PHOENIX -- History has not been kind to the so-called “winners” from NFL free agency. Year after year the league’s biggest spenders fail to live up to the expectations of a spring spending spree.
The Dolphins aren’t letting history stand in their way
Winning free agency doesn’t concern Joe Philbin.
In 2014, it was the Buccaneers. They signed defensive end Michael Johnson, offensive tackle Anthony Collins, cornerback Alterraun Verner. The winning stopped that spring, and the Bucs finished with a 2-14 record. Collins and Johnson were released a year later.
Cautionary tales like that have been around as long as free agency has, but this year’s big March winners, the Miami Dolphins, are not letting a little thing like precedent stand in their way.
“You can’t really ignore history at certain times, but I don’t know that’s going to be the story of what the 2015 Miami Dolphins are going to be able to accomplish on the field,” Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin said Tuesday morning at the league’s annual meetings.
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The story of the 2015 Miami Dolphins started with the addition of Ndamukong Suh. Free agency’s crown jewel signed a six-year, $114 million deal ... quarterback money. The difference is that Suh’s a defensive tackle, probably the best one in the game today, but his position still doesn’t have the same kind of impact that a signal-caller does.
A financial commitment of that magnitude also comes with a high opportunity cost. The Dolphins had to let go of a pair of talented defensive tackles in Jared Odrick and Randy Starks. They still have holes at cornerback, along the offensive line and at wide receiver to fill, too.
“You understand when you work in the national football league that there’s a salary cap and how all the pieces fit together,” Philbin said. “But it’s a decision we collectively made and we all feel confident that it was the right decision.”
Miami does have a plan to avoid the fate of past big spenders.
“We’re going to forge our own identity,” Philbin explained. “We’re going to have to be a resilient group, work on our chemistry and develop that as fast as we can go out and compete each and every Sunday.”
In other words, they’re going to do what they do every year, what every team does every year. They may not be ignoring history, per se, just putting off to the side and not thinking about it.
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