Ja'Wuan James update

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dave-hyde-blog/fl-sp-hyde5-dolphins-james-deal-20190301-story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DaveHyde-blog+%28Dave+Hyde+%7C+Sun+Sentinel+blogs%29

Dave Hyde wrote:The new Dolphins like Ja’Wuan James. The old Dolphins with Adam Gase tolerated him. The new Dolphins want him back for good reasons. He’s a good pro, a healthy teammate and, if given the right system, an average right tackle – and I mean average in a good way. Have a core of average players in the right system with a few stars sprinkled in and you have a good team.

The hold-up?

You guessed it: They don’t want to be held up.

This is all about money, of course. James enters free agency with a chance to break the bank for the first time in his career. He’s earned that right, and in a sparse tackle market a team that considers it close to winning might pay a lot for a player like him.

For the past several years, the Dolphins were that team. That’s why they’re about to dump big contracts overboard among the likes of Josh Sitton, Andre Branch, Robert Quinn, etc.

What will James cost? One agent put the over-under at five years and $50 million.

The Dolphins seem to want him to find out when free agency starts on March 13th. This is the time to sign your own free agents – before they hit the market. I’ve thought the Dolphins should re-sign James, as I wrote in my steps to this offseason.

The other option is to wait like the Patriots do and let the market tell you the price before making a decision.

So basically, the Phins like James and would like to keep him - but only at the right price.

IMO, if they do let James test the market, he'll be playing for a new team this season. Too many teams need tackles and have money to burn...I don't see the Dolphins getting into a bidding war for James, not when they'll have to deal with Tunsil's contract soon. I think it's in the team's long-term best interest to let James go.

That the thing Miami only have about $20mil and they want to keep players that will cost them a lot of money. James and Howard will hit the market with all types of opportunity to make tons off of FA. Miami better get rid of the biggest cap issues before signing them two.

Yeah I’m not too passionate on this topic, but if James gets money from another team that’s fine.

Right tackle is just not a critical building block. Sign Howard and plan to keep Tunsil at LT.

I would let him go and take hopefully a compensatory pick in 2020 draft.

I would let him go and take hopefully a compensatory pick in 2020 draft.

I'm leaning this way too.

With the amount of veterans we are about to cut, the formula should treat us well for compensatory picks in 2020. James would most likely be the highest earner among the guys we do let walk.

Reshad Jones and/or McDonald would probably sign pretty expensive deals too, but not as high as James. It's unclear what our plans are at strong safety, haven't heard that topic much at all.

the biggest issue isn't paying him is how do you replace him. Miami experience with finding good healthy OL in FA is horrible.

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The biggest issue isn't paying him is how do you replace him. Miami experience with finding good healthy OL in FA is horrible.

I hear your point.  My counter arguments:

- This is a new front office.  Our talent evaluation improved dramatically with the removal of Tannenbaum, the promotion of Grier, and the additions of M Allen and R McKenzie.  Regarding free agency, McKenzie is known as an excellent evaluator of pro talent.  Allen's strength is college projections, the draft is where he will contribute the most.  

- We've made these moves before with that logic and it's the wrong way to think.  Far too often, the team has paid GREAT money to GOOD players.  The result is a general watering-down of the talent on the roster.  We use valuable cap space to retain players that are good, and then have no room left to pay the great players.  

- Right Tackle IMO is not a premium spot where you need to spend big money.  I've heard that both Jesse Davis and Sam Young are viable starters at right tackle, and they're already on the roster.  We can add cheap depth through a journeyman signing, or a late draft pick or even an undrafted free agent.  Use the valuable draft picks to fortify positions that really matter.  Left Tackle, Corner, Defensive End (EDGE in our scheme) and Quarterback.

All in all, I would be fine either way on James.  I don't feel that strongly about it.  

But, if I look at what the team is trying to do, and change the direction of how we structure the roster, he will test free agency get a big offer and we won't match it.  I think he's gone.  But they may surprise me.

I'm really not worried about finding a right tackle, at all. Any competent front office can easily find a RT. I'm working on the assumption that this new group will be very good, and if that is true RT is not an issue.

Worst case, Jesse Davis can get first crack at starting RT. That's his natural position.

I just don't think we need a super-expensive OL. And with Tunsil's contract coming up soon, I don't see any need to pay James.

that is true miami new front office seems to be looking at the best players possible. sounds like miami wasnt impressed with QB and wont be looking that way

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Yeah, this QB draft class is pretty weak. There are a few players with potential, but it looks like a bunch of career back-ups after Haskins and Murray.

I am intrigued by this Easton Stick guy. If he's around in the 4th, he might be worth a flyer.

white1 wrote:

I would let him go and take hopefully a compensatory pick in 2020 draft.

I'm leaning this way too.

With the amount of veterans we are about to cut, the formula should treat us well for compensatory picks in 2020.  James would most likely be the highest earner among the guys we do let walk.

Reshad Jones and/or McDonald would probably sign pretty expensive deals too, but not as high as James.  It's unclear what our plans are at strong safety, haven't heard that topic much at all.

i don't believe the Phins would get any compensatory picks for either Jones or McDonald as they would be contract terminations as opposed to unrestricted free agent losses.

i say let James test the FA waters and if the price is too high, let him walk. this team is no where near close enough to being competitive to start tying up money in an "average at best (occasionally good)" RT.

i don't believe the Phins would get any compensatory picks for either Jones or McDonald as they would be contract terminations as opposed to unrestricted free agent losses.

