A look at Sean Smith's cut at free agency

I lke Sean Smith. He's intelligent. He's well-spoken when he wants to be. He seems to get it when he wants to and that was apparent when he lost weight and worked his backside off in training camp prior to the 2012 season -- understanding his contract year loomed. And he's problematic for the NFL's big-bodied wide receivers that like to win by simply being bigger than the cornerbacks they face.

So I like Sean Smith on the Dolphins.

But he is not elite.

He is not franchise player material as one local publication reported in January.

He's, well, something between terrible and good. And that makes him inconsistent.

Smith started this season a house on fire. He locked down Larry Fitzgerald. He did great work against A.J. Green. And then something changed.

Suddenly he was giving up first downs like it was part of his job description. And yes, that was him in the picture and beaten on a handful of TDs caught by opposing wide receivers. According to ProFootballFocus.com, Smith yielded more combined first downs and touchdowns than any other NFL cornerback. That number is a whopping 46.

Something didn't seem to fit. Seems he's not comfortable against smaller, quicker receivers so he plays off. And at 6-3 and 218 pounds, he doesn't have the quickness and explosion to close on receivers on out patterns and comebacks for first downs.

That's not all.

The elephant in the room is the guy should be an interception machine. But isn't.

He plays well enough often enough that balls come to him. Unfortunately, he drops most of them. He dropped one against Indianapolis last year that could've been the difference between a win and loss. Yes, he had two picks on the season, but his drops have far outnumbered his catches over his Dolphins career.

And he was a wide receiver in college at one point!

I didn't know what to make of Smith after the season so I asked two former Dolphins receivers about him. I asked them to compare Smith to former Miami cornerback Vontae Davis. Both players said the same thing.

"I'd much rather go against Sean than Vontae," one said. "Vontae is a pain in the [butt]. He gets his hands on you, he holds, he grabs, he gets away with stuff that nobody sees. Sean is just easier. He's fast as hell. But he guesses a lot and a lot of time he guesses wrong."

And so this is the resume Sean Smith will take to free agency in March.

I believe he's going to free agency because his agent David Canter is confident Smith will be a hot commodity in free agency. I don't doubt that's true. First, Canter has made his reputation by knowing the market. Second, Smith looks like a beast if you put on the Arizona tape.

But I was there for all 16 games this year. And all the games in 2011. And the ones in 2010 once Smith recovered from being benched in favor of, wait for, Jason Allen.

And I don't think it would be wise for the Dolphins to spend a lot of money on Smith. I say that that knowing that Canter will be asking for a lot of money for Smith.

As I have reported, that camp believes the market for Smith is similar to the Brandon Carr contract with Dallas or the Jason McCourty contract with Tennessee. Carr got $50 million over five years and McCourty got $43 million over five years from Tennessee.

So Smith is looking for anywhere between $8-$10 million.

The Dolphins don't see that. And much as I like Smith and respect Canter, I don't see it either. The performance simply does not rise to that level. And frankly, I'm not sure it rises to half that level, either.

Then there's the other question that must linger in the mind of the Dolphins brass: What is going to happen once Sean Smith gets paid? He worked hard to get ready for the contract year. And then he faded anyway.

Is he going to work harder once he gets guaranteed money?

I don't know that he isn't. I also am not sure he will.

The cornerback market has potential bargains. Yes, Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie will want a big payday that I don't think he's worth. But guys such as Cary Williams and Brent Grimes and Michael Adams will be out there. They all come with questions marks. That makes them no better than Smith.

But they'll probably be cheaper than Smith, at least initially.

Then there's always the draft. A couple of years ago the Dolphins fished a little-known Utah cornerback out of the draft's second round and he started immediately. He wasn't great but he wasn't bad. And he was cheap. That made him a good value.

His name is Sean Smith.

But for $8-$10 million? No thanks.

 

Comments

[FYI]

Let's not forget YG was gushing love for TEO non stop for weeks. Now he will laugh in your face and say we need offense more than defense.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Dolphin Rick,

Im not sure of the story of Patterson in Cleve. Never even heard of the guy before Ireland signed him.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Heat have been smashing the Clippers by 30pts for most of the night. Wonder if we can get LeBron to play football in Miami?

