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Well, there’s another box checked. They’re adding up now. The new-regime Miami Dolphins gave a logical answer to how they’ll deal with players contracts, in contrast to the previous decade’s manner that was detached from any rationale or coherence:
The best, most productive players of the proper age will be paid the best.
That’s the new Dolphins way. It might sound funny to frame De’Von Achane’s four-year, $64 million contract extension in such a fundamental manner. But isn’t it a welcome change for this new regime to bring some fundamental concepts in with them?
Size matters on the lines. Production matters in drafting players. Players will be on time to meetings. Practices will be outside in the South Florida heat because, well, that’s how games are played in Hard Rock Stadium.
And now the best player gets top-drawer money.
All this matters, because before the Dolphins can be good again on the field they have to be good off the field again.
You couldn’t come up with a player more deserving of a new contract this offseason than Achane, considering his age (24), his production (league-leading 5.7-yard rushing average), his durability (33 of past 35 games) — in short, he’s the big, home-run weapon Sullivan inherited on offense.
“A priority,’’ general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Achane, almost since arriving in South Florida.
So, completing the deal is another, early step in the right direction of returning this Dolphins to professional standards. But let’s not overdo this. It’s just a step, like applauding someone for doing something expected like getting a driver’s license.
The context of this contract was for years the Dolphins have managed to mishandle predictably inevitable deals of players approaching the end of rookie contracts like Achane was. Remember? Christian Wilkins. Robert Hunt. Brandon Jones. Andrew Van Ginkel. …
Their lack of good drafts for years was exasperated by how they regularly dropped the negotiations of their scant, good picks and lost them to free agency.
Then there was the expensive flip side: Tua Tagovailoa. Jalen Ramsey. Tyreek Hill. Bradley Chubb. …
Their excessive spending on the wrong players for too many wrong reasons was part of an organizational lack of self-awareness. And it meant Sullivan’s first order of business was cleaning up this toxic checkbook. It’s why this team is Salary-cap Siberia this season with an NFL-record $182 million of dead money.
“Have Cash, Will Spend it,’’ is the sign team owner Steve Ross always holds. It’s how he met GM candidates, too, as Sullivan said: “His words to me were, ‘If you don’t get this done, you will never be able to say it was because you didn’t have the resources.’ ”
Using the resources smartly is as important as having them, though. Maybe that’s something the Dolphins learned in recent years. The most important point is Sullivan would have learned that in a Green Bay organization.
The Packers put proper emphasis on crafting a culture, drafting well, maintaining salary-cap standards, and Green Bay has graduated front-office types like this year’s Super Bowl GMs in Seattle’s John Schneider and New England’s Eliot Wolf.
Sullivan inherited the mother of all rebuilds between the contractual problems and roster mess. Considering the previous regime’s Good Ship Lollipop approach to star players and money, a prime question was if he would go the opposite way to set a new-sheriff-in-town standard.
He instead went the way you’d want to build a team. Achane isn’t the biggest back, but his 4.11 yards after contact led the league. He has the speed to be a home-run hitter as his league-leading 24 runs over 15 yards show. He’s a three-down back with his receiving skills.
Finally, while a quiet personality, he played with the personality you want, especially on the up-and-down offenses the Dolphins have had. Asked once what he was most proud of he didn’t talk of numbers or exploits.
“Just being available every game,’’ he said. “That’s the main thing I’m proud of. Being there. Injuries happen, contact, non-contact injuries happen. But being out there every game for the team, being able to finish the game — being available the next week, and the next, is something I’m proud of.”
Yep, his signing is another box checked this offseason for this new regime. The best player got the big money, a fundamental idea that hasn’t been followed enough in this organization but seems to have returned.
Continue reading...
The best, most productive players of the proper age will be paid the best.
That’s the new Dolphins way. It might sound funny to frame De’Von Achane’s four-year, $64 million contract extension in such a fundamental manner. But isn’t it a welcome change for this new regime to bring some fundamental concepts in with them?
Size matters on the lines. Production matters in drafting players. Players will be on time to meetings. Practices will be outside in the South Florida heat because, well, that’s how games are played in Hard Rock Stadium.
And now the best player gets top-drawer money.
All this matters, because before the Dolphins can be good again on the field they have to be good off the field again.
You couldn’t come up with a player more deserving of a new contract this offseason than Achane, considering his age (24), his production (league-leading 5.7-yard rushing average), his durability (33 of past 35 games) — in short, he’s the big, home-run weapon Sullivan inherited on offense.
“A priority,’’ general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Achane, almost since arriving in South Florida.
So, completing the deal is another, early step in the right direction of returning this Dolphins to professional standards. But let’s not overdo this. It’s just a step, like applauding someone for doing something expected like getting a driver’s license.
The context of this contract was for years the Dolphins have managed to mishandle predictably inevitable deals of players approaching the end of rookie contracts like Achane was. Remember? Christian Wilkins. Robert Hunt. Brandon Jones. Andrew Van Ginkel. …
Their lack of good drafts for years was exasperated by how they regularly dropped the negotiations of their scant, good picks and lost them to free agency.
Then there was the expensive flip side: Tua Tagovailoa. Jalen Ramsey. Tyreek Hill. Bradley Chubb. …
Their excessive spending on the wrong players for too many wrong reasons was part of an organizational lack of self-awareness. And it meant Sullivan’s first order of business was cleaning up this toxic checkbook. It’s why this team is Salary-cap Siberia this season with an NFL-record $182 million of dead money.
“Have Cash, Will Spend it,’’ is the sign team owner Steve Ross always holds. It’s how he met GM candidates, too, as Sullivan said: “His words to me were, ‘If you don’t get this done, you will never be able to say it was because you didn’t have the resources.’ ”
Using the resources smartly is as important as having them, though. Maybe that’s something the Dolphins learned in recent years. The most important point is Sullivan would have learned that in a Green Bay organization.
The Packers put proper emphasis on crafting a culture, drafting well, maintaining salary-cap standards, and Green Bay has graduated front-office types like this year’s Super Bowl GMs in Seattle’s John Schneider and New England’s Eliot Wolf.
Sullivan inherited the mother of all rebuilds between the contractual problems and roster mess. Considering the previous regime’s Good Ship Lollipop approach to star players and money, a prime question was if he would go the opposite way to set a new-sheriff-in-town standard.
He instead went the way you’d want to build a team. Achane isn’t the biggest back, but his 4.11 yards after contact led the league. He has the speed to be a home-run hitter as his league-leading 24 runs over 15 yards show. He’s a three-down back with his receiving skills.
Finally, while a quiet personality, he played with the personality you want, especially on the up-and-down offenses the Dolphins have had. Asked once what he was most proud of he didn’t talk of numbers or exploits.
“Just being available every game,’’ he said. “That’s the main thing I’m proud of. Being there. Injuries happen, contact, non-contact injuries happen. But being out there every game for the team, being able to finish the game — being available the next week, and the next, is something I’m proud of.”
Yep, his signing is another box checked this offseason for this new regime. The best player got the big money, a fundamental idea that hasn’t been followed enough in this organization but seems to have returned.
Continue reading...
