A lot of us knew that the Dolphins would have to address the aging linebacker position and their escalating salaries, but we thought with all the salary cap room that we had this year that this would be a next year thing. Guess what? Why put off next year what you can do this year. Keep in mind that with free agency making teams overpay, the players are going for the guaranteed monies and security. I think no one expects to work the last couple of years at the contract they sign and are hoping to be restructured.

Keep in mind that these moves put the Dolphins in good cap shape for 2014.

Anyways, in case you missed it, the Dolphins signed OLB Phillip Wheeler to a 5 year, $26 million contract. According to Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel, OLB Kevin Burnett was released right after the signing. Wheeler came in last year from the Colts for a workout but ended up signing with the Raiders, as the Dolphins went with someone else for linebacker depth. After a year of starting for the Raiders, Wheeler showed that he could do it all.

What the Dolphins did was get younger, faster, and cheaper yesterday at the linebacker position. The pass rush should be much improved from the linebacker position, but pass coverage will be weaker. I guess Miami's stance on that is that our two new linebackers should excel in Kevin Coyle's blitzing zone defensive scheme, and if a quarterback is on his back then he isn't taking advantage of a lack of linebacker coverage. That's what the Ravens defense has thrived on for years, which created turnover opportunities for the secondary.

"... what's clear is that Ellerbe and Wheeler are superior blitzers to Dansby and Burnett. Wheeler was the second best pass rushing 4-3 outside linebacker, trailing only Denver's Von Miller last season." (Omar Kelly )

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With the fans focused on wide receivers, tight ends, and cornerbacks, the Dolphins shocked the fans by signing Ravens LB Dannell Ellerbe to a 5 year, $34.75 million contract. That's significant money for a player the Ravens thought would be Ray Lewis' successor.

Who is out at linebacker for the Dolphins? According to Rich, our cap guy:

"Cutting Dansby would open up $3.9 mil. Cutting Burnett would open up $3.2 mil. But the dead cap for Dansby would be $4.6 mil, Burnett would be $2.5 mil."

Ellerbe can play either MLB or OLB and can stay with a tight end or running back in coverage. But, as far as I am concerned, Burnett has played as well as advertised. He was also an Ireland free agent pick up.

So, as I write this I can see that the Dolphins plan to release Karlos Dansby. I do remember last year that Karlos Dansby disagreed with Coach Philben openly to the media. So, say good-bye to the stench of Parcells again as Dansby was a Parcells move. I liked Dansby, but I felt he wasn't the playmaking machine that we thought he was. He was a steady force in the middle though.

The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero wrote :

"Dansby irked head coach Joe Philbin on a couple of occassions  by openly criticizing the team's handling of the Chad Johnson cut and also by announcing he was playing with a torn biceps muscle after the Dolphins asked him not to speak about the injury."

One thing for sure is that the Ravens are gnashing their teeth over this move as they wanted Ellerbe back.

TE Jared Cook signs with Rams

That's disappointing news, but the Rams were hot after him. Jets free agent TE Dustin Keller would be a nice pick up for the Dolphins.

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