Dolphins Begin Offseason Cuts

The Dolphins made some news today by cutting 9 players off their 2008 roster.

Notable cuts were QB Trent Green, OT L.J. Shelton, WR Marty Booker, and DT Keith Traylor. Additionally, the Dolphins cut ties with linemen Anthony Alabi, Joe Toledo, and Marion Dukes. Also cut were DTs Marquay Love and Anthony Bryant.

Armando Salguero reports that the cap casualties resulted in about 8 million dollars worth of freed up cap space. The problem is that this doesn't factor in the opportunity cost of having to replace 4 starters, 2 backups, and 3 practice squad players. It wouldn't surprise me if the Dolphins ended up spending more money to replace who they cut than what they initially saved by cutting the players.

That's not to say these guys shouldn't have been released. Trent Green really should consider hanging them up. Besides his health issues, the worst thing this team can have happen is for Beck to start 5 games next year, lose 4 of the 5 and have the coaching staff panic and send in Trent Green to salvage the season. Forget Green. I don't want to re-sign him at any cost.

Shelton was overpriced for being a serviceable starter at best. However, by cutting so many players on both lines, we have left ourselves pretty thin. That pretty much shows everyone what our priorities will be come draft day. I would expect the Dolphins to end up draft 2 players on the OL and two on the DL in April.

As for Marty Booker, he also had to go. I felt he was an underrated performer in 2006, but last year his production dropped considerably. It's probably best for everyone that he goes elsewhere. The problem is now the Dolphins only have two receivers that are worth throwing the ball to (note that I'm being generous here), and they have only 3 years combined experience. I'm sure WR will be a major target of the team during free agency.

Now that the fat is beginning to get trimmed, we can finally see that there isn't much meat left. It's actually quite alarming how depleted this roster is. There's no way this is a one year turnaround. Maybe not even a 2 year project. We will have to be very patient with this new regime if we want the Dolphins to become relevant again. I don't want to hear anyone calling for Parcells' head if we go 4-12 next year.