Friday Dolphins Mailbag: Assessing the Big Moves, the X Dilemma, What Now with Parker And/Or Gesicki, and More

From alvaro aleman (@alvaroaleman24):

First of all, don't get me wrong. Love Tyreek. However, what is the point of bringing him to Miami if his talent will not be exploited here? I mean ... he will mainly be catching screens and 7-yard slants, or I am wrong because from what I remember, Tua "Lil girl's arm" Tag unfortunately is still our QB.

Hey Alvaro, man, that’s a way to start things off! Oof! First off, I believe your assessment obviously is harsh and if Hill does end up catching screens and 7-yard slants, there’ll be nothing wrong with that because he has shown throughout his NFL career he routinely can take those and turn them into big plays. Let’s also not pretend that he didn’t catch a lot of short passes from Patrick Mahomes and turn them into big gains. So I’m not buying the notion that bringing in Hill is a waste because Tua is not a great deep passer. On the contrary, I would suggest Hill is a perfect wide receiver for Tua — for any quarterback, really.

From Mcdrip’s twin (@TheGreatPhinsby):

Alain! I need your actual reaction to signing Armstead and Hill. Be honest.

Howdy, are you suggesting I’m not always honest? LOL. My actual reaction to each move was the same. I absolutely love each move in what it could do for the team in 2022 and love it in terms of the team going for it. At the same time, I also recognize it’s an awfully lot of money for somebody of Armstead’s age and injury history and the guaranteed money for Hill was crazy. So in a big-picture viewpoint, I like the moves with some reservation. For the short term, they were both absolutely slam-dunk hits.

From Dixon Tam (@DixonTam):

With all this money Miami is throwing around in new free agent contracts, how will it be able to accommodate Xavien Howard's request to get an increased share of the pie? Can it still do it or is he now on the trading block?

Hey Dixon, that’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it? And it’s one that worries me because the moves with Hill and Armstead clearly were signs of a team going for it all right now, which would make losing your best defensive player because you can’t afford him difficult to digest. Howard will be on the trading block if the Dolphins reach a point where they don’t think they can make it work financially or reach an impasse with Howard’s agent.

From Chris Hyer, Ed.D. (@Chrishyer31):

Do you think the Dolphins will wear throwbacks this year? #SlowNewsDay

Hey Chris, I see absolutely no reason they wouldn’t, given how popular those are with fans.

From Tuddle Army (@TuddleOnRadio):

Who is going to be the first one to apologize to Chris Grier?

Hey Tuddle, well, the first person to apologize obviously should be the first who criticized Grier (but only if done unfairly), and I don’t know who that would be. It wasn’t me because I have been consistent in saying that criticism of Grier always should include the caveat that it’s never been clearly established who was the final decision-maker (if even there was one) for the Dolphins since Grier officially became GM in 2016. So I’m not sure who exactly you’re targeting here.

From Little B (@DalittleB):

Love following you and your opinions on the Dolphins, thank you! The signing of T.Armstead, and trade of T.Hill (plus extension), who gets cut/restructured/trade, etc. to add cap space?

Hey Little B, we already have seen some movement in that sense with Jesse Davis and Allen Hurns both being cut, and I still think you have to look at something happening eventually with DeVante Parker and possibly Eric Rowe. Clayton Fejedelem and/or Cethan Carter, and I’d also keep an eye on a trade involving Mike Gesicki. Finally, there’s always the possibility the Dolphins end up trading Xavien Howard if his contract situation can’t get resolved.

From Keith (@Keith74366411):

Deebo, next on our list. Watch. We have 49ers pick as well in 2023. Crush 49ers we get top 5 pick in 2023. I think outside of the box as well.

Hey Keith, the Dolphins already landed the original Deebo with the trade for Tyreek Hill, so while I like the line of thinking, it’s not happening and the 49ers aren’t giving him up. But then again, who thought two weeks ago that the Chiefs would be trading Hill?

From Cliffy Mac (@mclifford36):

I feel like these big-time moves were done by Grier because he knows if it doesn’t work out this year he’s done. Do you agree?

Hey Cliffy, the moves certainly look like they were done with the idea of winning big right now, so your theory absolutely has some merit. Also remember that the owner is 81 years old and there’s clouds of the Brian Flores allegations hanging over, so maybe the go-for-it approach came from him as well, if not solely from him. I’d be inclined to believe that even more than Grier looking to make a splash in 2022.

From J Soto (@dolphin_4life):

Hi Alain, do you think the Dolphins could make more trades before or during the draft? (Trade Parker or Gesicki i.e.).

Hey J, I’d take your “could” a step further and suggest it’s almost likely. And Parker and Gesicki are two good trade pieces they could use to regain some of the draft capital they lost in the Tyreek Hill trade, at the same time clearing some cap space. And if you think about the speed-and-more-speed approach the team seems to have taken for its offense, Parker doesn’t necessarily fit very well and Gesicki's blocking issues have been well documented.

From Lance Ettinger (@lanceofthelane):

How would you imagine Boyer defending against the new look and speed of the offense?

Hey Lance, I don’t believe Boyer would deviate from what has worked so well for the Dolphins the past two seasons, which means he’d throw a lot of blitzes or blitz looks at Tua Tagovailoa and look for the DBs to come up with takeaways.

From Ivan O Connell (IvanOConnell2):

How do Dolphins address biggest needs (C, ILB, DI) with little cap space left and picks 102,125 & 158 in draft. Who will they cut/ trade to generate cap space?

The list of players susceptible to being cut to create cap space has was listed earlier, and it includes guys like Eric Rowe, Adam Butler, Clayton Fejedelem and Cethan Carter, and trade possibilities certainly would include Mike Gesicki and DeVante Parker. I’d actually be surprised if the Dolphins didn’t make any kind of move to recoup a draft pick in one of the first two rounds.

Add us as a preferred source on Google