Past Interference is all in with the Brandon Marshall trade. However, we can't help but be reminded of the Dolphins' last two trades for established stars. Surely all Miami Dolphin fans are still washing the taste of the 2005 deal of a second-round pick for Duante Culpepper. It's only been five years since that train wreck. And the 2002 swap of two number ones for Ricky Williams from the Saints has proved to be at best a mixed bag, at worst a key factor in the bottoming out of the franchise in 2007. So if you predict the third time's the charm with Marshall you're not exactly going out on a limb. I mainly bring up those painful prior trades simply to note that I was also excited about Ricky and Duante when they first donned Dolphin unis and just look how well it all turned out in the end. So let's hope for the best but prepare for the worst if it blows up in the Dolphins' bottle-nosed faces.
Like I said in my last post PI didn't see this one coming. Mainly because of the Tuna's past history. He won two Super Bowls where his leading receivers were Bobby Johnson (who?) and then Stephen Baker the Touchdown Maker. Neither topped 33 balls or 600 yards in those Super seasons.
Now check out this quote from ESPN's Adam Shefter.
Miami is a surprise destination for Marshall because Dolphins coach Tony Sparano hadn't shown much interest in acquiring him. But football czar Bill Parcells, who has final say on personnel matters in Miami, has never shied away from talented-but-troubled wide receivers, working with Terry Glenn in New England, Keyshawn Johnson in New York and Terrell Owens in Dallas.
Yes, Parcells isn't what I call the shying away type. However, unlike Shefter (who I usually like) Past Interference actually knows something about Parcells' career. Sure Parcells "worked with" Glenn. Why wouldn't he? That's what coaches do. But he wasn't happy about it. Is this is a secret or something? I mean the guy was so ticked off about Bob Kraft forcing the Patriots to take Glenn that Parcells actually started referring to Glenn as "She" in press conferences and the Glenn pick sowed the seeds for Parcells' ultimate departure from the team. Seriously, this made lots of headlines. It was on ESPN and everything. And I'm pretty sure Parcells was no happier a few years ago when Jerry Jones foisted his big free-agent haul Terrell Owens on him. This time Tuna decided to simply refer to TO as "The player" with the press. Good stuff. As for Keyshawn, I know of no problems between he and Parcells but again, Parcells didn't draft him and had no say in Keyshawn's addition to the team which came a year before Parcells joined the Jets. Parcells worked with Glenn, Key and TO but he had no choice is the point. Two of those guys he plainly did not want around. He thought he could win without them. So making the move for Marshall was clearly a break from the old Parcells' way. Before, he thought he could win without a great wideout. Now he obviously thinks he can't win without a "talented-but-troubled" wide receiver and he's willing to pay the price to get one.
And the price was high. Two second-rounders. The Ravens got Anquan Boldin for a 3rd and a 4th. The Jets snagged Santonio Holmes for a measly 5th. But Marshall's four years younger than Boldin and he's better than Holmes (plus he's got 5 inches and 30 pounds on him) (double plus he's not currently slated to miss four games on suspension and he won't be a free agent at season's end). This couldn't be better for Henne's and Hartline's development. The offense needed this desperately. Too many times last year they couldn't build on a lead when they needed to. Too many times they couldn't come back when they needed to. I don't think Miami's going to have any attitude problems with Marshall. Whatever flaws exist in Sparano's coaching so far, they don't come in the areas of motivation and discipline. The big worry is Marshall's track record of legal run-ins, especially of the domestic violence variety. Let's just hope he's put all that behind him. If not though we'll be prepared. I cleverly titled this post "More on Marshall" so if things should later go horribly wrong I could break out a "Moron Marshall" when the time came.
4 comments:
Parcells did work with Glenn by choice...in Dallas. Apparently any differences in New England were long resolved by Parcells' Dallas tenure, and he signed Glenn after Glenn was released by the Packers following a disappointing 2002 season.
After Parcells reunited Glenn with Bledsoe in 2005, Glenn had back to back years as a go-to WR in his second go-around with Parcells.
Parcells also worked with Keyshawn by choice in Dallas as well.
Correct Hal. Parcells did make the decision to go get Glenn in 2003. However, I believe it only cost the Cowboys a 6th-round pick and Glenn was more a cagy vet by that point in his career, rather than a number-one receiver type. So I don't think Parcells' 2003 acquisition of Glenn contradicts my assertion that spending a lot to bring in a stud receiver is a real departure for the Tuna.
Bronco fan here: I hope that he does well with you and grows up, but I fear that he won't. This guy is screwed up. He will produce 90-100 catch seasons for you, but the controversy he may bring will probably override that eventually.
BTW, this is a pretty good site. Keep up the good work. What do you have planned for future columns? I was wondering because you should do a Dolphins "what if" series. One good one would be: What if Rusty Chambers, Larry Gordon, and David Overstreet didn't die?
sptrfn, for future columns I'm going to answer your "what if" question first. I've also done some more research on one-win teams and on matchups between QB's with multiple championships that I've got to turn into posts. Then I want to revisit my series on the Miami Dolphins' worst trades. I kind of botched the original and I want to redo it. We've got at least one new candidate since I wrote that. I also want to get to reviewing the team's 2005-2007 drafts now that enough time has passed to evaluate them.
As for Marshall he's definitely a risk. But the team had to get him. The complete lack of an star in the passing game was crippling the offense. Parcells must think the team will be able to keep him in line so Dolphin fans will just have to hope he's right.
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