h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Blimey, you finally noticed...

So what on earth is going on between the Fins and Brian Griese?

As far as I can understand and it has always been reported as such, the Fins want Griese to come in as backup for Fiedler.

Now this tallies with the idea that if he wanted to be a starter there are other teams he could talk to.

But on the otherhand:
- his agent made a statement a couple of weeks back that Brian would be starting by mid-season.
- he's turning down a contract that pays $1 million. That seems pretty good to me for a backup. If he gets to take 59% of the snaps and into the SB, it goes up to $1.63 million.
- he's pretty much been a 4-year starter with the Broncos, and sitting on the bench cannot be too attractive a proposition; and I can't see it taking much more than a couple of losses with Fiedler starting for "QB controversy" to hit the headlines.

And of course anyone with an ounce of competitivity will be looking to start rather than backup.

The other thing is that in going to Miami, he swaps a situation where he is trying to follow up the legacy of John Elway, with a situation where he will be looking to follow up the legacy of his father, Bob.

The Miami Herald is saying things quite differently.

The problem does not appear to be the base salary, but the incentives. Griese's agent wants enough incentives built into the deal that if Griese were to play over 59% of the snaps and guide the team to a SB win, he would make $5M, which is still less than the league average for a starter. He also said he'd be willing to accept $4M in incentives, to get the deal done.

It's not that they expect Griese to become the starter... they just want him adequately compensated if it happens.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, appear to be saying they're bringing him in as a backup, they have no intention of anointing him the starter, so they feel there is no reason to build in that kind of compensation. A backup's job is to play when the starter is unavailable, period. When Kurt Warner got injured, Mark Bulger played great for the salary of a backup. For his efforts, Bulger was re-signed to a one-year, $375k deal, to play backup again. If Fiedler suffers an injury early in the season and can't play anymore, the Fins don't want to have to break the salary cap to keep playing.

If the two sides don't find some middle ground, the Dolphins are already in talks with Neil O'Donnell.

Ok that makes for a much better explanation of what is going on ...

So what do you think the truth is?
- Do the Fins only want him as a backup?
- Does Griese only see himself as a backup?
- Is going to Miami sensible for Griese (apart from the obvious possibility of playing for a winner)?

1) The Fins do only want him as a backup. The contract is further reinforcement of that.

2) Clearly, Griese still sees himself as a starter. And given the quality of starters around the league, that's a justified opinion... just not on the Dolphins.

3) I really don't think Griese will get much out of being in Miami. I also don't think anyone expects him to be the second-coming of Bob. It's pretty much a neutral situation.

Unless... the Fins are one of those rare teams where character counts. It might be a good situation for him to be in... let him get sober and get his head straight.

I can't believe I managed to write that last bit with a straight face.

But why are the Fins pursuing someone who wants to be a starter, to play as backup? Surely it can only lead to "QB controversy" ...

I can understand that they would want to get the best possible backup available, but I think the Frank Reich/Gary Kubiaks of the world acquire a rather different mentality to the wannabe starters e.g. Rich Gannon.

Drifting ever so slightly, how do you think Steve Beuerlein views himself? Starter or backup?

Ahh and funnily enough having just logged onto NFL.com it says that a 2-year deal has been struck, although not yet signed.

Perhaps the most interesting part is ...

"Under the expected terms of the deal, Griese would cost the Dolphins a significant price against their 2004 salary cap, meaning the Dolphins will either have to release Griese, restructure the second year of the deal or keep him as the starting quarterback."

That's a smart move by Griese and his agent, because that presumably gives him a legitimate spot at starting for the Phins next year or being able to free himself up for other positions (and there are any number of teams that may be wishing for an expreienced started by this time next year, I think...

An interesting article over on BBC Sport website http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/2998686.stm

Apparently David James (England no.1 or 2 goalkeeper) is due to go linkup with the Miami Dolphins on June 24th!

Laughably the article states "As part of the training, James' overall fitness will be assessed and he will learn how to play three positions that seem the best suited for him - quarterback, wide receiver and kicker."

Now bear in mind this guy is certainly athletic, but at 32 even I cannot see him beating Jay Fiedler out of a job. As for wide receiver his reputation for dropping crosses goes before him - need I say more than he has been nicknamed "Calamity James".

Kicker is of course the one possibility ... I guess he'll be competing with Jonny Wilkinson or Ronan O'Gara

Apparently, David James can't kick. But he does have some potential at WR: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/6162963.htm

At least it seems as if he'd enjoyed his stay.

More articles about James...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/sporttop/content_objectid=13107222_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-JAMES-GRIDLOCKED-name_page.html

Good to see that the Mirror continues their consistency when it comes to showing what they think about Amercan Football.

Also, from Miami Dolphins own home page:

http://www.miamidolphins.com/pressbox/pressreleases/pressreleases.asp?contentID=2770

What I like best are the quotes. They reveal so much about the sporting prejudices and attitudes involved.

My fave is probably James' description of Ricky Williams.

"''The guy is a tank,'' he said. ``I saw him from the back first and he's as wide as he is tall. Nice bloke, as well. You can really see why he's able to do what he does on the field".

Is he not allowed to be a nice bloke if he's talented then, David?

And as for assertion by one of the Dolphins that soccer players are probably the fittest people on the planet - laughable. Some of them perhaps.

I don't know how this flew under my radar, but last week the team re-signed Oronde Gadsden.

I think we have the most talented group of receivers since the Marks Brothers, and the deepest group since... ever. With the rate we've lost WRs to injury over the last few years, depth matters.

I mean, come on, we got so desperate last year that Cris Carter soiled the aqua and orange by putting it on.

This also draws to a close a postseason that saw the team hold its principle pieces together and successfully bring in assistance to every area of need, with the sole exception of LT.

Can we start the season now??

I would say that the Dolphins seem to have had a good offseason.

They seem to have made the adjustments and changes required, and it's really a case of whether things quite go as planned.

- will Junior Seau turn out to be the emotional leader and force that the Dolphins need to stop their late season collapse?
- will Jay Fiedler play to his usual standard or will he feel threatened by Griese's presence? If he performs badly is the team/media going to start create QB controversy with some backing Griese/others Jay?

If they come through these two things then playoff experience is perhaps the only thing stopping the Dolphins from being a Super Bowl participant.

Another 'major' signing flew under Blathers radar (or he didn't deem it worthy of reporting to us) ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/3086767.stm

Rob Hart, the English kicker of the Scottish Claymores is going to training camp with dem Fins. Unlikely to dislodge Olindo Mare, but a good portent perhaps as he was with the Bucs in training camp last year

They're not giving him Zach Thomas' number, are they?!

Way under the radar... it wasn't even mentioned at my news sites. I don't think anyone really expects him to win the job from Mare, though Mare did open the door to competition with some poor performances last year. He was still steady overall.

As much as I think Rob is a great guy, I expect him to be no more than a camp leg for the Dolphins. Always good to have some copetition for the settled in Kicker, and if you can get a roster exemption for that competition, it can't be all bad. Since Rob's been signed from an NFLE roster, the Dolphins will get a roster exemption, which means they can bring in an extra Reciever/linebacker/running back/lineman/DB or whatever...

I still hope he does well and has a good training camp.

Vic Carucci on NFL.com had this to say:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6499361

It's actually Dave Wannstedt in his opening press conference of training camp. Saying that:
- he doesn't feel under pressure to make th SB.
- feels the team is better than last year.
- has made some changes to the away trip planning.

And is *still* listed as one of the top ten most vunerable coaches this year along with (no suprise) Mike Holmgren and (interestingly) Mike Martz...