Dolphins signed Ray Willis former standout at FSU and Seattle Seahawk. Making room for the Offensive Lineman the Miami Dolphins waived Micah Kia. He should help bolster the Line as Head Coach Tony Sparano is trying to find a good balance between lineman.

Testing twitter > facebook connection…yehaaww it works.

Preseason

Aug. 12 at Atlanta 7:30 pm WFOR
AUG. 19 CAROLINA 7:30 PM WFOR
Aug. 27 at Tampa Bay 7:30 pm WFOR
SEPT. 1 DALLAS 7:30 PM WFOR

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT TIME NETWORK
SEPT. 12 NEW ENGLAND 7:00 PM ESPN

SEPT. 18 HOUSTON 4:15 PM CBS

Sept. 25 at Cleveland 1:00 PM CBS

Oct. 2 at San Diego 4:15 PM CBS

Oct. 9 BYE

Oct. 17 at N.Y. Jets 8:30 PM ESPN

OCT. 23 DENVER 1:00 PM CBS

Oct. 30 at N.Y. Giants 1:00 PM CBS

Nov. 6 at Kansas City 1:00 PM CBS

NOV. 13 WASHINGTON* 1:00 PM FOX

NOV. 20 BUFFALO* 1:00 PM CBS

Nov. 24 at Dallas 4:15 PM CBS

DEC. 4 OAKLAND* 1:00 PM CBS

DEC. 11 PHILADELPHIA* 1:00 PM FOX

Dec. 18 at Buffalo* 1:00 PM CBS

Dec. 24 at New England* 1:00 PM CBS

JAN. 1 N.Y. JETS* 1:00 PM CBS

New rules and points of emphasis for 2011.

While the trend in recent years seems to have been all about player safety, the league took a nice step back this year and will cut down on the number of penalties called when the head of the quarterback is touched. Last season, a penalty was supposed to be called basically anytime a defensive player made contact with a quarterback’s helmet. This year, unless the contact is the result of a “forcible blow,” there will not be a penalty called.

Other notes:

-As you know, kickoffs will now take place at the 35-yard line, not the 30. What you may not know, is that the 10 players on the kicking team besides the actual kicker cannot line up behind the 30, limiting their speed and momentum as they head down the field.

-There can be no coach’s challenges on any play in which points are put on the board. Anytime a play results in points, the replay rules of the final two minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters will be in place (booth review only.) This rule sucks I’m 1 million%% against this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-If a defensive team intentionally commits a stop-clocking penalty in order to give their coach or the replay official more time to look at a possible replay review, the previous play cannot be reviewed–either by challenge or booth review.

-Look for some penalties this year on ball carriers who, while stiff-arming a defender, get their fingers tangled in the defenders’ face mask, and twist. This is a point of emphasis this year and will result in an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Lets see is Marino retired? Bring him back cause Chad Henne has not proven to be a leader on the field and can’t take the Dolphins anywhere except behind the Jets and Patriots. Last time I checked you get a pink slip for missing the playoffs and finishing 3rd in your division.

With all that being said a lot of marquee QB’s are free agents or on the trade block. Today Vince Young was released from Tennessee Titans. Kyle Orton is on the trade block from the Denver Broncos due to a man named Tim Tebow and his backup former dud Brady Quinn, but they want a draft pick and Ortons 9 million a year seams awfully high!

I would be leaning towards taking a more mobile QB in Vince Young I think he would be a better fit in the Pro style offense of the Miami Dolphins.

It is looking more and more promising that a deal will be getting done in the near future. Rumor has it that the owners and players have agreed to the last key piece of the problem, the rookie salary system. It has taken longer than fans had hoped, but there have been no missed games as of yet, which is a good thing.

The Lockout has forced players to set up their own team workouts without coaches or trainers present. This could end up being a great team building exercise for teams. The only team that has really come out and said they weren’t meeting up as a team has been the Green Bay Packers. The Dolphins have had a number of the players get together to work on different things and hopefully that will work out to their advantage when the season starts. Timing plays such a big role in football and if they are off by a step or two it could be an interception or the offense scoring on a big play.

Now, it would appear that this is all in the hands of the lawyers to get all the papers drawn up and everyone can check to make sure the “I’s” are dotted and the “T’s” are crossed. If all goes well then there will be football after all this season, starting with the Hall of Fame Game in Ohio. Keep your fingers crossed that there is no hiccup in the process and we will be able to see that pigskin in the air
before you know it.

Yeh I know its the first game, but the Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills rather soundly. The running game was excellent with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combining for 147 yards on the day.

Probably my favorite play of the game was the 20-25 yard moonball over the receiver and Fasano had to twist around to catch it, but the Henne threw the ball well. It looked like Fasano just didn’t know which side it was going to be on.

The Dolphins displayed something they haven’t had in 3 years. The ability to finish.

If you have an iPhone, and you are a Dolphins fan, check it out. Unfortunately, I’m a Blackberry user.