QB? Very good passer. TE? Would probably be unguardable. LOL...

[FYI]

No team will seriously negotiate with Hartline until the top 3 wr's in fa are gone.

Posted by: Yesterday's Gone 4Ever! | February 08, 2013 at 10:15 PM

Of course this is not remotely true. What is true is that every GM in the league is 10 times smarter than YG FlopFace.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Life's so nice when you have admirers(FYI). I'll just play hard to get with this dumb b i t c h! ROTFLMAO....

[Dolfan Rick]

I'm not sure if I follow YG. Your saying that if the Dophins sign one of the big three, they will not resign Hartline?

So the reports that the Dolphins are attempting to negociate with Hartline is just postering or bad reporting?

[Kevin]

And don't forget, Sean Smith makes Sam Madison look like a Ronnie Lott type of hitter. Sean plays like a wuss and is as soft as cotton. For a 218 pound guy he plays like he's 150 pounds. He can't hit or tackle at all. He plays like he's afraid to touch anyone. A Ted Ginn at CB.

[Can we fire Ireland now?]

Has anyone else noticed the steady exodus off the team from all of Irelands draft picks?

[Can we fire Ireland now?]

Long, Smith, and Hartline could be 3 more not worth retaining.

[ALoco]

THE CUBAN MENACW STILL IN JAIL FOR BEATING HIS GIRL FRIEND,,,, HE WILL BE IN JAIL FOR 4 MONTHS MORE,,,

[FYI]

D. Rick.

Don't be a low self esteem fool like Craig and Kris....YG wants you to look up to him only so he can laugh in your face the next day.

Live and learn...but don't be a fool.

[FYI]

YG

It has been awhile since you have given us your supreme opinions on Teo and Stanzi...please remind us...

[Sinatra jr]

Sean Smith is not carr nor mccourty . he is something far worse. the ball was thrown at his chest, ease int's, and he dropped the balls like they were on fire. Some team will most likely pay smith 8 to 10 mill. just hope ireland is as stingy as i thought he was, you know the acorns. it would be better to not offer him an attept to resign. take his salary and draft you a much better rookie,we might be pleased considering our absolute digust with smiths play. of course thats just my opinion I could be wrong. thank you dennis miller.

[ALoco]

FYI... I REMEMBER STANZI FROM LAST YEAR....WHERE THIS GUY ENDED UP ?

[Can we fire Ireland now?]

D Thomas and Eggnew will be cut

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Dolfan Rick,

Basically, I was saying the dolphins will be negotiating with one or all of the top 3 fa wr's before turning to Hartline later. No one will seriously negotiate with Hartline intil the top 3 fa wr's are gone.

If the Dolphins are unable to land any of the top 3 fa wr's. Then they just may overpay to keep Hartline then draft 1 or two wr's.

[Dolfan Rick]

Thanks for the heads up FYI but I'm not bothered by anyone on here. Just talkin football and i don't much care who's who and who's on first and who's impostering.

The ones I have to try not to pay attention to are the ones who keep posting that Ross is cheap and fire Ireland and we shoulda drafted Ryan instead of Long over and over and over again.

I think we all tend we think we know more than the next guy at times. The fact is Jeffy and company are gonna do what their gonna do irregardless of what we think.

[FYI]

Stanzi is the 4th string QB for the Chiefs, the team with the worst QB situation in the NFL, and he is 4th. Brady Quinn is ahead of him.

Total bust.

[FYI]

Rocks and worms know better than the pompous and arrogant YG.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

ALoco,

Stanzi was the 4th pick in the 5th rd by the KC Chiefs in 2011. At least the guy is still on a team. Idiots here will have you believe I was touting the guy as Andrew Luck.

Stanzi was a guy I was saying would be a good 4th-5th qb to draft and develop. This will be his 3rd year in the league. He's not a Dolphin so I careless what happens with him now.

[Sinatra jr]

considering the talent in the draft at wr, i think it would be wise to draft our recievers. a lot of rookie recievers in recent yrs have had big play in first yr. a.j green, julio jones, calvin j and the list goes on. there cheaper than some divas with bad habits and keyshawn "thrown me the damn ball" johnson syndrome.

