When Brian Hartline was drafted in 2009, he fell into a mix with newly acquired Brandon Marshall, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, and pass catching tight end Anthony Fasano.  Fast forward three seasons and Brian Hartline is the main pass catcher for the Miami Dolphins after posting career numbers of 74 receptions and 1,083 yards receiving.  Marshall was traded for draft picks and greener pastures in Chicago, Bess found himself on the shelf an out of the lineup due to a back injury and later placed on IR, and fan favorite and 1-15 savior Greg Camarillo was traded prior to the 2009 season because Hartline surpassed him on the depth chart.

Of the group of Miami players that are free agents in 2013, Brian Hartline must be re-signed.  There isn’t a question here because Brian Hartline is a piece of the winning puzzle for Coach Joe Philbin’s master plan.  While Hartline has shown glimpses of being the deep threat, he is not, which makes him a strong second receiver on this team.  Every team needs a strong secondary receiver on their teams.  In the 80s and 90s, the 49ers had John Taylor.  The Oilers teams of the 90s had three receivers that had a monster season in an explosive offense.  While Chris Carter had his best years in Minnesota, he was not the deep threat that Randy Moss was and could make these sideline catches with ease.  Haven’t we seen Hartline make a ton of those sideline catches complete with toe taps, two feet dragging on the turf, an outstretched arms hauling in bullet passes from Tannehill? 

The reasons for signing Hartline are compelling and it definitely comes down to how one looks at his body of work.

With the 2012 regular season in the books, the focus has swung to the 2013 NFL draft for the teams that won't be playing January football. The first twenty picks of the draft have been finalized with the remaining twelve to be revealed over the course of the next month. Following their 7-9 finish to the season, the Miami Dolphins will own the 12th overall pick and assuming the front office makes the selection it will be the first time in franchise history that the team does so. 

If there's one thing that this past season taught us it's that although the Dolphins have several core pieces in place, they are not yet close to being a contender. However, that can change in a hurry as Miami will have nine picks to work with in attempts to improve the roster not to mention the surplus of cap space. In order to accomplish this the right decisions will have to be made starting with the twelfth overall selection. There are many directions in which the organization can go with this pick either trading up, trading back or standing pat and addressing one of the team's several needs including wide reciever, linebacker and cornerback.

Here's a look at a few promising prospects likely to be available when the Dolphins are on the clock that they would be wise to consider.

New Years eve, December 31st the beginning of new hope and excitement for a new year. Yesterday the Dolphins season ended and now like many other people around the world are hoping for a new year full of new beginnings, excitement and success.

The Dolphins finished 2012 in embarrassing fashion being shutout and proving they still have a ways to go before becoming a real NFL contender.

The Dolphins are set up with money to spend, plenty of draft picks including the 12th pick overall however there is still the murky situation of whether to trust GM Jeff Ireland or not.

The Dolphins go into the offseason with a need at WR, a seem TE, a pass rusher and depth at corner back and some help on the offensive line which has proven to be inconsistent at times.  

We will have articles throughout the offseason with some of our favourite free agents and draft prospects trying to give some guidance along the way.

It should be a very very interesting offseason with Jake Long, Brian Hartline, Sean Smith and Reggie Bush all set to become potential free agents.

Time will tell which Dolphins have seen their last days in aqua and orange and which new players Jeff Ireland sees fit to help this roster.

One thing is for sure and that's that it will be a very busy and interesting off season.

Happy and healthy New Years to all our readers, all the best this upcoming year. Here is to hoping 2013 is the Dolphins year ! 

One thing that I can take away from this season is that Ryan Tannehill has been more than the Dolphins fan base could have asked for.  Leading this team to 6-7 wins without any clear offensive wide receiver deep threat or game-changer, the Dolphins have much to be grateful for.  Even in the clutches of defeat, the Dolphins walked off the field in Foxboro with a thirst for doing much more and doing much more to get better and make this team a contender once again. 

Unfortunately, Tannehill will be evaluated one year from now and may be vilified should the Dolphins fail to make the playoffs next season.  Expectations are always high in Miami after not having a football franchise worthy of praise in the past decade with a lack of playoff appearances and inconsistency in the win column. Not to mention a lack of a true Franchise quarterback and 16 other care-taker quarterbacks that could not thrive in the shadows of Dan Marino.