Check it out

Wayne Huizenga, who has maintained majority ownership in the Miami Dolphins since 1994, has agreed to complete the sale of the Dolphins to businessman Stephen Ross. Last year Ross paid $550 million to gain a 49% share of the franchise and Dolphin Stadium. This afternoon, Ross and Huizenga are expected to finish the deal which would leave Huizenga a 5% owner of the team and give Ross 95% ownership.

The current economic situation has had an effect on this process, again proving no industry is immune to a recession. The deal for the Dolphins is expected to be worth roughly $1.1 billion in total and Ross has been searching for investors to help finalize the deal. However, Huizenga has been desperate to unload his majority ownership, so much so that he is allowing Ross to defer less than 1/3 of the payments in order to finalize the deal sooner.

The change in ownership isn’t expected, at the moment, to have many visible changes to the franchise. The biggest change revolves around Bill Parcells’ days in Miami. Parcells had a clause in his contract, signed by Huizenga, that if Huizenga were to sell the team Parcells would have 30 days to decide to stay with the team, or walk away with the remaining $12 million on his 4 year $16 million contract.

Parcells, along with coach Tony Sparano, is one of the main reasons for the Dolphins amazing turnaround in 2008. Parcells has long had a great eye for talent and it would be wonderful to see him remain with the team and see what magic he could churn up. Assuming the sale is finalized today, Parcells will have 30 days to decide to stay with the team or walk away with his cash. Huizenga believes Parcells will stay, but so far no comment has come from Parcells regarding the situation.

A lot of pressure will begin to fall upon the Miami Dolphins organization in the coming weeks and months, after all Bill Parcells and company took a 1-15 team and made them into an 11-5 division winner in just one year. No doubt they will face expectations to AT LEAST match that effort in 2009, if not surpass it all together and go deeper in the playoffs. One thing is certain though, the 2008 team, good as it was, cannot do it again next year without changes. Just what changes might be necessary to help boost the Dolphins in 2009?

Starting on offense, the most glaring need is for a game changing playmaker. 2 years ago the Dolphins believed they had that in drafting Ted Ginn Jr, and though he showed vast improvement this year, he’s still not an elite level performer who can lift his team on his shoulders and will them to victory. Chad Pennington has already been inked as the starter for next season, so what must the Dolphins give him to boost the potential of the offense?

Wide receiver is still the biggest issue needing to be addressed, an issue that can possibly be addressed by free agency. Tampa Bay WR Antonio Bryant is the biggest free agent WR this year, and the pool gets shallow for talent if he leaves the market quickly. The Dolphins’ remaining options would be TJ Houshmanzadeh, Jabar Gaffney, Amani Toomer, Michael Clayton, Devery Henderson, Shaun McDonald, Nate Washington, or Bryant Johnson. The majority of these guys have been role players for years now, are past their prime, or missed it all together.

The draft might however provide Miami the chance to get a young, albeit unproven in the NFL, explosive playmaker. The top playmakers coming out in this years draft for the Dolphins to target would be West Virginia’s Pat White or Florida’s Percy Harvin. Harvin hasn’t declared for the draft yet, but is expected to and is perhaps the most versatile threat coming out of the NCAA this season. The only catch here is Harvin is not likely to fall far enough in the draft that Miami could get their hands on him. However, White may fall far enough and would be an excellent weapon in the Dolphins wildcat scheme.

The Dolphins also have offensive line issues to answer. The Dolphins would like to resign T Vernon Carey, but if they cannot they must go out and find either a back up ready to emerge as a starter or sign a stop gap player and draft someone for a long term solution. The Dolphins also appear interested in changing  personnel at center, with C Jason Brown (25) of Baltimore being the top available free agent.

On defense, the Dolphins have more issues to tackle. Most important, the team needs another pass rusher in the front 7. Two very good, and very expensive, options will be out there. Julius Peppers from Carolina and Terrell Suggs from Baltimore. The only problem here, Baltimore is expected to stick the franchise tag on Suggs. Other options exist, but these two are far and away the best.

At linebacker, the Dolphins are trying to work out a new deal for Channing Crowder, but money appears to be sticking point with Crowder already having rejected one offer. If he were to go, Baltimore’s Bart Scott is likely to end up a free agent as the Ravens may not have the money to sign Scott in addition to free agents Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis.

As for CBs and Safeties, it gets a little easier. The best options at CB, should the Dolphins desire change, are Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha and Houston’s Dunta Robinson. The Dolphins want to keep both Yeremiah Bell and Renaldo Hill at the safety positions, but in the event they don’t, OJ Atogwe, James Butler, and Jim Leonhard are all good options on the free agent market.

For now, the Dolphins are free to dream big. They are expected to be roughly $25 million below the NFL salary cap, leaving them room to spend freely and acquire some big names. If they spend wisely, they could attract 2-3 talented new players to a franchise with renewed hope of success. Lets hope the Dolphins are proactive and get what they need to make 2009 as enjoyable for the fans as 2008.