[Ceylon]

The fact is Jeffy and company are gonna do what their gonna do irregardless of what we think.

Posted by: Dolfan Rick | February 08, 2013 at 10:42 PM

Irregardless is a corrupt word that really means the opposite of what people mean, regardless.

Compare the average Joe today with the Joe from 100 years ago and you will see how terribly illiterate our country has become.

Just read any auther from the 19th century, for those few who still read books, and you will see their command of the English language is far superior to the inferior writers of today. Just look at Armando, who rarely writes an article without grammatical errors yet he keeps a job on a national publication. 50 years ago Armando would not have kept his job more than two weeks.

Sad and pathetic.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Stanzi is the 4th string QB for the Chiefs, the team with the worst QB situation in the NFL, and he is 4th. Brady Quinn is ahead of him.

Total bust.

Posted by: FYI | February 08, 2013 at 10:44 PM

Dumbass,

Stanzi is 3rd string. Brady Quinn was the starter and Matt Cassell is 2nd string backup by default. See this girl scout:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/depth/_/name/kc/kansas-city-chiefs

[Senso]

*author, of course

[ALoco]

YG... I REMEMBER YOU WERE SAYING,STANZI COULD BECOM NO 3 QB ON A TEAM..

[FYI]

3rd string on the Chiefs is like 9th string on any other team. He couldn't even get on the field despite the teams worst QB play in history last season.

Good call YG the pompous one. Please enlighten us to your next stellar pick.

[FYI]

YG was saying Stanzi was the sleeper in the draft with the most potential to be a star. How do I know? He said it 400 times for two months until he flip flopped for the 19th time.

[Dolfan Rick]

What is sad and pathetic is coming to a football blog to critigue someones vocabulary. That and the fact i bothered to respond to it.

Ain't is in the dictionary btw.

[FYI]

A month ago YG was giddy with defense, giddy gushing about TEO. Now he mocks and laughs at anyone who thinks we should draft defense in the first round.

[FYI]

I don't mind that YG is a fraud and plain stupid.

I do mind the way he is constantly condescending towards others, especially when they have the opinion he had only two days ago!

YG lives to get his little bloggie followers, and then as soon as they follow him he laughs in their face. He has done this with Craig M and Kris and others 19000 times, and they still fall for his game.

It is nothing but a little ego trip for YG to get his kicks.

[Sinatra jr]

ceylon,

It's ironic that your talk of Armando's errors yet you spell AUTHOR wrong.

[Dolfan Rick]

*author, of course

Posted by: Senso | February 08, 2013 at 10:54 PM

Of course.

[Sinatra jr]

if you go and give a big speech about being grammatically correct and you miss spell something your just asking for it.

[Ceylon]

I see, so football fans are exempt from education and language skills. Good plan. What about mechanics, doctors, lawyers and astronauts? How about everybody? Why don't we all start speaking ebonics?

Dat be good?

p.s. Yeah, I make typos but I am not getting paid to write so I don't proof read anything, especially after an hour of nursing some Black Jack. At least I know which words say what I want to say. There is no way Armando would have ever got a writing job 100 years ago, his writing skills are far too inept. Blame it on the degradation of society and those that think football bloggers are exempt from expressing themselves like educated people.

Hey, let's all be dumb and act as stupid as those guys in the beer commercials! Yeah dude! Cool man!

[Ceylon's fan]

Yeah man...I'll take the $5.00 six pack of bud lite over a hot babe anyday!!!

Party on!

[Dolfan Rick]

Be cool and go away Ceylon. Could you understand that?

Capice?

Comprendo?

[Ceylon]

Stuck a nerve, eh?

[FYI]

YG has retreated. A clear admission of guilt.

Thank me.

Continue on.

[Ceylon]

Waht be the best first pick? I be thinking offense or defense.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

What idiot argues with a total idiot hiding behind an alias when no one knows who the hell he really is anyway.

Its like wearing a mask over a mask. ROTFLMAO...............

[Dolfan Rick]

Nah Ceylon I'm good. Theres no football talk going on so I thought I would talk grammar with you. Which I don't get paid for either.

