A focus on the still lingering free safety question

There are some positions on the Dolphins that beg attention. The areas I'm talking about are unsettled, need adjusting or simply need more talent. One of the most interesting of those has been, and remains, the free safety position.

Free safety is a position that begs our attention because there are so many things going on. First, you should recognize there are "acorns," as general manager Jeff Ireland calls them, still out there that could be picked up and added to the roster.

Free agent safety Darren Sharper is not one of those guys. Sharper has two contract offers that he's considering -- one from New Orleans, one from Jacksonville. The Dolphins were not in the mix as of this morning and you should not expect them to get in the mix. Sharper, as I write this, has not been on Miami's radar all offseason so it would take a significant shift in direction for that to change at this late stage.

Sharper is an excellent player, a playmaker at safety. But Sharper is probably older (35 in November) than the type of player the Dolphins want to add to the roster now.

[UPDATE 4:41 p.m.: Sharper has agreed to a one-year deal with the Saints, according to a source close to him. Several news organization and websites, including profootballtalk.com, are reporting the same thing, citing a league source.]

There is the possibility the Dolphins might be planning to do something with O.J. Atogwe after June 1. The issue can get complicated but, in a nutshell, Atogwe is a restricted free agent who is not signing his tender. After June 1, the St. Louis Rams must extend his tender to keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

But to extend the tender they must pay him 110 percent of his 2009 salary which was $6,342,021. Most observers don't see a way the Rams will extend a new tender of $6,976,223 after June 1. Atogwe simply didn't play up to that level last year after a very good year in 2008. So Atogwe may be hitting the market.

And the Dolphins might/should consider the 28-year-old as an option.

For now, the other options the Dolphins can consider are on the roster. And I would tell you the next month is important to those guys because how they perform in coming OTA sessions could impact whether the Dolphins chase an Atogwe or some other acorn in June and beyond.

That means Chris Clemons, Tyrone Culver, and Reshad Jones are on notice. They either answer the bell in May -- as much as they are allowed in Jones's case -- or the Dolphins will go looking for someone better in June and through training camp.

My feeling? Miami's 2010 starting free safety is not currently on the roster. Everything the Dolphins have done this offseason -- cut Gibril Wilson, chased Antrel Rolle and Ryan Clark, drafted Jones while seriously considering Earl Thomas -- suggests the Dolphins want to upgrade beyond Clemons and Culver.

No knock on either, those are just the facts.

Jones, by the way, is interesting in that he was all the rage during rookie camp. He visited the team priot to the draft and was thought to be a third-to-fourth round talent by many before going to the Dolphins in the fifth round. Although there have been past questions about his instincts, he has prototypical size.

"I felt him in the last couple of days," coach Tony Sparano said of Jones on the final day of the rookie camp. "He’s been around the football a bunch and made a couple of plays [Saturday] in the bubble. I think that he’s got the hardest job out there obviously because he’s got to get things lined up. I think from his standpoint it’s trying to figure things out defensively.

"We really didn’t throw as much at him defensively in this camp as we did maybe thrown at the offensive guys but we did throw a pretty good dose at him. It won’t be like when we get down the road here and he’ll be getting it fast, but, we threw a pretty good dose at him. He digested it pretty well; I thought he moved around great."

We will keep our eyes on Jones. Actually, we'll keep our eyes on all the free safety candidates -- because that's a position that if far from being settled.

Comments

[Darryl Dunphy]

There was a reason that the Fo. did not pursue Sharper. For 1 what are the odds that Sharper would be able to have a season like he did last year? Not very good. Also Sharper likes to play straight cover 2 that is his strength. His weakness is run support, He would have had to do more of that here then he wanted. Also did we want to sign a mercenary for 1 year, when we have 3 guys that need to learn the position. Everyone agrees that the future looks bright here, but these young guys need to be feed to the fire, lets see what we have before we go and sign an aging free-agent, who possbibly played his best ball LAST year.

[DOLPHANKINGPETE]

SORRY FOLKS I JUST JUMPED IN AND OUT MY OL LADY BEFORE SHE LEFT FOR WORK, WAT I MISS?

[DOLPHANKINGPETE]

guess u can say she went to work SOILED!LOL!!

[Cuban Menace]

Nothing much Pete, Just a discussion on if Brian Hartline is a true #1 receiver, other then that nothing....

[Geronimo]

SORRY FOLKS I JUST JUMPED IN AND OUT MY OL LADY BEFORE SHE LEFT FOR WORK, WAT I MISS?

