Dolphins finalizing multi-year extension for Pouncey

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/sfl-miami-dolphins-finalizing-multiyear-extension-for-center-mike-pouncey-20150410-story.html?track=rss

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is believed to be in the neighborhood of the $40 million multi-year deal his twin brother Maurkice Pouncey got from the Pittsburgh Steelers last year.

This is sort of bittersweet for me. On the one hand, Pouncey is the anchor of this OL and he's a pretty good player. On the other hand, I think he's very overrated and I really don't like him. I guess an extension has to be done, but I wish the team had been prepared for this and developed a young, cheap center before it got to this point.

Philbert got rid of all the veteran leaders so we need to keep these guys to build around. The OL is better when he is part of it.

Not really a fan of making an average center the highest paid center in the NFL but whatever. Not a big deal, just not what I would have done.

The thing is, Pouncey has struggled the past two seasons. Granted, last season he played RG...but he wasn't all that good. And the year before, at C, he wasn't exactly a stud. So I really don't like the idea of giving him a huge contract.

On the other hand, we are in a time where there's not an elite center in the NFL. Pouncey is certainly in the top 10, if not higher. He's going to get paid...if not by the Phins then by someone else. Given the sorry state of our OL and the fact that we have not bothered to develop another center, I think Pouncey has to be extended. It's not ideal, but it is what it is.

Looks like it's a done deal...

It's a five-year deal worth more than $50 million (upward of $20 million in guarantees) and will make him the highest-paid center in the league

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000484859/article/mike-pouncey-miami-dolphins-agree-on-extension

Considering that Mike Pouncey is not even the best center in his family, let alone the entire NFL, I'm feeling kind of "meh" about this extension.

10 mil a year for a center? Unless that center is Shaquille Oneal in his prime, I'm not a fan of it. Just seems way high for that position. If we had drafted better, it would not have come to this. You mean to tell me, we could not develop one cheap, young lineman in the last three years to take a position. And don't tell me, Thomas. He has not developed.

And the Fins continue to do Finsy things...

Hell, instead of extending Pouncey they should've been trying to trade him!

Get ready for 5 more years of him acting like a complete boor and making dozens more stupid tweets...

He's the first first round pick we re-signed since Carrey.

They really had no choice in this matter. There was no way they could open up another hole on the offensive line, particularly at center, and expect to win more than 6 games.

Degarmo wrote:They really had no choice in this matter.  There was no way they could open up another hole on the offensive line, particularly at center, and expect to win more than 6 games.

There's no way they can expect to win more than 6 games this season anyway WITH Pouncey so what's your point?

Pouncey was under contract until 2016 correct? I'm pretty confident I could find a center in next years draft who's Pouncey's equal for under 2 Million per year. BUT this isn't that big of a deal. To me this just says the team has no plans to pay Vernon or Miller long term and I'm okay with that.

Is Vernon really expendable? Wake is aging fast, and I don't see a ton of quality depth behind Vernon - he may be our best pass rusher going into 2016...

white1 wrote:Is Vernon really expendable? Wake is aging fast, and I don't see a ton of quality depth behind Vernon - he may be our best pass rusher going into 2016...

I agree, but with the contracts for Suh, Pouncey and (soon) Tannehill, it may be tough to keep Vernon. It sucks that Jordan has been a bust, because we could potentially lose Wake (old and expensive) and Shelby (I think he'll be an unrestricted FA?) as well in 2016.

As a result, maybe we look at DE is the upcoming draft???

Shelby is a guy I may be willing to count on, he's been productive in the time he has seen on the field.

Depending on what shape our salary cap is in (would help if we had good, cheap players at say - LB and G), we could do a number of things including restructuring the Suh deal, maybe doing some kind of gaurantee with Vernon, and possibly a tag on Shelby to get some compensation in return for losing him. Or you could cut Vernon loose figuring Wake would be cheaper due to his age, and sign Shelby to a reasonable deal.

So the Pouncey deal is officially 5 years, $44.8 million with $22 million guaranteed He will earn $11 million this season - which I'm assuming means that the Dolphins won't be doing much more in free agency this offseason, at least in terms of whatever "big" names may become available in June.

All in all, I am fine with this move.  Someone else cited the fact we cannot afford to open another gaping hole on our offensive line, hell we really don't have a suitable prospect at G outside the very-much-a-gamble Turner.  Don't get me started on Dallas F Thomas.

Most sources I follow view Pouncey as a top 5 center.  Bad guard play is a much bigger problem than the play of Pouncey.  I like the tackles, assuming Albert can last us a few more seasons until we draft/sign a replacement at LT.

I heard the OL continuity is nearly as important as OL talent. We shall see. Anyway I'm over it. I'm good.