With the free agency period approaching, my goal is to finish up my defensive review before then so that we can go into the free agency and later on into the draft knowing what we need and what options we have available out there.

There have been a lot of rumors going around about what or who we are acquiring lately so I will try to address all of them. Now I know that a lot of people have very different and strong opinions and I don’t expect everyone to agree with everything but please keep in mind that no one knows what will happen yet so although I will give you my opinion I will also present other options so that we have at least some information about these other guys. If I happen to forget about someone, please feel free to let me know and I will go back and add them.
So where do we start? After much debating I have decided to start with our OLBs which also gives me the opportunity to address the Joey Porter situation which is something that I mentioned previously but I feel I have to touch on again, given the recent updates. As always let us start with what we have:

Jason Taylor.- There are many rumors going around regarding whether or not JT will be back next year; including claims that he could be going to the Patriots which were very interested in him last season as well but I think many of us can agree when I say Taylor is a Dolphin at heart and should retire as one. By now we all must know how much JT loves the Dolphins, not only did he take a big pay cut last season to come back and play for us , but I challenge anyone to find a player who depicts more heart on and off the field than he does. There was not one game were I didn’t see him motivating his players on the sideline or standing behind Sparano looking at what our offense was doing out on the field.
Sure his days as a football player are numbered but as I said before I personally believe he should go out as a Dolphin and in a season where we do him proud. We also can’t overlook what he did on the field this past season, Taylor was our most productive OLB, he easily adapted to the 3-4 scheme and became one of the best all around 3-4 linebackers in the NFL this season. Taylor might have not recorded the 10+ sacks he has us accustomed to but he did end the season with a decent number of sacks with 7, and he proved that he is still both a good pass and run rusher. All in all, Taylor finished the season with 42 tackles, three forced fumbles, five passes defended, one interception without a return, and one fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown in that second game against the Jets, which by the way was one of my favorite moments this past season.
More valuable than what he offers in the field though is what he offers in the locker room and knowing that we have all these young OLBs and that we are expecting to pick a rookie who will likely start that experience will prove to be an invaluable teaching tool.
We all know that neither the Dolphins, nor Taylor have expressed a commitment to each other so we are left waiting to see what will happen in the free agency, but a couple of things have changed since the end of the season; for one we now know that Porter will be gone and as of yet we are no sure who will replace him, if we were to go for a rookie, I believe JT could be offered a bigger paycheck along with more play time which is probably what he is looking for during his last season? Either way we might be waiting for a decision on Taylor until May after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier this week. I for one would love to see Taylor play one more season with us.

Joey Porter.-Other than leading the team in sacks with 9 this season, Porter didn’t do much for this team except for run his mouth and create problems. Now don’t get me wrong I loved Porter, anyone that knows me knows that I sported his jersey almost every week, and that what I loved about Porter more than anything was how he smacked talked all of his opponents, which is probably a byproduct of being both a Miami girl and a UM fan myself. Things changed for me dramatically though when he turned that smack talk from his opponents to his team. Porter’s whole attitude has been not only detrimental to the team and himself, but also an embarrassment for us fans.
Joey you have made it very clear that you don’t want to play for Miami, but please get off your high horse for a minute and listen to us fans, some of us who used to be fans of yours as well when we say we don’t want you here either. You are not as good as you used to be or as good as you say you are!
Now that I got that out of the way, I’ll address the circumstances surrounding his release which later proved to be invalid due to salary cap rules. Basically the problem with the salary cap has to do with the fact that technically we are still under the 2009 contract season and releasing Porter accelerated the disbursement of money in other areas which then put the Dolphins over the salary cap. The salary cap is a complicated issue which is probably how it escaped the Dolphins front office when the decision was made so I don’t really have a better explanation than that one.
Regardless, a lot of people are wondering why the Dolphins weren’t looking to trade Porter when he still must have some sort of trade value but I believe that they might have been trying to trade him and no one wants him enough. Why trade anything to Miami in exchange for Porter when they know that Porter will be released and then they can just pick him up. It’s not like there’s going to be a bidding war going on between teams for Porter because even though some teams could probably use him, who wants to put up with that kind of player? We all sit here and debate getting Marshall because even though he is that good, he has a bad attitude; so what would we think about a player who is not consistent, had a bad season and has a terrible attitude? It’s not an easy sell. That’s why I believe the move to release him came after an inability to trade him in order to avoid having to pay him the $1 million roster bonus they will owe him by March 1st , now that they have to pay it regardless they might try to shop him around a little longer so we might see a trade take place but I wouldn’t expect anything more than a late draft pick.