Posted by: DOLPHANKINGPETE | May 03, 2010 at 07:30 PM

Don't apologize to us, apologize to her. That two pump and jump stuff just pisses them off!

[Cuban Menace]

But just as long as your satisfied that's all that matters.......

[DOLPHANKINGPETE]

Don't apologize to us, apologize to her. That two pump and jump stuff just pisses them off!

Posted by: Geronimo | May 03, 2010 at 07:37 PM

Funny thing is she begged for a quicky before a long night at work so i complied!

[miamitomol13]

Okay if I were the dolphins this is what I would do. Wait for a acorn like Atogwe, Oshiomogho who will be a free agent June 1st. or wait for a better acorn like Bethea, Antoine; Busing, John; Phillips, Jermaine; re-sign Wilson, Gibril at a lower deal(he is still on the market and is better than nothing!

Dolphins could always sign an older cornerback and bring him over to Safety. Rolle, Samari; Smoot, Fred; Henry, Anthony; Bly, Dre'; Harper, Nick; Lucas, Ken; Law, Ty; Harris, Walt!!!

Cornerbacks always make the move to safety when they get old. Ill take Dre Bly back there picking up interceptions all day long. BLY reminds me a lot of Brock Marion from the good old days!!

[Geronimo]

THANKS DOLPHANKINGPETE,

I haven't got any since the Coyote's, the guns and the Stae police put an end to my "post-Draft" party weekend.

[Fishfan]

lmao Dezs prositute mother wants an apology.Would she rather have drugs instead?

[DOLPHANKINGPETE]

i think our recievers 2-4 are gonna have the season of a life time cuz of B Marsh present.

not to mention the fact that teams wont know wat to expect being that this is his first season with the team, thank god we got him.

Favre had a great season becuz defenses wasnt ready and didnt know what to expect, i dont think it will be any different with B Marsh.

some teams will double him leaving everyone else i single coverage to dominate, not to mention our running game.

some teams will try to single cover him(wets with revis) only to find out the hard way thats impossible!

[Geronimo]

miamitomol13,

Sounds great!
Then maybe we can get Bernie Kosar and Thurman Thomas to start for us on offense too.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Free painpills in New Orleans. Maybe thats why Sharper signed with them. He is a little older!

[PriceMaster]

Mando,
Who was in charge of interviewing Antrel Rolle & Ryan Clark?
It wasn't Ireland was it?

[Cuban Menace]

There he is............

[Fishfan]

Dear Angela Bryant,

I am truly sorry about calling you a prostitute in front of your son. Next time I will keep it professional and ask about your true professional career as a crack head. Best of luck in you lucrative new career as a Wal-Mart greeter.

Best,

Jeff

[Herb ORD]

Cuban Menace, your girlfriend knows me by the "plunger" not you the "plungie" catch my drift?

[Cuban Menace]

Herb, First you accuse me of making fun of dezs mom, then you try to insult me talking about my Girl????? PLEASE CHILD... I Think we have a winner(But in your case herb, we have a loser)But to keep it fair, we shall announce our winner/loser at 9 pm... good luck to all...

[Herb ORD]

Jeff, your comments about Angela Bryant suck.
You represemt the real sh*t in this life.
Get a life.

[Geronimo]

Cuban Menace, your girlfriend knows me by the "plunger" not you the "plungie" catch my drift?

Posted by: Herb ORD | May 03, 2010 at 08:03 PM

Lets see: plunger, plungie, catching?

Great, we got another one!

Not that there's anything wrong with that............

[Cuban Menace]

LOok at LIL Herb, making friends all through the blog.....

[Darryl Dunphy]

Dolphankingpete.
I agree that the recievers wil be better this year. More years in the system, and B.Marshall will help. I think the key will be the accurscy of Henne. I don't mean higer completion percentage, but the ability to hit the reciever in a spot that lets them get better YAC. To many times last year, the throws did not go to spots where the reciver caught the ball in stride, the passes were a little low, wide, and many times high.These skills require the pass catchers to be on the same page as well. Henne, hasn't been the starter for a full year yet. Let's see how much improvement he will make with an offseason of work with this corps. of recievers

[Cuban Menace]

There all coming outta the closet tonite......

[Darryl Dunphy]

What up Menace? Still snowing. WTF.

[Geronimo]

Jeff, your comments about Angela Bryant suck.
You represemt the real sh*t in this life.
Get a life.

Posted by: Herb ORD | May 03, 2010 at 08:10 PM

Herb, you're a real piece of..........work.