Btw is it struck a nerve or stuck a nerve? Or can you commit the act act of stucking?

[Ceylon]

Stank a nerve eh? I knews ya couldn handel it. Yo daddy be back. Aks him for hep...

[Prim Syrupyphat]

The only certainty in FA & the Draft is that Ireland will screw up beyond belief.

Ireland is the root of Fin's continuing, tragic, heartwrenching Epic Fail.

[Chief Waku Sessi]

Prim Syrupyphat

Have no worries. Tomorrow will be a fine day for you to die.

[Rabbi Jesus Martinez]

I believe we should gather for a mass suicide in protest of Jeff Ireland. Let us first fukk thy neighbors by force.

[Harmel]

Ross is too cheap to pay for good players.

[Rick]

This is the first year since Jimmy Johnson left that this team has the right coaches to pick the right players to take this team where it wants to go. Trust me the Miami Dolphins will be perenial division winners & super bowl contenders by 2014 at the latest. Over rated guys like Jake Long, Sean Smith & Reggie Bush looking for more money than what they are worth won't fly here anymore.This team will go back to dominating the league again lke they did in the 70's. Last years draft was just a little taste of what this team will keep improvin on.

[Rob in OC]

3rd DB Conn Blidi Wreh-Wilson. Ireland loves him some tall corners!

4th South Carolina DE Devin Taylor Has length and plays with leverage (similar to Jason Taylor but longer player with less explosion)

5th UCLA TE Joseph Fauria 6'7" with a penchant for finding the endzone. Bloodlines too!

6-7 Probably take a stab on a Kicker to give Carpenter a run. Also Best Player available.

I believe that draft and FA would fill a ton of holes and upgrade the talent greatly.

GO PHINS!

Cheers,

[Rob in OC]

Wow new auto stop thing is annoying as hell...

First part went something like:

FA WR Mike Wallace (Or Jennings if no Wallace)
FA TE Jared Cook
FA DB Cook or Grimes.

1st = G Chance Warmack (If not there trade back)
Later 1st = S Matt Elam

2 = OT Lane Johnson OR G Larry Warford (Only if no Chance Warford in 1st OR Lane)

2 = WR Quinton Patton

3 = WR Markus Wheaton (WR Marquise Goodwin if either is gone)

3 DB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (Ireland loves tall corners)....continued on the prior post. :(

Cheers,

[oscar canosa]

I like the micro-brews.

[oscar canosa]

How's odin, Debo?

[oscar canosa]

Good thing about my writing, I would never get a post deleted for excessive lenght. Bad thing, I could never sell a 3 page book at $25 a pop.

[oscar canosa]

Nothing better than a real cold seasoned Samuel Adams served ia a tall beer glass.

[oscar canosa]

We trade back nothing. If anything, we trade forward. Then proceed to select the best O playmaker to complement Tannehill.

[oscar canosa]

Nothing worse for me than being without cigarrettes in the Middle of the Night and smoking butts.

[Rob in OC]

Evening oscar,

The trouble is I don't think there is any Value in the first round for offensive playmakers. I mean nobody at all feels like a "Megatron" type...

WR Keenan Allen
WR Patterson
TE Ertz
TE Eifert

All feel like borderline very late first to early seconds to me.

I would say RB Eddie Lacy seems solid but the market on backs is soft and we have a couple if they keep Reggie. Although Lacy is much more a hammer than anyone we have. I think Lacy could end up being a "Lousaka Polite" type automatic short yardage guy that can also bust 900+ yards.

I just can't see the Fins chasing him though.

Do you have any favorites?

Cheers,

[Rob in OC]

Ciao for now...

[oscar canosa]

Not as easy as you think gotothe24hrgasstation. There is a Negro nightclub right besides it and full of these Ladies that abound in its parking lot, mainly At Night. I'm Celibate.

[oscar canosa]

Well, Rob, the best playmaker available. I said that.

[oscar canosa]

There is this childish concept going around that you have to be a Megatron in order to be a Playmaker. Nothing further from the Truth. Wes Welker is not Megatron however he's a huge Playmaker for Brady. In our case, Reggie Bush is no Lacy, but whenever he touches the Ball you feel the electricity that he can go all the Way. Rubbish.