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You are Lockdown Dolphins, your daily Miami Dolphins podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast
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Your team every day.
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All right, Miami, welcome to another emergency podcast episode of Lockdown Dolphins.
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I'm your host, Kyle Kraves, the lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, host of Lockdown Dolphins,
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co-host of Lockdown.
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I'm the fellow scouting author of Touchdown Miami on Sub-Stack at a Bell Staff Ride
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Afraid as he sports.
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Want to give a special welcome a shout out to our every dayers, as it is your team every
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day, sometimes twice a day, like when you trade Jay LaWanneau to the Denver Broncos
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for a one of three and four shout out to everybody who made Lockdown Podcast, now we're
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the number one sports podcast network in the world and I am in my feelings about this
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You look at the trade compensation, the news broke out an hour ago, Dolphins trading Jay
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LaWanneau with their fourth round pick at 111 to the Denver Broncos, who was one of the
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teams that was really to be interested in Jay LaWanneau with Trade Deadline last year
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and it didn't happen for picks 30, 94 and 130.
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So a couple of different isms that I like to use on the show.
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One of them, this chialism is the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
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And when you look at what this draft capital now looks like, 11, 30, 43, 75, 87, 90, 94,
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The Dolphins last year felt like, wow, what a refreshing change of pace.
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The Dolphins made a first and a second round pick and they had three picks in the top
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100 when it started.
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They only made two of them.
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Remember last year, they drafted Jonas of I and I and we needed to wait like 100 picks
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for the third choice and it was Jordan Phillips and like the one 40s and that was the third
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draft choice that they made in last year's class.
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Before the Dolphins made their fourth pick in last year's class, they're going to pick
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at 11, 30, 43, I'm doing math in real time and I can count on my fingers on my toes
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75, 87, 90, 94, 7 picks in the top 100 and then 131, 51.
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And if I'm John Eric Sullivan and I've got this keeping pile of picks now at my disposal,
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you know what I'm doing, I'm probably going to try to keep moving and shaking with them.
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You're not trying to just build a chest for this year.
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Now it's going to be hard to build a chest for next year because everybody knows how good
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that class is supposed to be.
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But darn it, man, you got two first round picks, you got to pick at 43, you got four picks
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between 75 and 94, 130.
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This roster is going to look dramatically different and when they said they were going to build
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through the draft, we know John Eric Sullivan wasn't giving us lip service.
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There's a whole bunch of questions that come with a move like this as far as why sign
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If this is what you were going to do as far as what's the salary cap implications, I still
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have to sort a lot of that out and I'm not going to say here and talk on my rear end
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of you guys about, right?
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This focus is on the compensation with the draft picks all they did, DJ Morgan's traded
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for a two and I think that that trade kind of really underscored where Jalen Wato
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who's a younger player and from an EPA per target standpoint is significantly more productive
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than DJ Morgan the last two years.
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Wato was do $17 million in cash compensation, not salary cap charges, cash compensation
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this year and it was $24 million next year in cash compensation, right?
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So there's been a couple different kinds of reporting on who's paying what money, the
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money's really secondary.
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If the dolphins are going to bust on this trade and they lose $11 million in cap space
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to do it, what they'll do is they'll probably do a base salary conversion for Aaron Brewer
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and they'll do a base salary conversion for Jordan Brooks and that buys you about $9 million
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in cap space and that probably offsets the total of it and then you could just kind of keep
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on, take it until the post June 1st money comes through with Bradley Chuck.
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The wide receiver room is tough on the ice, but what stands out to me and I haven't really
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done a lot of like draft specific deep dive stuff here on lockdown yet because obviously
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we had to build up with a new regime and new coaches and then the combine happened and
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then the Malik Willis signing happens.
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So like we haven't really had time to get into it yet, but one thing that's when I look
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at how I have the wide receivers graded in this year's class, this is the first kind
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of under the hood draft talking point that we're going to get to here on the show.
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But I've done the top 12 guys I finalized grades on at wide receiver.
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For me, there's a stand alone player that has some questions with medical in Jordan
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I think his 24 tape is the best tape of any wide receiver in the class.
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But then I've got a very close collection of players named Carl Tate, Makai Lemon.
