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BREAKING NEWS: Dolphins release punter Brandon Fields!

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Post by JMP Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:24 am

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/sfl-miami-dolphins-plan-to-release-pro-bowl-punter-brandon-fields-20150901-story.html

The Miami Dolphins have release Pro Bowl punter Brandon Fields.

Fields, a Pro Bowl selection in 2013, has been the Dolphins' punter since 2007, when Miami selected the Michigan State product in the seventh round of that year's draft.

This offseason the Dolphins restructured Fields contract, lowing his base salary to create some cap flexibility. But Miami also added Matt Darr, and the rookie from Tennessee has had some impressive games throught the exhibition season.

Initial reaction...it's just a punter, but I would've preferred to keep Fields unless we had a clear-cut upgrade.  Not sure I trust the new punter, rookie Matt Darr.  I don't know if he can be as good as Fields was at pinning opponents deep.  He looked pretty average to me this preseason.


Last edited by JMP on Tue Sep 01, 2015 11:31 am; edited 1 time in total

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Post by Degarmo Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:25 am

Money move. Expect to see more of the same.

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Post by finskev Tue Sep 01, 2015 1:00 pm

Fields lost his Hang time on his Kicks, During the Panthers Game he was kicking the Ball over 50 yards on every kick but when The Ball was caught there were No Fins within 10 yard of the Punt returner which tells you there isn't any hang on his kicks, Plus I agree this is a 2 million dollar save on salary or close to it.

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Post by JMP Tue Sep 01, 2015 1:21 pm

My biggest issue with losing Fields is that he was a master at pinning teams inside the 10. I don't think we can expect a rookie punter to perform at that level.

Fields would have been cut next season for sure because of his cap number, but I question the logic of doing it this season.

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Post by JMP Tue Sep 01, 2015 2:47 pm

Well, after looking at stats I stand corrected. Fields was indeed one of the NFL's best punters at pinning teams inside the 20 in 2013, with 33. But he only had 21 in 2014 and ranked among the league's worst - which is obviously a significant dropoff. I would like to see stats for punts inside the 10, though...

Anyway, the timing of this move is strange to me. We don't need the money this season, and the savinge we gain next season will be cut a bit due to the dead money left on Fields' contract. The team is saying that Darr won the job fair and square, but the preseason games didn't confirm that for me. I have to agree with Omar Kelly on this one, who asked if the team got better by releasing Fields...and his answer was "no." I think it's clearly a decision that was based on money, although again I don't think the savings is all that significant.

Like I said, Fields would have been gone next season anyway, but for a team that is calling itself a playoff contender, it seems like an odd move to cut your battle-tested punter and replace him with an unheralded rookie. I guess we'll see...but this reminds me a little too much of cutting Carpenter to go with Sturgis...

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Post by DolFan 316 Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:54 pm

I have nothing personally against Brandon Fields. He does have the same first name as my brother in law. But I've also been saying for years that this team will not win a playoff game until every last member of the infamous '07 squad is gone.

Denney's now the last one left. He has to go, but I'm guessing it won't be until next season at the earliest.

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Post by DolFan 316 Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:17 pm

I look at it this way. Fields has been on this team since '07. In eight seasons the Fins made the playoffs once. So how great could he have been?

Also, according to Football perspective, Fields was only the league's 28th best punter last season.

http://www.footballperspective.com/who-were-the-best-punters-in-2014/

It sucks for him to have to uproot his family at this point, and I'm not happy about that part of it, but all the people I'm seeing on the net acting like Fields was some sort of sacred cow are just being silly.

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Post by HalCHorn Tue Sep 01, 2015 11:07 pm

Never mind Sturgis/Carpenter.  I just hope it doesn't turn out to be another Roby/Hatcher decision (1993) those of you who are old timers will know what I'm talking about.

After cutting the man who was probably the best punter in Dolphins history, Miami was stuck with Hatcher, who really, truly sucked that year save for one good day in Philly during Shula's record setting win.  We then spent several years trying to find a suitable replacement for Roby.

While Roby was making the Pro Bowl again in Washington in '94, we were stuck with Jim Arnold proving that his great Detroit numbers were probably the product of kicking indoors.  John Kidd finally made the punting respectable again after that, but we paid the price for letting Roby go.

And yes, Roby was originally let go after his one medicore season (92), which he bounced back from quickly. Here's hoping history doesn't rhyme...