Good catch. You are correct. Only free agents count towards the formula for comp picks. Also, I read there is a rule that post-June 1 signings don't count against teams either. These would be "bottom of the barrel" vets, but worth emergency depth considerations, or special teams bodies.

i say let James test the FA waters and if the price is too high, let him walk. this team is no where near close enough to being competitive to start tying up money in an "average at best (occasionally good)" RT.

I would have no problem with that.

SOMEBODY is going to offer him a huge contract. Given that we know he is not an elite player, I don't think that's a smart move. However, if a team thinks it's one solid RT from a playoff run, then why not? We don't fit that description....

HELL NO!!! JAMES SHOULD GO!!!

(Repeat infinite times, while marching on a street, into a megaphone, with a group of people carrying signs saying the same.)

I have always believed that you make personnel decisions based on a multitude of decisions, not just some arbitrary value assigned by draft experts, market value, or personnel gurus....the competitive level of the team, the backups, the condition of the other positions of the unit, the scheme, the abilities of the coaching staff, etc...

All of these things must be weighed against the price in cash/cap you have to pay to keep/get a player.

Like with Suh. The price was huge, and I never saw where it was going to payoff. No way in heck was signing Suh gonna make the Phins a SB winner, so in effect, that was wasted money IMO.

Given the relative position of the team, I have to agree with the assessment that keeping James for the RIGHT amount would be okay.

Letting him walk would be an acceptable decision also.

In the end, if the Phins have to go thru another season with a John St Clair type journeyman playing RT then I can understand. But if they have drafted or signed a promising rookie/young developmental free agent, and the Phins are out of the playoff hunt, and this coaching staff decides that the John St Clair type player has to play to be "fair" to him, and let the promising rookie/free agent miss out on INVALUABLE Development time like that bunch'a dingbats Wannstedt had that kept Vernon Carey riding the pine!!!!! Then I am done with this bunch'a 'tards as well!!!

John St. Clair...now there's a name I haven't run across in a dog's age

FF proving that he truly is an OG

Good year to get a RT in the draft too. James is worth keeping at the right price, but I wouldn't be overpaying.

James is valuable if we draft a left handed QB. I’ve said this before, when you draft a lineman it should b a long term solution. They have long careers if they are good to great. That allows you to find other talent instead of drafting a replacement lineman in 2-4 years. Miami’s drafts have been subpar when finding long term solutions.

A quick postscript to Ja'Wuan James's career in Miami. Check out the part I bolded...

https://247sports.com/nfl/denver-broncos/Article/Miami-Dolphins-laughing-at-Broncos-for-signing-JaWuan-James-130244536

No move executed during NFL free agency was as poor as the Denver Broncos handing former Dolphin Ja'Wuan James a record-setting pact.

This is the evidently sourced opinion of The MMQB's Andy Benoit, who ranked the best and worst transactions from the league's signing period — and in doing so, dropped a bomb about Denver's newly-minted right tackle.

Fifty-one million for a fart device?

"Privately, some people close to the Dolphins waited to see who signed James with the same eager anticipation with which you wait to see who sits on the seat with the whoopie cushion," Benoit wrote. "They believe a rude surprise awaits that GM. Turns out the GM is John Elway. He won’t hear the whoopie cushion until later down the road, but the Dolphins are already laughing. You can understand why Elway made the move; right tackles are hard to find, and playing with a bad one can significantly hinder your scheme. But the belief by some in Miami was that other teams wouldn’t know just how much energy was spent each week gameplanning ways to hide and help James. He’s not quick or nimble enough to get out in space in the screen game, and he’s prone to breakdowns (both physical and mental) in pass protection."

That is why I said let him walk. Good on a rare great day and average to mediocre most of the time. I think Jesse Davis can be just as average at a WHOLE lot cheaper price.

HAHAHAHA!

For once, we ARE NOT the laughing stock in this kind of transaction. We as fans all saw it, and Elway is outsmarting himself more and more every year. JAMES SUCKS.

I have no doubt the "eye for talent" has improved a thousand-fold at team headquarters, with these moves combined:

- Gase no longer bringing his "I can get a guard at Publix" (and btw it looks like he DID get his guards there) philosophy to the table. Thinking Tannehill had Manning-like read quickness and the release to go with it.

- Tannenbaum bringing his bean-counting, splash-making approach to free agency. Let's pay the most anyone ever has for a DT!

- Adding REAL talent evaluators like Allen and McKenzie.

- Putting Grier in charge. A guy that actually knows football, and did the grind-it-out work in scouting to earn his chops.

I can imagine this group watching film of James, then seeing the contract offer he got in free agency. LOL!

Oh, and let's not overlook this.

EVEN WITH all the energy, game planning, and scheme work to "hide" James and cover up for his short comings. He gave up SEVEN SACKS last season. Seven.

How many when Elway stubbornly demands that he is put on an island because "we've got the highest paid right tackle in the league!" Yeah, but he won't play up to that level. Not by a long shot.

That is a lot of money for a RT. Even for a real good one IMO.

Is the contract backloaded or some such?

I cannot believe even Elway would pay that much for James?

Egad!!!

Makes a John St. Clair type look good by comparison.

I keep seeing these mocks with the Phones drafting a RT with their 1st rounder??

Another Egad! escapes me.

Elway literally seems to get dumber by the year. It was bad enough when we found out he couldn't identify QB talent to save his life, but this move is downright Brownsian.

That one Super Bowl in 2015 and his own accomplishments in Denver will buy him a lot of goodwill, but eventually, the grumbles for change will start there. Maybe this year, judging from this signing.