Cameron Wake.- I believe that Wake has a lot more to offer than what we got to see during the 2009 season in which he had very limited play time. He ended the season with 11 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 20 QB pressures, these numbers on their own don’t seem extremely impressive but when you take into account that he did that in only 167 snaps compared to the average 800+ snaps that the sack leader OLBs played in the league last season then things start to look considerably brighter, he was actually ranked third in sack efficiency in the AFC last season.
Wake has a bright future and I believe that we will see a lot more of him next season, he was a star defensively in the CFL for two years and I think he has the potential to be a star for the Dolphins next season, with Nolan coming in as our new D-coordinator.

Charlie Anderson.- Anderson didn’t see much play time for the Dolphins this past season. His best game was the one against Tampa Bay were he had more of an opportunity to play following Porter’s suspension. All in all, Anderson finished the season with two sacks and to forced fumbles along with nine tackles in special teams.
This is only Anderson’s second season but I don’t see him developing into a starting player, he is a solid backup and should stay in the roster; but we need to either draft or pick up a guy to start as an OLB next season.

Quentin Moses.-Was highly productive in college but I still haven’t seen him do much with this Dolphins defense. I had hope during the preseason when I saw a significant improvement with him but come the regular season here really wasn’t much there other than his one sack. We’ll have to wait and see if he even makes the team next season.

Erik Walden.- Only saw action in special teams this past season so it’s difficult to argue that he has potential considering this is his second season with the Dolphins as well, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was let go next season depending on how productive the drafted players are.

In looking at our roster it is clear that we need help with our OLB position, we know that Porter is out, but even if we keep Taylor I still think we are looking to get two solid guys. Ideally we would get at least one of these guys from the free agency and then the other one in the draft, but what exactly is available? In free agency there are a few guys available, I’ll give you the three that have been talked about lately.

Elvis Dumervil (Denver Broncos).-With the addition of Nolan as our defensive coordinator, this is the guy I think the Dolphins will like to obtain the most, unfortunately I believe that the Broncos will be smart enough to place the franchise tag on him. The advantages of getting a guy like Dumervil are many, not only does Nolan know and understand him but he is an exceptional player, leading the NFL in sacks this past season with 17. I believe that if the opportunity does arise for us to get him we should as he will immediately improve our defense.

Shawne Merriman (San Diego Charggers).- Coming of an injury, Merriman hasn’t proven to be quite as effective as he once was but, that is really the only reason why we even have a shot at getting him. I believe after he has the time to heal during this offseason he will come back up in effectiveness to closer match the player he used to be. The thing is signing Merriman is a little like rolling the dice and I don’t know that we are in a position to do that right now, also I’m not sure how he will work with Taylor considering they have exchanged words in the past, but at the right price it is an option to consider.

Thomas Davis (Carolina Panthers).- Will be coming off a knee injury so we can’t be sure how he will play, but prior to his injury, Davis has proved to be a force to be reckoned with, if anything, his injury has decreased his value enough that even if the Panthers give him an offer as expected, they won’t tender him the highest offer of a first and third round pick, so depending on what they actually tender him , he might be worth looking into.

The draft offers a couple of viable options as well, here are the two I have heard the most talk about:

Brandon Graham (Michigan).- was the senior bowl MVP and proved he is the best 3-4 option for OLB in the draft which is why so many people want us to get him with our first round pick, unfortunately I think that there will be much better options for us in that first round and that it all still comes down to Rolando McClain and Dez Bryant (who is still who I’m pushing for). I see graham going at the end of the first round.

Jerry Hughes (TCU).- He is incredibly athletic and proved to be extremely effective in TCU, his only weakness is his size, he is a little short which goes against Parcell’s usual liking, but I would think that Nolan will have a little part in making decisions when it comes to building his offense and if that’s the case this could be our second round pick.