You erroneously accuse a poster of posting something he didn't even post. Instead of admitting your mistake an apologizing, you follow up with pesonal attacks.
THEN you start pointing fingers at other posters totally ignoring their God given right to an opinion and try to tell THEM to get a life.
Wow, I think you more than qualify as a hipocrite, and that in my book is a lot worse than being a prostitue.

[Geronimo]

PS: Herb,

I think you should start worrying about yourself and stop worrying about Dez's MammaHo!

[Cuban Menace]

agree.....

[THUNDERBOLT]

ESPN reporting previously unknown info about Doochbag Bryant. She was arrested in April 2009 of selling crack to an undercover. Aug 2009 she was convicted. Shes a dooooshhhh. F U dooooosh. Go away!

[THUNDERBOLT]

And she wants an apology hahahaha!!!

[Yazzi]

So does that mean
there's merit in being a PROSTITUTE with
GOOD MANNERS??
.
.

[Roc]

Jones might be the steal of the draft

[Geronimo]

ThunderBolt,

I posted most of her criminal record here about three blogs ago.
There's quite a bit more. There was assault charges, false info's, Possession/cocaine and sales.
I found most of online at the Lufkin Dailey News and the Texas Dept. of Public Safety.

Hopefully Dez and his close friends like Pac Man can find a good rehab to get her into.

[THUNDERBOLT]

Geronimo, good research. And Im sssoo glad Jeff Ireland is GM.

[Geronimo]

Where the HELL is Justin?

I hope he weighs in before the 9:00pm deadline.

He's usually good for a plungie nomination or two!

[carlito from golfito]

Dear Miss Bryant,

I'm sorry for calling you a prostitute when you are clearly a crack head. I will hold news conference when you get promotion to prostitute.

[I was never a Hooker....I just sold C r a c k !]

Sooo....let me make sure I understand this...

She didn't provide a stable enough home to raise the kid in -- and suddenly SHE's offended when people start talking bad about the type of upbringing she caused.

There are folks walking around this country who are REALLY in their 'Own World'...
.
.
.

[Geronimo]

The mother of Dallas Cowboys draft pick Dez Bryant wants an apology for a question Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland asked her son in a pre-draft interview, saying that her distant past conviction on drug charges is unfairly being used against her son.

ESPN, however, has learned that Angela Bryant has had a more recent run-in with the law.

"When they couldn't find enough dirt on him, they went to that," she told Fanhouse.com on Monday. "It was almost like a scheme. They should never have put that kind of thing or question on him. Whatever reason they chose to do that, they are talking about my charges of 12 years ago and running with it. I'm not OK with it. But we are both going to be OK."

It had previously been known that Angela Bryant was convicted for selling crack cocaine in 1997 and served 18 months in prison.

Lufkin, Texas, police records acquired by ESPN on Monday show that she also was arrested in April 2009 after she was caught selling crack cocaine to police informants. In August, she was found guilty of two felony counts for possession of a controlled substance and the manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, and she was sentenced to 10 years' probation.

12 years ago? Wrong again Angela.

Crackheads just never know when to STFU-LOL!

[SoiledBottom]

Dear Mr. Salguero

Recently my name was viciously and savagely attacked while on your property.

"guess u can say she went to work SOILED!LOL!!"

After consulting my attorney he handed me a neck brace and told me to see his doctor.

This is a clear case of defamation of character at the least but will know more when the X-rays come back.

When are you gonna move the blog to a nicer part of the internet ?

Soiled :)

[Cheif ' Jay' Strongbow]

Watch.....next she'll be in Penthhouse with Octo-mom!!
.
.

[Chief ' Jay' Strongbow]

Gotta go...

("...Previously on 24.")
.
.

[Cuban Menace]

pretty sure it was her. She kept yelling "Geronimo" every time I bottomed out in her pooper, then I'd have to put it in her mouth to shut her up...

Posted by: Marc | May 03, 2010 at 04:46 PM

OK guys, Here it is The "PLUNGIE" of the day.............Congratulations Marc, You'll receive your plungie through the mail and also a 3oo dollar gift certifacate to Victoria secret....

[Geronimo]

Cuban Menace,

Don't blow my cover, I'm incognito. Hiding out from Mando-LOL!

I got a last second nomination for the Plungie.

Angela Bryant!

[Cuban Menace]

Soiled, Did you get your invitation to the upcoming nuptials of Price master and Marc???

[Geronimo]

Doh!!!!

