NFL Lockout and NFLPA Decertification Mean Big Problems For The Miami Dolphins

at Saturday, March 12, 2011 Posted by Paul Smythe

So, by now I expect that you guys have heard about the NFL Players Association decertifying, the NFL locking the players out, and the legal battle that is to ensue.

While this news stinks for all NFL fans, it will be even worse for fans of certain teams like the Miami Dolphins.

I am no expert on all of the legal stuff, but I have heard that the battle in court could last as long as six months. Six months from today would be September 12th, and the NFL season is scheduled to start September 8th. So, if the court battle between the NFL and NFLPA lasts anywhere as long as expected, then there could be some major problems for some teams.

Imagine an NFL season with no OTAs, training camps, or preseason. Some of you may not think that's a big deal, but it is a huge deal for teams with a new coach and new offenses to teach their players.

Enter the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins have a new offensive coordinator who has to teach his players a new offense, they have huge questions at quarterback, and we don't even know who our starting running back is.

This is all bad news for Miami, because the longer the battle between the NFL and NFLPA lasts, the less time the Dolphins get to prepare for the season.

The one bright spot is that Chad Henne was able to learn the new offense. I am very glad that he was motivated enough to take the initiative and prepare for a potential lockout. I just hope he will be able to successfully teach the offense to the rest of the team. Because of this whole mess, I do think it will be smart to start Henne for, at least, the beginning of the season.

I am NOT on the Chad Henne bandwagon, though. I just think he will be the best option to start off the season because of the lockout. If he ends up doing really well and lives up to the hype that surrounded him at the beginning of last year, then more power to him, but I just don't see it happening.

I am still a huge Ryan Mallett supporter. I will be a fan of his as long as he doesn't go to a team like the Jets or Patriots, and when he ends up being extremely successful in the NFL, you guys can flood my inbox with praise. I promise I won't mind it at all. My email address is paul@dolphinshout.com, so you should add that to your contacts for when you need to send me praise.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think about the lockout, Henne, or Mallett with a comment. I look forward to seeing what you guys think. You may have also noticed that I didn't put up a post yesterday, and I apologize to anyone who was expecting it, but I was hoping to keep my post about the trifecta compared to the bifecta up on the top of the blog because I wanted to keep the conversation going.

Comments (13)

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hookemfins · 735 weeks ago

Obviously, the CBA is the biggest thing affecting the NFL picture now. The number 1 problem is no FA picks. This puts the ENTIRE LOAD on the draft. I still think the FA picks could help a lot of our holes, depending on proven talent at QB, OL, TE, RB and WR. Ryan mallet or Andy Dalton could be a good future Franchise QB, but do we really need another QB project, at this stage? It sure would be nice to take a sure pick, like Mike Pouncey for our 1st pick. I think the FA would help us to do this.

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ohiodolpfan · 734 weeks ago

Hate to see a lockout, knowing if it lasts thru ota's and camp miami is not going to look any better then they did in 2010. But i will back the lockout for one reason, no 20 yr old kid should be thrown 30 million dollars to play in the leauge. That is something that needs to be changed for the teams sake. Every year rookies make more money and more and more rookies are being breed to be Crabtree's and im tired of seeing it. I love football, but the rules need to be changed to protect the franchises.

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phinfan86 · 734 weeks ago

yea this lockout is going to hurt miamis chances of being successful next season. With henne knowing the new offense and him being responsible to teach other players were soon gonna find out what hes really made of. Still drafting a QB will not fix anything this season how are u supposed to develop a rookie QB with a work stoppage going on. Miami should keep the QBs they have on the roster since they will all know the system going into the season fill some other holes like o-line and rb in the draft, its the safest decision they can make. I think all of this is going to help henne develop not only as a player but as the leader of this team, but only time will tell.

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hookemfins · 734 weeks ago

Maybe there is a finfan strike that I didn't hear about, so am I supposed to shut up? Teams like Pittsburgh have a QB, RB, OL, so they can afford Mike Pouncey for a 1st round pick. With a crummy 1st round, no 2nd round, and no FA picks, Miami can't fill the holes, unless they can count on LUCK, and I don't mean Andrew, unless they repeat their 2008 season.