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I think Omar Cooper from Indiana is like a marginal notch down from that and he's in
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the same bucket with guys like Casey, Concepcion from Texas A&M and Denzel Boston.
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And that's even before like a lot of my mocks.
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I was doing day two wide receivers like in the third round with like Malik Fields and
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with Ted Hearst from Georgia State.
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So Antonio Williams from Clemsons, kind of a really intriguing slot type guy for me.
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This is a great wide receiver class.
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It's not strong in a lot of places.
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But between picks 11 and 43, you're going to have three bites of the Apple now.
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Probably won't want them to be a wide receiver based on moving on from Jalen Waddle and what
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the domino effect is for what the rest of the roster now looks like for the dolphins with
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two two at well, Jalen Tolbert, Malik Washington, Theo Weiss, Taj Washington, Tarris Marshall
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Another not giving us lip service, but living the words in which they told us and how
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they were going to move and operate.
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John Arxelvin told the local media for the on the record meeting that they had at the
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We're not going to have a wide receiver with a bunch of five nine guys.
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And that's no shade like I think Jalen Waddle.
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I know he's become oddly a polarizing player and I can't wait for if he stays to the best
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of his ability this year in Denver for all the that wow that's so dolphins when he puts
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up like 1,300 or 1,200 yards in Denver with Sean Payton and he's always been this
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And I think it's unfortunate he had to play second fiddle for the vast majority of his
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dolphins career to Tyree Kill and then this year like you get unequivocally the worst
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version of Tua that you could possibly get is what Waddle ended up getting his wide receiver
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one opportunities with.
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But if you're looking at the long term scope of the team building process, I can't look
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at the trade package and compensation and say, I can't justify them doing this.
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I can't and I remember having the conversation to trade down I said a one plus but like
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one in a one in another top 100 pick and that's why you don't do the deal at the trade
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We'll talk about that more on the other side of the break.
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Make sure you guys stick with us.
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So the Jalen Waddle thing happening at the deadline versus the Jalen Phillips thing that
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did happen at the deadline right I think this is something that as a reflect on how they
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handled the deadline and it was kind of controversial at the time of why would you trade Jalen
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Phillips and not give your new executive the choice to make that decision because he
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was an expiring contract right and this why don't make the decision with Devon H and
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with an interim GM and a head coach that's trying to win and save his job.
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This is why you don't make the decision with Jalen Waddle despite whatever offers were
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reportedly out there and reportedly the best offer they got from the bills that included
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the 2027 one is compared to one this year.
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So I think especially with the team being Buffalo is was reported you're darn right I'm
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going to charge you a surcharge three X more than one anybody else is if I'm going to
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give you Waddle on a two year lease before I see my compensation back and make you better
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so the pick is worse.
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You make the decision with Jalen Phillips that you make it the trade deadline because he's
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an expiring contract and because you're not going to use the franchise tag because your
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team financials aren't in a position to use the franchise tag.
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You don't trade Jalen Waddle and you don't trade Devon H and we'll see what happens with
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Devon H and right no holds bar at this point there's no there's no cap penalty like you're
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presumably incurring with Jalen Waddle trade is this could just be a matter of
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do we get the offer that's too good to be true and man you just put the for sale sign
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right out the front yard.
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Miami Gardens you go dry by our rock stadium right now there is a for sale sign or out
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in front of at the cell.
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That's the message that's sent when you trade a player like Jalen Waddle to leave the
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wide receiver room in the position that it's in.
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But the reason why you don't make those trades at the deadline is because those players
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had 2026 under control so you can hire a new executive and let them get to the offseason
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and then figure out if they get an offer that they actually want to take or if they want
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to keep the player.
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So about the Malik Willis signing.
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I keep going back to again because this is several promises made promises delivered by
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He told us how he's going to operate.
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He said for a team building philosophy standpoint it all starts with the quarterback
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right now I move like this I think dramatically hurts your opportunity to compete and over
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achieve at a high level but I do look at the composition of the Packers wide receiver
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room and of course they they used their first round pick this year on Matthew Golden and
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that was like a big deal because I think the last time the Packers had used a first round
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pick on a wide receiver it was like 20 years since the last time they had used a first round
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pick so let me pull up the draft history.
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They went quarterback offensive lineman and defensive players and that was like their
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big time track record.
