I am not sure how Bill Parcells did things in his previous years on other teams, but I am noticing a pattern when it comes to signing free agents from other teams with the Dolphins. He is willing to pay top money for a player, but he expects to see the same performance or better when they suit up for his team. If Parcells is disappointed he cuts his losses and moves on.

FS Gabril Wilson was cut loose this year after a terrible performance in his first year with the Dolphins as a free agent. It was not that Gabril did not try or even show improvement throughout the year, but his performance was not up to the nice contract that the Dolphins gave him. 

Surprisingly, the Dolphins traded away LG Justin Smiley. Now, Smiley was a fan favorite and was rated the best pulling guard in the NFL. He was intrumental in making the Wild Cat a success in Miami. Smiley's performance on the field was up to par with his contract, but he missed games because of an injury to his shoulder that he had before he came to Miami. The shoulder was deteriorating so the Dolphins replaced him in free agency and the draft, and parted ways with him. I think a lot of the fans are feeling a loss about losing Smiley, but Parcells made an evaluation and stuck with it.

Last year's big free agent signing was C Jake Grove. When Grove was on the field his play was extraordinary .... and it should be based on what the Dolphins gave him. However, he only played in a little over half a season due to injury. Joe Berger stepped in and did such a good job that Coach Sparano declared in OTA's that Grove is going to have to win the center position because he was going to give it to Berger if he played better.

A lot of the fans came down hard on Grove after Sparano said this, but if you check the stats over at Pro Football Focus you will see that Grove played better than Berger. One thing though, Berger is closing the gap, is not injury prone, committed less penalties, and is much cheaper. But, Grove was blowing guys off the line of scrimmage on running plays ... and that is why Parcells brought him into Miami.

So, let this be a warning to ILB Karlos Dansby who was our big free agent signing this year .... earn your money all 16 games of the regular season; otherwise, the cheaper guy on the bench may make you expendable. While Parcells is building now by adding free agents, his goal is to bring in his own guys through the draft.

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When Dan Marino retired in 2000 so did the high expectations for the Miami Dolphins. I remember not having a good feel for how the new team would do. Despite all the returning starters there was real uncertainty with a guy named Jay Fiedler taking his place. I remember being rather passive in the off-season and the lack of expectations was kind of refreshing. As the season began and Miami slowly started to rack up wins, it became a delightful season despite the obvious need for the upgrade at QB. Well…I got that feeling again. The defense has been gutted. The offense is on the mend. There’s been a huge infusion of youth on the defensive side. It is certainly a far cry from the grey beards of yesteryear. I’m honestly at the point where I really don’t have a good feel for how good, or bad, this team will be this fall.

The big difference this time is expectations. This is Parsparano’s 3rd season. So expectations are this team should make the playoffs however the youth belies that assertion. For some strange reason, despite the young defense, I can’t help having expectations that this team compete for the division title this year. Maybe it was the Marshall Acquisition. Or perhaps it was the bringing on board of Mike Nolan. Whatever it is, my expectations are growth from last season. Sure I think it is not unreasonable to expect a slow start, but ultimately we should start to see this young team get better as the season progresses and finish strong.            

On a lighter note, it will be good to see ZT retire as a Dolphin. ZT will forever epitomize us lunch-pale guys who just “git er done”. Thanks Zach.            

Finally, I was told by a mentor once to always give your money to the place that is feeding you. I guess that’s why I’ve never had an issue with giving to my local church. They feed and care for the local community. This site has fed my appetite for Dolphins information and has great folks to share our opinions with. I enjoy it immensely and it would be a bad thing if I woke up tomorrow and it wasn’t there. That’s why I sent a paypal the other day. I would hope that you will as well! Go Phins!!!

Download the Free Phinfever Browser Toolbar

I really can't get along without the browser toolbar. It has all the important links on it. I'm not selfish, I even have all the other Dolphins fan sites on it. There's a lot of draft links, rss feeds, and a cool email program that lets you know when you have mail. And NO spam or spyware. It works for Firefox and Internet Explorer. So, enjoy!

Support Phinfever by buying what you need from our advertisers. They pretty much pay the bills for us. Thanks!
 

If you're looking for things to do in Miami FL, check CTC for Miami comedy shows and Miami football schedules. Also buy NFL tickets and college sports tickets, including Miami Dolphins football tickets and cheap Hurricanes football tickets