When Ryan Tannehill is at his best, it is because pass protection is in place, receivers are running crisp routes and getting open, and he’s in rhythm. In wins, Tannehill has been an awesome presence making plays with his feet, moving the linebackers and safeties, and playing the leadership role from start to finish and throwing 8 TD to 1 INT.  In losses, Tannehill seems lost, turns over the ball and takes a ton of hits rather than throw the ball away.  His dismal record of going 4TD to 12 INT in losses, shows that the Dolphins cannot overcome turnovers.  Getting sacked 53 times this season took its toll in New England, but Tannehill still got up to fire passes until the end and move the offense until the bitter end.   

Looking at the amount of adversity Tannehill faced this season, he seemed to get better week in and week out.  After week two, his security blanket, Reggie Bush went on a mini hiatus due to a knee injury and a lack of continuity on offense.  However, Tannehill bounced back, throwing 431 yards versus the Cardinals, a team he picked apart and almost beat if it wasn’t for miscues that lead to turnovers and a lack of defensive intensity to close out a game.  Two weeks later, riding a win on the road in Cincinnati, he turned in his best performance of the first half of the season at home versus the Rams with two touchdowns and zero interceptions and 21 of 29 passes completed.

In Indianapolis, Tannehill got some help down field from Charles Clay for a touchdown, but again, the Dolphin defense didn’t do enough to get pressure on Andrew Luck and stop the Colts offense losing by 3 points. 

The list of up and down game results goes on and on and 12 touchdowns to 13 interceptions truly doesn’t compare to the leading Rookie QB class of Luck, RG3, and Russell Wilson.  Of course Tannehill can’t be mentioned in that same breath quite yet, but all three of those franchises had better players and talented receivers.  Remarkably, after going 139 passes without an interception Tannehill showed the poise and calm necessary to be the starting quarterback.   Tannehill exceeded all expectations given the fact that he only had 19 college starts in one true season at Texas A&M as a QB and a good sport this season when the offense lost players to injuries and Jeff Ireland’s constant churning of the roster.

Going forward, Tannehill has a chance this offseason to do something he did not get to do in the offseason.  Make Dolphins HIS team.  He has a chance in March and April to take the initiative by working out in the weight room and throw passes to his receivers after the dust of free agency has settled.  He can take the approach that Manning, Brady, and others have taken in the offseason in remaining and being a part of the community and leading by action and example.  Tannehill must be proactive in his approach to encourage getting better in April and May for being ready for August through December.

At this point, Dolfans have much to be proud of in Tannehill. Even the biggest of NFL draft evaluators, Mike Mayock who scouted Tannehill, since college mentioned prior to the draft that Tannehill “stares his receivers down and waits for them to come up before he rips it and that’s typical of a young quarterback without a lot of starts. ..He’s going to take a little bit of time.” However, after seeing Tannehill play in week 11 versus Buffalo he came away impressed by his ability to lead this team as the Dolphins fell short losing by 5 points at Buffalo. 

Mayock said on WQAM a few days after the game: That what he saw on tape he thought Tannehill has a really bright future and that it’s hard to say to the fans in Miami, ‘Be patient,’ because there hasn’t been a lot of winning there for a while. But that’s the key – be patient with this new staff and trust that you’re going to get some receivers and some people to complement this kid. Because in my opinion, this kid can play. He’s the future of your franchise.”

If Mayock’s assessment doesn’t brighten up the average Dolphins fan’s point of view: Tannehill went 5TD to 1 INT in the month of December.  That’s a very positive sign of promise heading into next year!

Next year Tannehill won’t be a rookie next season and expectations might very well be playoffs or bust. However, in his second season, Tannehill has a chance to move the organization in the right direction after taking his lumps this season and getting 16 games in the NFL under his belt. 

Today, Tannehill has the NFL experience and has learned valuable lessons that hopefully translate to being the starting quarterback in Miami for years to come!  

Happy New Year from all of the staff at Phins Phocus!

Going into the offseason, which for Miami officially starts  just after the final whistle in New England on Sunday, the Dolphins expect to have money under the cap upwards of 40 million dollars.