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Now you can go back to 2008 and they draft Jordy Nelson with their first pick at 36.
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You can go back to 2006 and they drafted Greg Jennings 52nd overall.
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You have to go back to Javon Walker in 2002 was the last time the Packers used a first
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round pick on a wide receiver.
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But then they used one on Matthew Golden this year and Golden was quiet but the composition
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of the wide receiver room in Rune Bay Christian Watson with a two.
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Jaden Reed with a two.
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Savion Williams with a three.
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Don Tavion Wicks was with a five Romeo dobs was drafted with a was a third round pick.
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He's no longer on the Arlads chart.
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Fourth round pick but they used a lot of it in in rapid succession right is that they
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built this very young dynamic size and athleticism and body type versatile room so as you process
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a trade like moving on from J. L. Waddle with a trade package that I readily acknowledge
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is one of the drivers of the J. L. Waddle fan club.
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I would did not want to trade J. L. Waddle but I look at that package and compensation
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and if that's the track record that you're going to have with drafting as I mean we just
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did Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings a second round picks Romeo dobs was a fourth Christian
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Watson as a two Jaden Reed is a two Jaden reads a great player.
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They kind of have the track record right and they're not going to bat a thousand and I
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think it's important for us to kind of calibrate those expectations and not expect them to
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But that's what makes the volume piece of it so important to have 11 30 43 75 87 90 94
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And shoot you get to 11 overall you if you have the wrong player staring at the face
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that price they'll be trying to trade out price still trying to trade out.
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But you're going to have an opportunity to add some water series this room and for adding
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Malik Willis I know that that's the number one question is why would you add Malik Willis
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if you're simultaneously going to make this move with J. L. Waddle.
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You're playing a long term game and they are comfortable with the idea of potential
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sunk cost to quarterback.
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One of it matters until you get the quarterback and if Malik Willis is the player that they
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I'll get some young guys in there.
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They'll have Malik Washington.
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One of these other guys whether it's Jalen Tolbert or Tutu at well.
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Somebody's going to come around and they'll probably add a tight end as well.
16:08
A very young team expect a lot of growing pains.
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This is a reality situation.
16:18
But these clues were getting dropped.
16:19
It was in Rappaport one of the programs in January was talking about the end of December
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beginning of January was talking about kind of the landscape of the AFC East where you've
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got the jets with the sun, the moon and the stars with all the draft picks because they
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shredded their entire roster to bits and then two competitive teams in the Patriots and
16:46
And he said that they might have to get a little creative to find a way to close the gap
16:51
with assets to kind of build a new team as they offload what is going to be a historic
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cap charge now for the dolphins.
17:03
When you consider they had $90 million in dead cap coming into today and then trade Jalen
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Waddle for presumably $28 million dead cap charge.
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So they lose $12 million in cap space per what the most recent reporting was.
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And then they're going to have $54 million in dead cap when Tutu at Tonga Veloah comes
17:28
off the books plus another $10 million in dead cap for Bradley Chum.
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They are going to have $174 million in dead cap on a $301 million cap.
17:47
Now I'm not a math guy but I do have my calculator here, 174 divided by 301 that's 58% of their salary
17:56
cap this year is dead money.
17:59
You want to talk about flushing the system and it was always about 200 million that they
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were going to have to offload in some way shape or form between this year and next year
18:08
with mature contracts like Hill and moving off of Tutu and Bradley Chum and James Daniels
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and what was left over from Jalen Ramsey when they moved on from him last summer.
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It was always kind of going to be ugly.
18:23
And kudos to them for getting what they got on the front end of it.
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Now you got to hit your picks that's all this boils down to.
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If you don't hit your picks this is going to be a mean ugly nasty year and it might
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be anyway even if you do hit on the picks but at least you got assets to work with.
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I don't love trading Jalen Waddle.
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Use probably my favorite player on the team but I said on the squad show yesterday I'm
18:48
not in the business of getting married to individual players and I'm not a Jalen Waddle
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I am a Jalen Waddle fan but I'm a dolphins fan first and foremost and the operation of
19:00
the team if you're going to be congruent on what you say you do and how you move I appreciate
19:05
the fact that they held out they got a deluxe price for a wide receiver they moved on
19:10
from as a part of the process to diversify the skill set in the wide receiver room and
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they're going to build through the draft and they're clearing the books in a dramatic
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I don't know what the on field product is going to look like.
