Spielman's Patience yields Offseason Success

Monday, June 16, 2003
Robert Henderson

Rick Spielman might be turning into one of the NFL's best General Managers. Last season, he helped produce one of the most successful Dolphins' offseasons in the history of the team. His main acquisition, of course, was running back, Ricky Williams. Then, at the commencement of this offseason, it seemed as though the Dolphins could care less about who was available on the free agent market. It wasn't until March 9 that the Dolphins signed a free agent from another team. However, this was the beginning of yet another successful offseason for Speilman and the Dolphins.

One of the main problems last season for the Miami Dolphins was leadership, especially on defense, and this was thus one of the main areas of improvement the Dolphins needed to address during the offseason. With the addition of Junior Seau, Sammy Knight, and Jeff Zgonina, three veterans who were all captains of their former defenses, the personnel is now available for Jim Bates to coach this group to be the best defense in the league.

Another area that killed the Dolphins last season in some positions was their depth. Re-signing Arturo Freeman to work behind Sammy Knight, and signing cornerback Terrell Buckley to the new nickel back position look to have filled the holes in the secondary. Ray Lucas, after promising performances in the preseason, proved himself to be one of the worst Dolphins' quarterbacks ever. Losing 4 of his 6 starts (including the first 3), Lucas failed to keep the Dolphins on the winning streak and high they had developed before starting quarterback Jay Fiedler went down with a broken thumb. As expected after this performance, Lucas was released, and the back-up quarterback position became vacant. Brian Griese, who was released on June 1 by the Broncos was the Dolphins primary candidate. It took over a week however (July 10) until he signed a contract with the Dolphins. Now, if Fiedler goes down, the Phins have a more than able backup who might even be the best backup in the league.

The Dolphins haven't had a return man of any sort of threat since….since…..well, ok, ever. Charlie Rogers, signed on April 12, has been one of the NFL's best return men, and now he adds his skill to the Dolphins special teams.

The wide receiver position still had Chris Chambers, and James McKnight, but that's about it. WR Derrius Thompson who showed very good potential with the Washington Redskins last season was the first non-Dolphin to sign with the team. Also, Oronde Gadsden might still yet be re-signed as a Phin, and it would be at the veteran minimum for the league.

Speilman made sure he didn't just bring new players in, but important Dolphins free agents were also re-signed. Zach Thomas, the Dolphins leading tackler since he entered the league signed a 5 year contract back on March 29. Shawn Wooden, David Bowens, Mark Royals, and Rob Konrad were also all re-signed.

The last notable area of weakness in 2002 for the Dolphins was coaching. Despite the many mishaps that occurred last season, the coaching staff failed to land the team with a playoff berth after five consecutive seasons of playoff appearances, then a league high. Losing the last two games on the road after leading at halftime cost the Dolphins their season. The play calling got conservative, and somehow the players lost motivation which lay the blame totally on the coaches' shoulders. Rick Spielman and Dave Wannstedt and their staff have successfully improved the team again this offseason as they did in 2002. Now, it is up to Wannstedt, and his coaching staff to put the pieces of the puzzle together and make a run for it in 2003!

Robert Henderson can be reached by e-mailing webmaster@miamidolphinsbahamas.com.