While, much of the past 4 years has been spent signing and re-signing players for enormous contracts, the Dolphins as a franchise can turn a new leaf and hit the reset button on the team and re-make the Dolphins based on what Joe Philbin needs to make the Dolphins a contender again.  However, with 40 million plus to spend, the decisions for Jeff Ireland won’t be easy and it will rest on shoring up the defensive backfield, more offensive weaponry for Ryan Tannehill, and then looking for the two or three guys that should be re-signed from the current roster.

Last week, I had an opportunity to speak with salary cap guru and writer: Jason of NY Jets Cap.  Even though, he roots for the Jets, his judgment and insight is not clouded by bias.

Here are some of the questions I asked him:

What exactly is the Miami Dolphins cap situation after absorbing the new contract of Dimitri Patterson?

Patterson cost the Dolphins about $347,000 this year so it didn’t really impact that cap much. His salary next year is $4.5 million and he also will earn a $100,000 workout bonus. As far as I know none of that is guaranteed so they could walk away if they wanted to. This year they should be in the ballpark of $6 million in cap room which they will carry over to next season.

Do the Dolphins have enough room to add a receiver such as Bowe, Jennings, or Mike Wallace and re-sign Reggie Bush?

Realistically the Dolphins should go into next season (assuming that no extension is made for Jake Long and they allow the deal to void out) with between 45 and 47 million in cap room if they carry over their remaining cap space from 2012. When you have cap room like that you can sign anybody you want, whether its Bowe, Wallace, etc.... They will have 41 players under contract and will earmark $5 million for 5-7 rookies so its major money for free agency when you consider roster size. (This data is based on last week’s conversation so the number is actually closer to 41 million.)

Going into the preseason, how much cap space do the Dolphins truly have?

There are also cap savings to be found if needed in Dansby, Marshall, and Soliai if they want. Dansby I think they should just cut bait with and maybe Soliai as well. But they have so much room it doesnt matter one way or the other. Im not really up enough on the Dolphin roster about some of these guys. Dansby I know is way overpaid. Soliai would be an extension candidate if you see him as a good player, but for the most part you don't need to do any extensions to create cap room. Its already built into the roster.

Finally, Jason offered his own take on Jeff Ireland and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross:

I think the biggest thing that will stand in the way of being a big spender is your GM and owner. If you go through the future caps of the Dolphins they have zero long term vision right now. Other than rookies Wake is the only guy that extends out and even that contract is a lot of funny money. They are so reluctant to get into long term deals that I don’t know if it’s because the owner is not sure that he wants to continue to own the team or because they do not want Ireland to screw up the cap and roster for a new GM. I upset alot of Dolphin fans when going over the team in the offseason where I said Ireland is one of the worst GMs in the NFL,
but he’s bad. The wasted money that the team had the past few years is bad.

If it’s the owner afraid of committing long term then Miami needs to take the Tampa Bay Buccaneer philosophy with no prorated money and high guaranteed base salary. For example Vincent Jackson got a 5 year 55.555 million dollar deal. Realistically it’s a deal worth a fully guaranteed 26 million over 2 years. Because he received no signing bonus they walk away free and clear after those 2 seasons if they want to. Bowe is going to want the same money and if they were to sign him they should just go that same route.

With the cap room that the team has they could sign 3 impact free agents and get some spare pieces to improve elsewhere without really impacting your cap beyond 2014. You want Bowe, DaShon Goldson, and Brent Grimes you could go and do it. If you want to go the Jets route and use the bonus money combined with the guaranteed money you could bring in (or re-sign) 5-7 high quality players that will be your core along with Tannehill for the next 4 years. There is really no limit besides their internal budgets and philosophies.

The insight I received from this conversation was incredibly valuable.  However, breaking down what the Dolphins have to look at from a quantitative perspective, it will not be easy.  Next week, Phins Phocus will have a breakdown of current free agents and what their value could be to this team based on productivity from the 2012 season.

It is rumored that some re-signings could be taking place in a matter of days for the Dolphins. Just knowing who exactly agrees to terms with the Dolphins is the big question (Hat tip Ben Volin-Palm Beach Post).

This much is true, the Dolphins have plenty of decisions to make.  It won’t be easy.  One thing is for sure, the Dolphins can make or break their 2013 season outcome with the decisions they make this offseason.   Hopefully this is the most positive and prosperous offseason in Dolphins history!