Hyde: What's not to like about Dolphins' moves?
1. Mike Wallace and a seventh-round pick was traded to Minnesota for a fifth-round pick. I was one of those thinking they had to keep Wallace. And if this trade was done by itself, it would have been a that's-so-Dolphins move. Dumping a very good talent to open up a hole on the roster? But you have to couple this trade with ...
2. Dannell Ellerbe and a third-round pick traded to New Orleans for receiver Kenny Stills. If you assemble these two trades together, it all makes sense. First, Stills is younger (23 in April), cheaper ($585,000 this year, $675,000 next year) and nearly as fast (4.38 in the 40 at the NFL combine compared to Wallace's 4.33) version of Wallace. Stills doesn't have Wallace's portfolio, but he did have 95 catches, nine touchdowns and a 16.2-yard average in his two seasons (admittedly with Drew Brees and a pass-happy offense).
Secondly, these trades get two expensive players off the books. Trading Ellerbe saves $5.65 million off the current cap. The Wallace trade saved $5.5 million. So a team that started free agency by buying Ndamukong Suh saves more than $11 million off the cap with these two trades.
Bottom-line: If Joe Philbin demanded Wallace be traded be, this is a great move by the front office. If not, it's still an understandable move due to the salaries involved. It was clear when Philbin benched Wallace their relationship might not survive. But unlike when the Dolphins made other moves (trading Vontae Davis in August, dumping Brandon Marshall for little) they fortified the roster for the missing player. We'll have to see why New Orleans dumped Stills. That's a head-scratcher for now. But as it is the Dolphins came out with a player who looks like a good replacement for the receiving corps.
3. Jordan Cameron was signed for two years, $15 million. The Dolphins and Cameron can say his three concussions over the past two seasons are no concern. The contract says otherwise. It's not really as advertised. It has $5 million guaranteed. It then pays Cameron $2.5 million for the next season on a play-for-pay basis - meaning he collects $156,250 for each game he plays. In other words, if he's injured, he doesn't collect. So it's really a one-year, injury-conscious deal with an option to pick up the second year for $7.5 million. So there's little risk by the Dolphins and both sides win if Cameron is the player he was when healthy. At 6-5, he's the big target this offense lacks. He also has good speed (4.59 in the 40 at the combine to Charles Clay's 4.74). His 17.2-yards-per catch average last year led all tight ends and his 10 touchdowns in 2013 did as well.
Of course, we have to wait and see how much the Dolphins really are counting on Jordan by what happens with Clay. The Dolphins, Buffalo and Clay seem to be playing a game of financial chicken right now. If the Dolphins get Clay back, they have potentially three tight ends with Dion Sims to give Bill Lazor some toys to play with.
The rest of the article is here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dave-hyde-blog/sfl-hyde5-dolphins-look-like-they-know-what-theyre-doing-20150313-story.html
