Sometimes you need to take a step back when looking at offseason moves. From a distance, it's easier to see intent, and the plan the front office is putting together, as with a complex puzzle. And then there's the Miami Dolphins. I'm not really sure what they're doing.
Some of the departures make sense. No need to keep around players who are old (Lawrence Timmons) or underperformers (Julius Thomas).
But Jarvis Landry is a talented young wideout who just led the league in receptions. Miami shipped him off for a a fourth-round pick, replacing him with aging, injury-prone Danny Amendola and unaccomplished Albert Wilson. They dumped Mike Pouncey, who was quickly signed, replacing him with 30-year-old Daniel Kilgore. They added a capable guard in Josh Sitton, but he's 32.
On defense, nothing wrong with dumping Timmons. But Suh remains one of the game's more disruptive interior linemen, and they cut him in part because of cap issues (while simultaneously taking on the Quinn contract the Rams were desperate to get free of; a nearly $12 million cap number this season).
| MIAMI OFFSEASON MOVES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In | Age | Out | Age |
| RB | |||
| Damien Williams | 25 | ||
| WR | WR | ||
| Albert Wilson | 26 | Jarvis Landry | 25 |
| Danny Amendola | 32 | ||
| OL | OL | ||
| Daniel Kilgore | 30 | Mike Pouncey | 28 |
| Josh Sitton | 32 | ||
| TE | |||
| Julius Thomas | 30 | ||
| DL | DL | ||
| Robert Quinn | 28 | Ndamukong Suh | 31 |
| LB | LB | ||
| Lawrence Timmons | 32 | ||
The popular line is that the Dolphins are changing the culture of the locker room. Suh, Timmons and Pouncey had some attitude concerns, perhaps, that they were happy to get rid of.
But will the on-field product really be better? We'll see what the draft brings, but plenty of questions right now.
--Andy Richardson