Will Allen Extension-Red Flag Or Something To Cheer About?

A very strange signing by the Miami Dolphins yesterday.  Actually, they simply extended the contract of Will Allen to the tune of 16.2 million, including $10 million guaranteed.  I have a few angles and ways to look at it.

The first is a red flag.  The Dolphins are going through mini camps and OTAs, perhaps they have detected already that both Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are going to take some time to groom.  Instead of starting, perhaps both of them are destined to watch behind Will Allen, Eric Green, and even Jason Allen who is still with the team.

One would hope that this is not the case and I would say this has a small percentage of a chance of actually being true, however $10 million in guaranteed money has me irate as a fan. Why you ask?  Because this team needs an established big time wide receiver to come in and not only stabilize the position but also allow Ted Ginn Jr to work out of the slot or at worst line up as the WR2 opposite the field.  Miamiwatched T.J. Housh, T.Holt, and L.Coles all sign elsewhere.  They didn’t make a move for Anquan Boldin and several of these players expressed interest in coming to Miami. 

The other way to look at this is the one I am hopeful for.  And that is the idea that Will Allen becomes a free agent after this year so rather than take a chance of not retaining him they simply spent the money now and save the franchise tag for other players like possibly Anthony Fasano and Ronnie Brown who both are in the last year of their contracts.  Allen will help both Davis and Smith grow which will pay huge dividends down the line after he leaves the Dolphins. 

Miami has its work cut it for them with looking up Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Lee Evans, and Jerricho Cotchery.  All of those WRs will face Miami twice so it is more likely that the Dolphins are loading up so they can keep pace with these guys.  Let’s hope keeping Will Allen in the cuts even at the age of 31 will strengthen the defensive backfield for Miami and allow them to continue their march to the 2009 NFL Playoffs.