Cameron Wake : Pay The Man !
If there wasn’t bad news in Dolphins land there would be no news at all.
Today we learned per NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora that “Cameron Wake wasn't present for the Tuesday morning start of the Miami Dolphins' offseason program under new coach Joe Philbin, according to a team source, and the star linebacker could be absent for quite some time.”
Miami Herald’s Salguero later tweeted “Cameron Wake did not show for 1st day of offseason conditioning as a form of protest that a contract extension is not close to done.”
The real question is now, how far will Wake take this holdout. Wake has by all means earned a big payday but at 30 years old on a rebuilding team that isn’t quite there yet there is certainly a debate whether Ireland will give Wake the money he deserves.
Most fans are going with the PAYTHEMAN motto in terms of dealing with Wake as they know by now if Wake were to be traded the odds are very likely that Ireland would be able to give them the return they are hoping for.
Wake has been a VERY effective pass rusher in the league even leading the NFL that past two seasons in total QB pressures. Wake has even surpassed the NFL’s best (Allen, Ware and Peppers) in this stat. Number 91 has light up our hearts and light up the stat sheet becoming the most entertaining Dolphins defender to watch on the team. No one knew much about Wake coming from the CFL but he has certainly made his mark on this Dolphins team.
And as my buddy @PhinsRock tweeted “Trent Cole and Peppers got 12 million a year…Mario just got 16 million per…Wake might be 30, but he's not getting less than 60 million.”
Jeff Ireland is a very stubborn man, and if he believes Wake value is lower than Wake perceives it as don’t be surprised if the former CFL superstar will be on a plane elsewhere before the regular season starts. NFLPA official says Wake could be fined $10,000 per day if he misses the Dolphins mandatory three-day minicamp. So we shall see how long this lasts.
Jake Long will surely be the priority of the franchise, and while securing a long term contract with Long helps the Dolphins against the cap, Wake’s contract might not. Hopefully the organization isn’t made to choose between the two but at 30 years old and a roster that needs a lot of work, Wake’s presence on this team should not be taken for granted.
No one has the answers, because no one can think as blindly as good Ole Jeff, but if I have to my say on the matter it is time to PAY THE MAN !
Also another small bit of news, Iowa WR Marvin McNutt has met with the receiver needy Dolphins, McNutt could be a nice piece for Philbin’s west coast offense. Small note also that WR's coach Ken O'Keefe was WR coach at Iowa where McNutt had a lot of success.
Miami also worked out LB Jonathan Goff, Quentin Groves, Gary Guyton.
