Updated: Dolphins could have new GM in place by Monday
By Bill (@PhinNation on Twitter, PhinNation on Facebook)
The Miami Dolphins have been navigating the last few weeks of the offseason without a General Manager steering the ship. I’ll be honest here and tell you that a rudderless ship is still better than a ship that was sailing with the anchor (Jeff Ireland) in the water. Even though they don’t have a General Manager in place, the Dolphins still have a contingent of scouts at the Senior Bowl practices this week.
Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com
Curiously, neither Joe Philbin or any of the Dolphins coaches were in Mobile, Alabama. I say curiously, because most NFL coaches do attend the Senior Bowl. The rest of the coaches in the AFC East, for example, were all in Mobile. Joe Philbin is apparently hard at work with Bill Lazor and the other coaches to work on the Dolphins offensive and defensive schemes.
According to Armando Salguero, the Dolphins have narrowed down their list of candidates to 2-3 finalists. Those finalists are expected to be Ray Farmer (Browns), Lake Dawson (Titans), and Brian Gaine (Dolphins). By the way, I have to say that Mando has been doing a great job lately. He’s the only Dolphins beat writer that has sources with valuable information. Omar and the rest can talk about what happened, Mando has been talking about what’s ‘going to happen’.
The Dolphins are said to have reached out to all of the GM candidates last night to inform them of their status. They let the finalists know that they will be conducting interviews this weekend. Mando said in his blog post that the Dolphins could potentially have their new General Manager in place by the time Monday (1/27) rolls around. That, would be great.
The Dolphins almost certainly want to have their new GM in place by the time the Super Bowl is played next Sunday. Remember, the NFL offseason moves quickly, so the new GM will need to get in and gain a full understanding of what work has been done….and what needs to be done before free agency opens…and the draft.
What’s interesting to me is the quick change of story from the Dolphins. It was just earlier this week that we all thought that Stephen Ross was going to London and China for his real estate business. If he’s going to be actively involved in the Dolphins GM search, those plans must have changed.
Maybe the change in urgency happened when the Dolphins offered a finalist position to Jason Licht and he turned them down to take the Bucs GM job? Or maybe it was the reports that everyone at the Senior Bowl was talking about how dysfunctional the Dolphins GM search has been? For whatever reason, there seems to now be a sense of urgency (which should have been there all along).
By the way, if you want to talk some Dolphins, join JP, Daniel, and myself tonight at 9pm EST for our podcast. We’ll talk GM search, saying goodbye to Jeff Ireland, and start looking ahead to to the Dolphins offseason. Click this link and the show will begin at 9pm EST tonight. We’d love for you to call into the show and talk some Dolphins with us!
[UPDATE 4:30pm EST] According to Jason LaCanfora, Ray Farmer has declined a second interview with the Dolphins. So, he’s now the 5th executive to turn down the Dolphins. Ugh.