[Fishfan]

Dezs momma will plunge herself in front of you for some crack.

[Bobbie]

What about the possibility of adding Ken Hamlin to the the roster? He was pretty good for the Cowboys and might be an upgrade for us at safety....

[Dishpan]

So ... was Bryant's mom a prostitute?

[MphsDolfan]

WOW. This guy was a 5th rd steal!!!

[Fishfan]

Dear Miss Bryant,

I'm sorry for calling you a prostitute when you are clearly a crack head. I will hold news conference when you get promotion to prostitute.

Posted by: carlito from golfito | May 03, 2010 at 08:43 PM

Lmao!!Nice one.

[Fishfan]

Dishpan well she was a crackhead so yes that's how she got her crack

[Cuban Menace]

Cuban Menace,

Don't blow my cover, I'm incognito. Hiding out from Mando-LOL!

I got a last second nomination for the Plungie.

Angela Bryant!

Posted by: Geronimo | May 03, 2010 at 08:58 PM

Dont worry "NORSE" Warrior...

[Julie]

Omar said Jones was very lazy yesterday. I think he's gonna be a bust. We should have drafted earl thomas and kept JT. Sparano and Irland are gonna both be on the hot seat next year. I think we're gonna get a new GM and a new Coach come next January.

Posted by: BoulderFinFan | May 03, 2010 at 11:30 AM

You cant go by what Omar says. He is not a Dolfan number one, two, he has nothing positive to say about the Dolphins most of the time anyway. So dont go by his word. Actually, I wouldnt take to heart anything negative this media has to say about the team since they dont say anything positive about this team. They care more about tabloid rumors than they do about football.

I think Reshad Jones will be a great addition to the team. I think the fans who feel he will be a bust just because of what some stupid media tard has to say, is just as stupid as he is. The guy is a ROOKIE. He is not going to be perfect every time he plays on the field. He is bound to make some mistakes.

[Geronimo]

Dezs momma will plunge herself in front of you for some crack.

Posted by: Fishfan | May 03, 2010 at 09:01 PM

After I got done LMFAO, I realized you're probably right.

Truth is stranger than fiction!

[Darryl Dunphy]

Apologygate is officially out of hand. Mrs. Bryant, nobody owes you an apology. You are a product of perception. And as everyone knows perception is king. Nobody made you sell rock to the cops, or be a strawberry. Unlike your friends, a person cannot pick their parents. It is not Dez' fault he was born into a house where the only shoes that were to be found were shoes hanging on a telephone wire. Do you think that on bring your parent to school day, that Dez brought his dad in to teach the little white kids how to be Too Short. Maybe the only apology should be you to your son, for being a stand-up, always there, caring mother. Dez has had a rough life, no doubt. It is sorry that you can ride the coattails of his success, and determination to your sad 15 minutes of glory in the sun.

[Julie]

The Seer, are you really that dumb??? Seriously?? The Dolphins brought in Brandon Marshall to play WR. NOT FS. Just because he played it in college does not mean he will play it in the NFL. He has been quite productive as an NFL reciever. Which is where Miami will use him. Get real.

[SoiledBottom]

Dear Mr. Menace

"Soiled, Did you get your invitation to the upcoming nuptials of Price master and Marc???"

No I did not...but its about time those kids got married....after living in sin and all.

Where are they registered ?

Do they need His and His monogramed towels ?

Maybe a nice set of salt and salt shakers ?

Blu Ray copy of Brokeback Mountain ?

Tickets to Siegfried & Roy ?

I love a good wedding.

Soiled :)

[carlito from golfito]

Cuban,

Where Marc is getting his wedding dress?

[ALoco]

I FEEL I AM READING A ( RED NECK ) GROUP OF PEOPLE THEIR NAMES ARE RED NECK BIG TIME .........

HERB
GERNIMO
MENACE

[Fishfan]

The Seer, are you really that dumb??? Seriously?? The Dolphins brought in Brandon Marshall to play WR. NOT FS. Just because he played it in college does not mean he will play it in the NFL. He has been quite productive as an NFL reciever. Which is where Miami will use him. Get real.

Posted by: Julie | May 03, 2010 at 09:07 PM

Moron!Lmao!

[Cuban Menace]

Soiled, I hear that marc met Pricemaster in California after P.M got out of the service, so I could only assume they'll tie the knot in San Fran, and Carlito, not sure where marcs getting his dress but I gotta wonder what color It'll be, White is out of Question(Reserved for the pure) so maybe it will be a red number along with some nice Pumps....