill …instead of him signing with the CFL. No Doldrums there! Chaos maybe–certainly A LOT of Tylenol for the headaches… but suddenly, no more doldrums.

Now I’m just funnin’ with you on Manziel, but my point was made. This is the ‘off-season’ only for the players under contract. Everyone else is in the game. Maybe something interesting will happen? Then again, maybe not…

…But a big storm is just right around the corner…

…The 20th of February is less than a week away. That’s the first day the Phins can ‘tag’ a player.

Hmmm, who could the Phins possibly want to use the Franchise Tag on? Not Landry? His currently “reported” asking price is actually under the FT cost. So why would the Phins not just sign him? Why use the FT on him?

1. Rent Landry for one more season without deep financial strings tied to the future …ala Redskins/Cousins
2. See what his market value is, and if low, it could make a long-term deal more reasonable
3. Try and get super lucky and get compensation in a trade, better than his compensatory pick
4. See the WR market, whatever it is, and wait till next season when they have cash to sign him

At this point, if Miami let’s Landry test the open market they might lose their best draft pick in a long time… and not even get a compensatory pick in return–if they end up big buyers in the FA. The recipe for compensatory picks is FA’s lost verse FA’s gained. Miami could dramatically lower or erase anything they’d get from Landry’s loss depending on how they approach their FA purchases.

Full Frontal Game Mode. What If Phins Front Office Tags Landry

What if Miami does intend on being big spenders in this FA and believes his open market value will escalate into a bidding war for his services? Maybe they tag Landry and try to trade him? Don’t think it would endear them to Landry…  but maybe they don’t care at this point.

If you don’t think Landry will be a hot commodity, take the Colts for instance. Please.Their QB, Andrew Luck, is the difference between Indy being a Super Bowl contender and an NFL wasteland. When healthy, Luck loves his slot receivers. More than 23% of his attempts have targeted the slot, that’s the 6th highest of current qualifying QBs according to PFF. On the receiving end, Landry has run more than 70% of his routes from the slot. His other stats speak loud and clear. Landry would give Luck a proven pro-bowl quality secondary receiver and underneath option. Not to mention, the Colts have T.Y. Hilton on the trading block. It’s appears to be a match made in heaven.

A bidding war could develop with deep CAP teams like San Francisco or Cleveland, both in dire need of high quality WRs. And that’s not unlikely.

There are no ‘Doldrums’ for True Fans of the Only Game in Sports

So, maybe if a team really wanted Landry, but fears being priced out by its own CAP limitations, it could offer the Phins a desirable trade for a franchise tagged Landry. It’s the only way the Phins could get some compensation and still be players in the FA. Thats if they decide they can’t afford him themselves with our own very tight CAP problems. Maybe it’s just a mid-rounder–better than nada.

Now I’m not saying that a tag and trade is likely or even desirable. Unless Landry doesn’t sign his tender, the Phins would have $15 million tied up with this move, if there weren’t a trade. All they’d get in this case is a rent of Landry for one more year. But it’s entirely possible that this time next week we wake up with a done deal… or not, which would end the ‘doldrums’ either way.

Bottom Line: There are Dolphins Fans that are fine with seeing Landry go due to price. There are Fans that would pay just about anything to keep Landry. But, I doubt there are but a handful of fans that won’t miss seeing him in aqua on Sundays… and even less that wouldn’t be happy to get something in return if he should move on.

And FYI: Just a week later, there is the NFL Scouting Combine. All of the top graded QBs, OGs, and LBs will be there for every NFL hierarchy to drool over. That’s just the last two weeks of February folks. There is much, much more to come in March and April. It may well be the ‘doldrums’ season for 2018 contracted players, but it’s anything but for fans of the game.