Miami Dolphins In Depth

Dolphins host visit for Legedu Naanee

The Dolphins continue scouting out acorns and today that meant hosting a visit for free agent wide receiver Legedu Naanee, who has played for two teams the past two seasons.

Naanee, 28, is a typical former San Diego Chargers wideout. He's 6-2 and 220 pounds. And he's probably a better player when Phillip Rivers is throwing him the rock than when he's not.

Naanee played 2007-2010 for the Chargers and was primarily a No. 3 receiver and No. 4 option in the pattern. Last season he went to Carolina and posted modest numbers -- catching 44 passes for 467 yards (10.6 average) with one TD.

Naanee is not a cheap Brandon Marshall. He's more like Roberto Wallace with more experience. He played collegiately at Boise State.

The Dolphins are looking to create more competition at wide receiver but finding their best receiver will be a process as no one on the roster is a game-changer. That player may have to come in the draft.

NFL schedule coming, Dolphins have 18th toughest

The NFL is expected to release its 2012 regular-seasons schedule this week, likely as early as Tuesday.

There are no secrets here as far as what opponents will be on the grid, just what order the games will come and what teams will get prime time dates on Monday nights, Sunday nights, Thursday nights and Holidays.

I wouldn't bet the Dolphins get too many prime time games simply because the NFL doesn't consider them a sexy team right now. I would say the Dolphins might get one prime time outing but we'll see this week.

The opponents?

The Dolphins will play the Bills, New England and Jets in a home-and-home series as they always do with their AFC East rivals.

At home, Miami will also play Jacksonville, Tennessee, Oakland, St. Louis and Seattle.

On the road the Dolphins will play Houston, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Arizona, and San Francisco.

The Texans, Bengals, and 49ers made the playoffs last year so, combined with two games versus New England, the Dolphins are scheduled to play five games against teams that made the playoffs in 2011.

Despite the relative lack of playoff caliber opponents, the Dolphins do seem to have a cakewalk if one believes the teams' records. Miami has the 18th toughest scheduled depending on 2011 won-loss records.

One thing that must be pointed out: Look at the home schedule. Yikes! No wonder the club is having trouble selling tickets (aside from their own problems). Seattle is about as far from Miami as one NFL team can get from another. The Jaguars and Titans excite absolutely no one. Oakland does have some following but the Raiders are hardly a marquee team anymore. And the Jeff Fisher revenge bowl simply does not stoke too many flames that I can muster.

The W-L records for opponents for every team is below. The astericks denotes 2011 playoff teams.

By the way, let me warn you before you scan the chart. The easiest schedule belongs to New England. The Patriots were in the Super Bowl last year. Crazy, right?

Rank	Team	Combined W-L Record	Winning Pct.
1	N.Y. Giants*	140-116	.547
2	Denver*	139-117	.543
3	Cleveland	135-121	.527
4	St. Louis	134-122	.523
4	Baltimore*	134-122	.523
6	San Diego	133-123	.520
7	Philadelphia	132-124	.516
8	Minnesota	131-125	.512
8	Arizona	131-125	.512
10	Carolina	130-126	.508
11	Seattle	129-127	.504
11	Dallas	129-127	.504
11	New Orleans*	129-127	.504
14	Jacksonville	128-128	.500
14	Cincinnati*	128-128	.500
14	Pittsburgh*	128-128	.500
14	Indianapolis	128-128	.500
18	Oakland	127-129	.496
18	Miami	127-129	.496
20	N.Y. Jets	126-130	.492
20	Kansas City	126-130	.492
20	Chicago	126-130	.492
20	Detroit*	126-130	.492
24	Washington	125-131	.488
24	Atlanta*	125-131	.488
24	San Francisco*	125-131	.488
27	Tampa Bay	124-132	.484
28	Tennessee	123-133	.480
29	Houston*	121-135	.473
29	Buffalo	121-135	.473
31	Green Bay*	120-136	.469
32	New England*	116-140	.453

Another week for Wake to skip begins today

Workouts continue today across the NFL and several prominent players will be nowhere in sight when their clubs begin or continue the organized team workouts. Drew Brees will be absent in New Orleans. Matt Forte won't be showing up in Chicago. Wes Welker won't be working in New England.

And in Miami ... Cameron Wake has a decision to make.

He missed last week's start to the offseason conditioning program as a mild statement protesting the fact he has not gotten an expected contract extension beyond the deal that expires after the 2012 season. So the club would be pleasantly surprised if Wake shows up today.

But, seriously, who are we kidding here? I believe Cameron Wake will carry his protest to training camp like I believe in unicorns -- which is to say, I don't think it will happen.

Simply, Wake doesn't have the leverage here. And while his agent is leaking statistics about his client's stats beyond sacks, he recognizes he's tilting at windmills (Don Quixote, look it up). Wake is under contract. If he sits out the conditioning program and OTAs he doesn't collect his workout bonus.

If he skips the mandatory minicamp, he's subject to fine. And if he holds out during training camp, the fines will be steeper and the issue will become more contentious.

There is no doubt Wake deserves a new contract -- eventually. But is he wise in making the point by sitting out meaningless workouts? Is the team ultimately more likely to give him a new contract because he's skipping the work? Are the Dolphins more likely to quake at the thought Wake isn't around or are they more likely to be annoyed?

I say the truth is closer to the latter than the former.

By the way, I can understand why this deal isn't done yet. First, Wake is under contract. Second, the Dolphins can hold Wake beyond the coming season with a franchise tag. Third, the club has got to be aware Wake had a very good season in 2010, but came back to Earth in 2011, his sacks going from 14.5 to 8.5 while his forced fumbles going from 3 in 2010 to none last year.

So is Wake closer to the dominant player that we saw in 2010? Or is he more like the player we saw in 2011? And how much better is he going to get now that he's reached 30 years old?

All these questions cloud and affect the Wake contract negotiation. No wonder there's an issue.