The Miami Dolphins got off to a good start to the offseason with the signing of cornerback Brent Grimes to a 4 year, $32 million deal. The structure of the contract also allows the Dolphins to cut ties with Grimes if his production diminishes after the second year, when he will be 33 years of age. 

While locking up Grimes was an important first move, GM Dennis Hickey will be busy improving a roster that has several different holes at key positions. The offensive line is the most notable weakness and it is certainly possible that it will consist of four new starters in 2014, with the only returning starter being center Mike Pouncey. Considering that Chris Clemons, Paul Soliai and Randy Starks will be given the chance to test the market, Miami will likely need to find replacements at safety and defensive tackle, respectively. The Dolphins can also look to improve the run game by signing a power back, something they desperately lacked last season. 

This morning, the Miami Dolphins took a step in solidifying their secondary with the re-signing of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes.  As a result of the new deal, Grimes avoids the franchise tag that he probably wasn't going to get in the first place.

Grimes posted excellent numbers in Kevin Coyle's defense and had four interceptions and an exciting 92 yard interception for a touchdown return versus the Bengals.  

Grimes' deal was first hinted at by Ian Rapoport, of the NFL Network and then ESPN's Josina Anderson followed up news of the deal with a quote from Brent Grimes and announced it would be a four year deal.

The contract details per ESPN are for ($32 million, 16 million guaranteed, or $8 million per year).

Said Grimes per Anderson via Twitter: "It's a four year deal. I wanted to be be back, but u (sic) never know in this business and when it worked out I was happy."

For now, the Dolphins have their guy in the fold for 2014.  At this point, the Dolphins bring back a true leader in the locker room.  

However, it's going to take some more creative efforts to find another cornerback opposite Grimes should the Dolphins move on from Philbin favorite Nolan Carroll.  In addition, the Dolphins could offset this deal by cutting oft-injured Dimitri Patterson who is owed 4 million plus this season.

At this point, this much is clear, the Dolphins new GM Dennis Hickey and front office aren't dragging their collective feet and for Dolphins fans, bringing back Brent Grimes is just the start of more positive things to come this offseason.

What else are they going to say?  The Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross' Dolphins and Dennis Hickey's roster full of Dolphins seem unlikely to trade Cameron Wake, Mike Wallace, and number one (pick #3) pick Dion Jordan.

With the rumor mill in full swing prior to looming free agency on March 11th, a report by Jason LaCanfora intimates that according to a source, Dion Jordan could be traded by the Dolphins to free up cap room.  The article can be accessed here. 

Not long after, Dolphins beat reporter, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald sat back in his lawn chair while sipping a beverage and casually hit up his source in Davie and was told the Dolphins are doing no such thing by trading Cam Wake, Mike Wallace, or Dion Jordan.

Who do we believe?  First of all, we believe in Miami reporting because even though things are difficult to get from the Dolphins in terms of information, the reporting of the Dolphins has been usually accurate.  Next, we believe that Armando Salguero has the source that LaCanfora doesn't have.  Even though La Canfora has publicly said that he stands by his story:

@JasonLaCanfora Just to reiterate, Dion Jordan absolutely was made available to NFL teams by the Dolphins. Um, and why would they ever "confirm" it. Please

The Dolphins have made every attempt to squash the bug on this one before the rumor flies in the face of a player such as Mike Wallace who could re-structure his deal, a Cam Wake who does have every intention of playing out his deal, and rookie Dion Jordan who Jason Taylor clearly wants to help get better.

A week can't go by with the Dolphins making headlines.

The trouble is, who is telling the truth?   What if these players are gone? Why would a season ticket holder want to watch a bunch of college kids start? Where's the draw?

For Dolphins fans who are high paying season ticket holders, the aspirations of a winning season just became hollow.

In what has long been a question that has been placed on the virtual back burner, the Dolphins have to decide who over their 20 free agents to bring back.  

It's highly possible that the position of cornerback  one year ago was the most crucial last season after the departure of Sean Smith in free agency and the pre-season trade sending Vontae Davis for picks.  However, despite not being proactive early in the free agency process, corner back Brent Grimes landed in Miami prior to the draft.  With no guarantees, Grimes came in and blew away the competition even after spending much of the 2012 campaign on IR with an achilles injury.  Grimes came in with everything to prove and everything to gain.  

