We’re now about 36 hours away from the NFL Offseason coming to a grinding halt. Talk of the Lockout will surely be rampant until the Draft gets closer, but it will be in the headlines daily. With the Lockout set to start at Midnight tomorrow night, teams are placing franchise tags and tenders on their own wouldbe free agents. Expect a flurry of news within the next day and a half, before the CBA expires.
Dolphins Tender Thigpen
Omar Kelly’s is reporting that the Miami Dolphins have tendered Tyler Thigpen. Thigpen was set to become a restricted free agent. The level of the tender is not known at this time. By ‘tendering’ Thigpen, the Dolphins will have the right to match any contract offer given to Thigpen. The move pretty much ensures that he will be back in Miami in 2011 (if there’s a season). This is an interesting move. Why? Because with Henne and Thigpen on the roster, there is really only room for one more QB. Yes, they have Tom Brandstater under contract, but if he’s on the active roster, the Dolphins front office didn’t do their job this offseason. With Thigpen probably returning it means that Chad Pennington may not be in the Dolphins plans for 2011. The Dolphins should be looking to upgrade the QB position, which would mean bringing in another QB that would essentially take Pennington’s spot on the Dolphins roster.
Zach Thomas/Jason Taylor Speak
Even after he left, Zach Thomas still respected and appreciated his time in Miami. Today, Thomas was asked if he has been contacted by the Dolphins about being inducted into the Ring of Honor. He said that the Dolphins don’t owe him anything, but instead that he owes everything to the Dolphins. In our opinion, Thomas deserves to be in the Ring of Honor, as he was one of the driving forces of the Dolphins defense for many years.
The other driving force? You guessed it, Jason Taylor. Today, Taylor said that he would ideally like to play one, maybe two more years. He said that he’d love to return to the Jets, who fell short of making and winning the Super Bowl. JT was asked if he would return to Miami. He essentially said that there has been no communication with the Dolphins and that the communication wasn’t very good when he was in Miami. Like we said yesterday, if JT is ready to retire, we think the Dolphins should sign him to a 1 day contract so that he can retire as a Miami Dolphin.
Should the Dolphins Draft a Running Back?
ThePhinsider.com suggests that Mark Ingram’s slow 40 yard dash time isn’t necessarily as bad as some have made it out to be. Ingram is not a burner, he’s a power running back with great vision. Matty also takes a look at some of the other running backs out there. If you’re a reader of this site, you know that we love DeAngelo Williams and would like to see the Dolphins sign him, whenever the CBA is done. However, if that plan falls through, we believe the Dolphins should look for a RB in the 3rd/4th rounds of the Draft. Ingram is being mocked to the Dolphins in many mock drafts out there, simply because he fits a need for Miami. We wouldn’t hate the pick, but we think the #15 pick could be better utilized, in combination by taking a RB later in the draft or signing D-Will.
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