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hookemfins · 734 weeks ago

Excuse me 2007 season!! And I always thought 7/11 were lucky numbers. Maybe losing has helped teams like Carolina and Detroit, what a lousy way to become a winner.

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Riverdog · 734 weeks ago

This must suck for the players that are FAs. What I've been thinking about is, of those FA players that do switch teams. How long will it take them to adjust to the new surroundings. If the lock out lasts until the begining of the season which I now think it will. The FAs will have no time to learn a new playbook. I do think that learning a playbook is a bit overplayed by the media, these guys have been playing football for years. How long does it take to figure out to run if the ball is in your hands ?

Players like RB and/or RW are now more likely to stay put due to not being able to get a feel for what is going with a new team IF a new CBA is not signed early enough. Rookies I feel will be at an even greater disadvantage than a FA. Which causes even more problems for the dolphins because of where there most pressing needs are at QB and OL. Those 2 positions need some time to either learn the Pro game for the newbees or adjust to new surroundings and terminology for the FAs.

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onebaud 34p · 734 weeks ago

Just as lawyers don't go into court without reading a law book, player don't go into a game without reading a play book. Normal citizens cannot understand either one.

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Jake · 734 weeks ago

This sounds a little far fetched ; but if Henne is the QB.....am gonna have to switch to another channel. We've all seen what he can do & can't do.

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TXDOLFAN · 734 weeks ago

I am sad for the NFL as a whole. I don't see a winner in this process. I have thought all along that Smith was posturing for the public and not reparesenting the players. I can understand his concerns about writing an additional $1B check to the league without seeing financial records. For that I question the Owners' credibility. An eighteen game regular season is insane and I was glad the owners backed off some. Like RD said, a lawyer (Smith) has to read a law book before going to court. I will add that he appeared to want to be in the courtroom to settle this. I don't like the Pats but Ribert Kraft said it quite accurately in my opinion. Our players will now suffer. Our team will suffer. That could have been avoided with some common sense on both sides.

1 reply · active 734 weeks ago

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Riverdog · 734 weeks ago

Well I agree, but this is sad for the fans not the NFL. If you owned a company would you show your employees how much you were making ? I wouldn't. This is about getting a deal done for the betterment of both parties and the fans. How will the owners opening their books to the players help the fans ? I don't know of a single fan that cares about how much these 2 parties make.. I only care about what the cost is to see a game. If it's what I consider to be to high I won't go. We have discontinued the NFL ticket with Directv. The costs for us is already to high for that. We are lucky we still see all the dolphin games at this time, I do think that will change.

As a society we now swing from one side of an issue to another, there is no more middle ground in anything we do. We only need to look at Wisconsin and what they did in there state. There was huge support to make cuts in that state, and when they did what happened a huge backlash from the workers. There was no compromise and that is what we are seeing between the players and the owners of the NFL. They can work this out but at this time they are trying screw each other and who is losing in the end ? The fans....

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hookemfins · 734 weeks ago

Paul is asking if this lockout hurts the Fins more than other teams. It hurts us more @ 7-9 for 2 straight seasons. How can we be more than a mediocre team? We have a very mediocre place in the draft @#15, looking to trade down to around #22 maybe. We don't have 2nd round. Do we have to bottom out like Carolina and Detroit to get better? Maybe we can get lucky and have another 1-15 season and get Andrew Luck. Please, I can't take another losing season!! The really good teams, don't have much to lose, they are already good with strong QB, RB and OL. They have the draft only to help them. We need the FA's to help our draft this year. This is the worst mess for the fans, as usual.

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Shawn · 734 weeks ago

This will definitely set the phins back even farther. And Henne teaching the offense, don't see that going well. With his leadership being questioned how can he teach players like Marshall who do not respect him.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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PaulSmythe 93p · 734 weeks ago

Very interesting point. Henne and Marshall did not end well last year.

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