In a 3-4 the NT is the most difficult position to fill. It's part of the reason many teams have gone with a 4-3, where the most critical position is the MLB. Decent MLB's are easier to find that good NT's.

Some great replies here. I actually feel better about the Tender now. Good points made.

Your right, Belichick does use that tag frequently doesn't he?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2011 12:19PM by TreasurecoastPhinsfan.

Treasure, I agree with you about it being a concern. It is more then a concern, it is a ticking time bomb, I am giving the team the benefit of the doubt until, after the CBA is signed and players resume playing. If SOlia takes a snap on opening day with this contract still in place, we are doomed in the locker room IMO. SO lets see what happens. But no matter hos you slice it, Solia does not deserved to be paid in the top 5 on our team against the cap. Maybe somewhere between 6-9. Currently he is number 1 salary cost this year. We need to take care of Cameron Wake, and if you dont dont do that, but you pay this guy twenty times what Wake is making each game check, Can you say "Houston, we have problem......"

It is the nature of professional sports that players get paid more than market value at some times and less than market value at other times. We could certainly say that Soliai was underpaid in 2010.

Right now, franchising Soliai was the only way to guarantee that the Phins keep him. Do they want to pay him $12 million every year? Of course not, but the current CBA situation limited their options. So either a long term deal will be struck at some point prior to the 2011 season (if there is a 2011 season) or Soliai will be forced to play his butt off in 2011 in order to get a long term deal. Either way, keeping him is better than losing him. Think about it - keeping Soliai means that this team has one less hole to fill in what looks to be a difficult off-season to acquire FAs. And that would be a big hole to fill. As has been pointed out, the NT in a 3-4 defense is extremely important. You simply don't let a very good NT just walk away.

As for Wake, if he fails to perform or becomes a complainer because Soliai got a big contract then he is only hurting his own market value. He just needs to focus on being productive in 2011. His payday will come.

Are you nuts! Cameron Wake is probably the best player on our team. You let Solia pound sand before you lose Wake... I could honestly care less if we lost Solia. He is not the best NT in football, yet Cameron Wake is probably the best pass rusher in football, TO replace Cameron wake you probably need the 1st pick in the draft and some luck, to replace SOlia, you hardly need that. Now if you say we get SUh, I would pay him 12 million all day and you would need a top 2 pick...

I didn't say anything about losing Wake. I said Wake's "payday will come" - meaning that it would come with the Dolphins. My point is that he should keep performing and not worry about another player's contract. He'll be a free agent after 2012. My guess is that he will get a huge extension before the 2012 season if he has a big year in 2011.

I understand Northeast, I just dont see the value that the rest of you see in Solia. He was 11th on the team in tackles with 33, and he had 2 sacks and a couple Qb hits. I just dont see how in the world this FO, justifies itself and to the rest of the team, placing a Franchise tag on those type of numbers... And everyone act like he is the greatest thing to happen to our team. He is a position player that for part of the year held down his position....
WHere Suh as a rookie, had 66 tackles and ten sacks... You guys are acting like Solia played like SUh did last year.... Dont rewrite history guys... SOlia played a bit better then average, but because it was a perceived worry and hole after moving Starks back to DE, everyone is overstating it.

Not to mention, WHen you have a guy rushing around and controlling the edge like Wake it tends to make a NT look better.

In a 3-4, the run defense starts with the NT controlling the line of scrimmage. Not many guys can do that. Soliai did a great job of that last year. That's not necessarily reflected in his own stats because his job is to free up other players to make tackles.

Also, I wouldn't compare Soliai to Suh. Suh is a unique force on the field. However, I believe he plays in a 4-3, which does tend to be a defense where a DT can put up more stats.

I understand the difference in the position but as you know Solia played in the 4-3 with as well quite often. Our defense is a hybrid, we really play both. I understand the NT in the 3-4 takes on more double teams then DT in the 4-3

Problem with Wake is he will be 28 or 29 he is getting up there in age, I mean look at Porter, at 33 he fell off BIG time. Wake has about 4 great years in him, 5 max. Thats one big pay day,then back to the drawing board with another elite pass rusher.

Solai has about 5 to 6 years of solid play. I agree though we need to keep Wake satisfied, but I also believe we couldnt do anything else but tag Solai, and take care of one problem already.

I also bet that most players on this team new that this was the only solution right now, because of the pending Lock out, and that we as fans are reading to much into this, because we are on the outside looking in.

Ok here you go
TOny Mcdaniel DT- 36 tackles- 2.5 sacks 4 QB Hits
Paul SOlia DT- 39 tackles- 2.0 sacks 2 QB Hits

DO you think DT Mcdaniels deserves anywhere near 12.4 million?

Didn't McDaniel play a lot of DE last year?

He played DT in the 4-3, and NT in the 3-4, so did SOlia,

I like McDaniels, his biggest nock is his size, hard to get around a guy that is 3,4 inchs shorter, setting up under the pads.

McDaniels is to tall to play 3-4 NT, unless he bulked up like 40 pounds.

He is a nice Hybrid, and on obvious passing plays, can really help out because of his height.

McDaniels is very nice!!! Just because the Franchise Tag is at such a high price I think players realize that, and that obviously drafting a NT isnt a priority this year and with pending lockout, what you gonna do???

When Odrick went down after already losing Merling, he might have taken some snaps at DE during that time, but the majority of his snaps were as stated above.

I had forgotten all about our highest draft pick last season, Odrick! Man I hope he comes back with a passion.

I think the soliai signing is good for this team. Didnt we stunk against the run until he started playing well?

When soliai was playing well we were really good against the run.

his signing was a neccesary evil. We'd be screwed if we needed to find a new NT for this year---they are nearly impossible to find, and last year proved Starks was not up to the task. We need to build the team and move forward, not constantly play whack-a-mole with the problems, fixing one, creating another, fixing that, etc.

Worst case is Solai plays like crap and is overpayed for this season. If so we let him go next year, or resign him for less. I think eventually he gets a more cap-friendly long term deal (which given his history could be dangerous, since if he has his $$ for the next few years, he could get lazy again)

I thought i brought up Solia in the CBA, but I understand it is hard for Phinfans to read my post and get me at the same time...
ANyways we had to do it, because NT, is a coveted position and Solai coming up as a unrestriced freeagent in the coming weeks would be horrible for us, The Jets and others looking to play the 3-4 or hybrid would have been all over him. THis way we have time to negotiate a decent deal with the right incentives and use the franchise player money almost as his signing bonus so it doesnt hurt as bad as perceived... At least that is my read, anyone with in 4 years they coveted had to be signed or tagged, THigpen wasnt coveted...

Soliai finsihed 2010 ranked 15th in tackles for loss for all positions and NO other NT in the league had as many tfls as Soliai.

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