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Miami Dolphins | Sun-Sentinel Blogs

excerpt:

Dolphins General Manager Randy Mueller addressed the media for the first time since the start of the free-agent signing period at the NFL owners' meetings in Phoenix last week:

Q: How difficult has the Olindo Mare situation been?

A: "Well, obviously Olindo has been a vital cog for the Dolphins for a lot of years. We're going to do what's right. But we're also have to do what's right for the Dolphins. He's a valued commodity for some and we're going to do what's best for us. That's just part of the business."

Q: Can you talk about the David Carr situation?

A: "We're going to always explore all of our options and try to get into a position where we can say yea or nay on any deal. Any player that's on the street now we're going to investigate and try to formulate a decision about does he make us better. So we're in the process of exploring anybody that's on the street and if you want to throw David Carr in there, he's a guy we'll investigate. But I can't tell you if we'll be interested in him."

Q: Was signing Joey Porter a sign that you're not rebuilding?

A: "This business is changing and evolving into a reshuffling of your roster almost every year. I think you see change as part of the landscape in the NFL. So we're no different. Obviously we decided to make some changes. But we're definitely not considering that to be rebuilding changes. We're reshuffling. And we need change. We were 6-10. We can't sit pat on that hand. So we plan to make the right decisions to make us better and give us the best chance to win come September. That's all a process. We're a month into free agency and we're preparing for the draft. There's a lot of ways we think we can continue to improve our team when we do that."

Q: What's your approach with the No. 9 overall pick?

A: "We’re trying to prepare ourselves for that pick whether it’s at 9 or whether we move up or down. Those are all issues we’re going to deal with as part of the process over the next month. The plan for what we would do on draft day is evolving, every day it kind of changes. Our coaches are out at some workouts; they are studying a lot of tape. Our college guys, college scouts, are out at a lot of workouts. I’ve been at a lot myself. We’ll all come back together here in a couple of weeks and then try to formulate what has changed and put that information that is new into the mix – and then we’ll have a plan. But we really won’t have a clear picture until that week or maybe 10 days before the draft or what is going to be there at nine and then we’ll explore our options from there."

Q: What's your plan for Daunte Culpepper?

A: "I don’t know now. I know Cam has talked a little bit about that. Our plan is to get him healthy, and I think we’re making strides in doing that."

Q: Do discussions with other teams about their QBs bode badly for Culpepper's future in Miami?

A: "I don’t think so. We’re trying to get better, whether it’s at quarterback or offensive line or receiver, we’re trying to get better. Anything I would say about the quarterback situation is really speculation at this point and I don’t think it benefits anybody. I do know this, if Daunte is healthy he’s a really good player in this league and that’s a proven fact.

Q: But that’s the big question . . .

A: "We all would like to see a crystal ball for what’s going to happen with a lot of our players. I guess time will tell."

Q: How would you assess how you've done in free agency thus far?

A: "It’s a process that takes time. I don’t think we’ll know the success of our off-season until next October and November because what we do in free agency is coupled with what we’ll be able to do during the draft."

Q: How similar is this situation with the one you inherited in New Orleans?

A: "When we got to New Orleans it definitely was a rebuilding type atmosphere. I don’t think that’s the case here at all. I think we have a nucleus of a pretty good team or some semblance of it. We obviously elected to make some changes and we’ll know down the road. The two are dissimilar in that this organization has a tradition of winning and has done it for a long time. When I got to New Orleans they have never won a playoff game so it was a different atmosphere."

Q: Where does the team sit relative to the rest of the division given New England's success in free agency?

A: "I would rather win during the season than win on paper during the off-season. We think we’ve made some good, sound football decisions that have started us down a road that we think we’ll be successful. I can’t really grade the other teams or what they have done because there situations are totally different than ours."

Q: What’s your philosophy on the draft?

A: "I would hope you’re picking the players as you value. In other words, it’s always great to fill a need but a lot of mistakes have been made with reaching to fill a specific need. Ideally, you’d like the best player to be at your position of need. That’s what we’re shooting for, but again it’s about options and seeing what your options are when you’re on the clock."

Q: Can you talk about the Dolphins’ current left tackle situation?

A: “We think we have some options. Obviously, [Anthony] Alabi finished the season playing some at left tackle. Vernon [Carey] has some experience playing left tackle. L.J. [Shelton] has experience playing left tackle. I think our key is to find the best five at the right position. We’re not ready to play a game tomorrow. We have some options currently and hope to add to that at the right time if something presents itself to make us better.”

Q: What is the primary need for the Dolphins?

A: “We have a lot of needs to get better as a team. We’d like to increase our team speed. We’d like to come up with some play-makers out of our group. But we also know we have a few guys on our team. Chris Chambers has been a play-maker in the past. Ronnie Brown has shown signs of being a play-maker. We saw David Martin on film being a play-maker. There are some things there we have to work with. But as far as needs, we’re looking for the best players who fit with our scheme.”

Q: What's your reaction to losing free-agent WRs to other teams in the division?

A: “That’s all part of the process. That’s all part of free agency. That’s all part of having options. We all could choose to pay everybody top dollar and get everybody if we thought they were good business decisions. We think we have made good business decisions and I think that’s a plus for the Dolphins, believe it or not. We’re going to be fine in a lot of areas come September.”

Q: What would you say to a Dolphins fan who is worried about the offense?

A: “Well, for one thing, we hired a coach who we believe in that has an offensive system and a plan in place that I think is going to improve us in that area. Obviously, that’s Cam strength. I’m going to kind of let him take the lead in that regard. Sure, we’re always going to look to get better players to improve ability wise. But hang in there, we’ll be OK. I think we all believe in what we’ve seen Cam and his coaches do in the past. We’re going to add what we can personnel wise, but I think the scheme is a proven, solid scheme.”

Q: How are you guys doing cap wise?

A: “We’re in great shape. The good news about what Matt (Thomas) and Bryan Wiedmeier and all of us have tried to do cap wise is we’ve tried to be in a position to let football decisions stand on their own. We’re in a good position in that the football part of the improvement on our roster can stand by itself and not have to be tied to any cap implications. We’re not up against it to have to make any decisions. We’re in good shape cap wise.”

Q: Would you share the thinking behind cutting Randy McMichael?

A: “I don’t know if I really need to go into it. We elected to … players have a certain structure in their contract where you invest money for short term, for long term. Obviously, we had to make a decision on Randy because he had a big contract payment coming up. Again, it’s all about options. We felt like we had some options.”

Q: Is Manny Wright back in the fold?

A: “He’s been back working out, I know that. That’s all I know. He’s been in the program. I think his attendance has been good.”

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