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Post by scotgif Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:04 am

The "obligatory, 316, cut every member of the 07 squad" post. How did I know this was coming? Shocked

DolFan 316 wrote:I have nothing personally against Brandon Fields. He does have the same first  name as my brother in law. But I've also been saying for years that this team will not win a playoff game until every last member of the infamous '07 squad is gone.

Denney's now the last one left. He has to go, but I'm guessing it won't be until next season at the earliest.
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Post by DolFan 316 Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:01 am

Didn't Denney have a bad snap to Derr already this preseason that Derr had to save from being a TD?

Just sayin' Cool


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Post by white1 Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:42 am

Eh. I think part of becoming a good, relevant team again is spending in the right places. Remember when we handed $5 million to Olindo Mare? I'd rather be spending money on guys like Tannehill, Suh, Vernon, B Albert, than trying to secure the best kickers and punters league wide.

We're not going anywhere this season anyways, it's not like we just put a crimp in our plans to reach the Superbowl.
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Post by Degarmo Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:44 am

I value your opinion, Senor 316, but I think our shittiness is far more than some scrubs from the '07 squad. It's who we replaced them with. Massive shitbombs of failure, including the coaching staffs . . . or would that be staves? Razz

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Post by white1 Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:58 am

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Post by JMP Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:37 am

white1 wrote:Eh.  I think part of becoming a good, relevant team again is spending in the right places.  Remember when we handed $5 million to Olindo Mare?  I'd rather be spending money on guys like Tannehill, Suh, Vernon, B Albert, than trying to secure the best kickers and punters league wide.  

We're not going anywhere this season anyways, it's not like we just put a crimp in our plans to reach the Superbowl.

I agree, I just prefer to focus on improving the team rather than making decisions based solely on business ($).  In other words, cutting Fields is fine - if you replace him with someone that is equally good or (hopefully) better.  I don't know about any of you, but I have never seen Matt Darr angle a punt and pin a team inside it's own 10-yard line the way Fields consistently did - even in his one bad season.  The thing with punters is, they only matter if you have a bad one...if you have a good punter, it's something you don't even need to think about.  I just hope we can all forget about Darr soon enough - because that will mean he's doing his job well.  But if he does poorly, it will impact this team; we have such a small margin for error, the last thing we need are field position issues caused by a bad punter.  We'll see...

Like I said, I question the timing and motivation for this move.  We're not adding any high-priced free agents at this stage (see Evan Mathis...), so we didn't even need the money this season.  If the Dolphins truly believe they are contenders this season - and they sure talk a good game - I just don't understand why they'd get rid of a proven player and replace him with an unproven rookie with no real pedigree.  Clearly, this move was all about the money - but like I said, we didn't even need the extra cap space.  

OK, that's enough talk about a punter...  LOL


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Post by Degarmo Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:03 pm

This is how Philbin can deflect the "why do you hate rookies" argument.

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Post by JMP Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:46 pm

Apparently Darr has looked fantastic in the Bucs' game tonight, nailing two punts inside the 5!

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Post by Degarmo Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:06 pm

Yes, Dare has been outstanding.

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Post by DolFan 316 Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:37 am

Degarmo wrote:This is how Philbin can deflect the "why do you hate rookies" argument.

I have to say, actually cutting/benching players because a rookie is performing better might be an indication that Philbin HAS changed, or is at least trying to. I literally never thought I'd see him do that Shocked

The results are still going to be the same or worse IMO because no depth, but it's better than past coaches/GMs who've lost their jobs insisting all the while that their way is the right way. Um, no it's not. If it was you'd still have a job.

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Post by DolFan 316 Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:39 am

Degarmo wrote:Yes, Dare has been outstanding.

I don't know who this Dare person is, but I heard Darr killed it tonight Razz

And good for him, considering he was probably the most hated man in south Florida this week for having the unmitigated gall to try and get a job.

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Post by white1 Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:24 am

I read a bit about Darr this morning. One he landed at the 5 was a 65 yard (!) punt. He had two more that pinned the Bucs at the 4 and 5, also.

He also shanked one that went 13 yards.

I'll take the upside with this rookie, along with the cheap contract, and damn the consequences. It's way past time we dare trying to get better, with the obvious risk we could get worse in the near term going with a young player that hasn't reached his peak yet. Instead of trying desperately to cling to every player on the roster because we know them so well.
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