Grimes excelled and showed he could be the the shutdown corner he was in Atlanta.  As a Dolphin, Grimes' season finished with a Pro Bowl berth and a wide open possibility of commanding top dollar on the market. 

However, the Dolphins, in the headlines for apparent dysfunction in the front-office lost Brent Grimes biggest cheerleader in Jeff Ireland after his firing.  Since then, not much has been written about Grimes as a sure thing in Miami, until yesterday, when Grimes said so himself that he is confident Miami will bring him back.

The question is: will the Dolphins go another direction given a new GM in Dennis HIckey who has a penchant for drafting quality talent as he did in Tampa?

After a few minutes of laughing, followed by a few chuckles and an intermittent knee slap,  I continued my day.  No, I didn’t just watch an episode of Big Bang Theory.  It was Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin’s stand up comedy show disquised nicely as his Scouting Combine press conference.  All that was missing was an occasional rimshot or a Sheldon “bazinga”.  For example--Philbin actually kept a straight face as he spewed this nugget in his opening statement...

“....and if they left Miami and went to another organization or left and went to work for General Electric, Goldman Sachs or whatever great company in America, they would look back on their time as a Miami Dolphin and say, ‘That organization was committed to helping me reach my full potential.”

BAZINGA!  

It works better with an actual sound effect, but you get the idea.  Joe Philbin’s whole press conference was nothing but another example of “learning on the job”.  Tony Sporano and Cam Cameron have GOT to be chuckling now.  Oh how I long for the ineptitude of those days....

I could pile on and continue the easy task of ridiculing “Jersey Joe” Philbin’s bobbing and weaving his way through his press conference, but as a Dolphins fan, it’s time to turn the page.  Philbin is still learning, and owner Steven Ross is determined to let him...unfortunately.

Besides, the only thing Philbin could’ve done to save that press conference---was announce his resignation.

BAZINGA!

Thanks....I’ll be here all week.  Try the squid.
 

In a non-surprising move, the Dolphins continued to make changes to their staff by firing Head Trainer Kevin O'Neill.  O'Neill was fired for not cooperating and not being forthcoming during the Ted Wells interview.  It has been said that O'Neill showed "hostility" toward the line of questionning by Ted Wells back in November regarding Jonathan Martin treatment from other players on the Dolphins football team.  Chris Mortensen was the first to break the story via ESPN.

In addition, it was Mr. O'Neill who was aware of the racial epithets hurled toward his intern of Japanese descent.  

O'Neill served with Jimmy Johnson in Dallas and then went to Miami after then head coach Don Shula retired in 1996.

All in all, the Dolphins continue to make headlines this season and the worse is yet to come with the NFL poised to announce suspensions of OL coach Jim Turner, Center Mike Pouncey, and John Jerry (a free agent). 

It remains to be seen if the Dolphins were actually looking to suspend O'Neill since he was said to have traveled with the team to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine.  O'Neill was fired in Indianapolis, which seems cruel, but in reality, the combine functions as a job fair of sorts.  

This week we had an opportunity to chat with Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.  Andrew has close to a year as the Dolphins beat reporter and has covered the ups and downs of the Dolphins 2013 season.  Andrew shared with us some insight on the aftermath of the Ted Wells report, where the Dolphins could look in the draft and in free agency, and if there could be a Dan Marino sighting in the Miami front office.

1.   Despite what has been written in the Ted Wells Report, where do the Dolphins go from here?  What are the lasting effects that could very well affect the Dolphins personnel-wise? Could this plague the Dolphins in the future when attracting free-agents?

The Wells report might be the most embarrassing chapter in Dolphins history, but it doesn’t have to be a franchise killer. This isn’t the NBA where players have guaranteed deals and can sign with the most popular team. The Dolphins will still attract quality free agents because there’s only so much money to go around in the NFL.

But this will hurt the Dolphins financially because fans are already fed up with a decade and a half of mediocrity and the Martin/Incognito saga is giving the fan base even less reason to be excited about the 2014 season. Only winning will bring fans back to Sun Life Stadium.

The Dolphins next move has to be bringing in high-character players who won’t do anything to further sully the franchise while figuring out a way to get the most out of this roster since the majority of the key players (offensive line withstanding) will return in 2014. The Dolphins completely lacked an identity last season and the coaching staff has to step up in a big way in 2014.