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Got a few more thoughts bring us home let me start the break make sure you guys stick with us.
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shout out everybody on the youtube channel if you're listening to the podcast feed it's great to
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have you guys back after we had some feed issues with a couple of the shows on lockdown last week but
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about 800 of you guys can currently in here live on the youtube channel on a Tuesday at lunch
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shout out to you guys I do thoroughly enjoy the community that we have built here on
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lockdown super cool to have moments like this that happen and be able to kind of hop on and
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and digest them together right so if you're a podcast listener and give some consideration
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to youtube channel and subscribe and that way you can join us next time when we party in the life
21:01
as far as we went through some of the wider seavers that are available in this year's class
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I think my favorite bit when you try to triangulate and take coordinates of
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where they're probably projected to get drafted what their skill set is I really like Omar Cooper
21:24
from Indiana he's like not really in the conversation for the top 15 which is where the dolphins
21:29
were picking like that's kind of the carnival tape Jordan Tyson McIleman's stratosphere the draft
21:34
for wider seavers this year man if Omar Cooper makes it to you at pick 30 I would really really like
21:41
that fit for the dolphins he six split 200 pounds the Todd McShay comp is bigger Jarvis Landry
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and he ran pretty fast I think it would he ran a 44
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you sure you get the exact numbers right yeah he ran he ran a 442 right and that was the
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thing about juice and that's why juice was there in the second round was because he ran like 47 at his
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pro day Omar Cooper ran 442 at six foot 200 pounds you want to know what he's about you go watch
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the game winning touchdown catch against Penn State the body control the toe tap ability that's
22:27
kind of like Jalen Tolbert has that same ability in him to get the feet down but I think when I
22:37
look at what Malik Willis's skill set brings to the table you're no longer looking at a precision
22:47
timing 2.25 second passing attack right there's some of that there's quick game that exists
22:55
with the Packers offense that Malik is operating but the rapid separation element that was so much
23:04
necessary after watching the hot mess express that the early two dolphins offenses were with
23:14
Davante Parker and Preston Williams and trying to fit to it into that mold with guys that didn't
23:19
really separate if you have a guy that can create a little bit the initial separation element
23:24
to the offense and of the wide receiver position does kind of I don't say takes a back seat because
23:33
guys who get open and catch the football are the number two the top two most important things
23:37
a wide receiver can do but I do reflect on how important it was with a timing based offense as
23:44
compared to a guy that can get outside the pocket a guy that can create some things and now like
23:49
that some of that peripheral vision football IQ and feel and feel for space and adjustments body
23:58
adjustments and catch rate like those things can give you a little bit more kick back with a guy
24:04
who can create outside a structure and I'll say this you know not just two of but when two
24:09
did get outside the pocket that offense last year was horrible with guys moving and working
24:15
the space you get to they I don't think they worked on it a single day in practice just watching
24:21
two it gets outside the pocket and guys kind of guys on the backside stop and guys that are down
24:27
field just keep going like two has got the club in the bag to get it down there in the first place
24:32
he was rough watching on film and that when you got outside a structure and that was not just
24:37
a two a thing that was an everybody thing so I think that element of the offense is going to have
24:44
to cover for some of the drop off in what Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle were as separators
24:53
I gotta digest this a little bit more I got on I gave you guys my this is my Jordan flu game moment
24:59
because I'm physically ill because of how much I love Waddle as a player but I get it I do
25:07
but I'm gonna go process this do some more content I was just getting ready help to head out
25:11
the door to the gym so I appreciate them for not waiting until I got outdoor and was in the car
25:16
and halfway to the gym before the news drop that was cool so we could circle the wagons and talk
25:20
about that's gonna do it for me here on today's episode emergency podcast episode of Lockdown
25:26
Dolphins I appreciate each and every one of you who stopped by those of you who are tuning in
25:30
after the fact is you wanted to rebuild you got to rebuild gang we are officially in
25:36
tear down rebuild from the studs mode we're there now you know we we got a couple cornerstone
25:42
players to work with but by and large blank slate and it's up to solid to build it
25:49
I'm out here keep it locked in here lock them Dolphins your team every day