Phinsider on Anthony Fasano, Phillip Merling

A couple days ago, we passed on Phinsider's review of Chad Henne and Akin Ayodele. Today, we present their thoughts on Anthony Fasano and Phillip Merling.

The Fasano review is quite favorable. Here's an excerpt:

"In my view, the acquisition of Fasano was a great move by the Dolphins because he's a low-risk, high-reward kind of player. The Dolphins only spent a 4th round pick to get both Fasano and Ayodele. And Fasano is only getting $975,000 total over the next two seasons. So there really is no downside to his acquisition."

The Merling report sounds promising as well:

"Regardless, it seems more and more like Merling is not here to be an eventual replacement to Jason Taylor or Joey Porter at outside linebacker. And I didn't think he would be considering he isn't really fast enough to. He's more of a run-stuffer, which is great because that's something the Dolphins desperately need. In fact, most draft analysts believed that Merling was the best run-stopping defensive end in this entire draft, making him an ideal fit for a 3-4 defense."

With each passing day, I'm growing more and more confident in the Dolphins' chances next year. When you consider the cupcake schedule and breadth of improvements, the word "Playoffs" doesn't seem so out of the question. That's pretty remarkable.

Dolphins Trade 4th Rounder to Dallas

The only question remaining about the Dolphins and Cowboys ongoing relationship is which airline they're flying: American or Southwest? Both have pretty decent Dallas-Miami transit (I'd bet on Southwest...these trades seem boarded like cattle calls). Just to remind you, Bill Parcells, head coach Tony Sparano, and Jeff Ireland all came from Dallas while Zach Thomas went to the Cowboys, and those are just the stars.

The deal sends linebacker Akin Ayodele and tight end Anthony Fasano to Miami for a 4th round pick. Want to know more about these players? Phin Fever breaks it down as well as can be done. The comments at FinsNation seem pretty supportive too. And at Phinsider? Matty likes the deal so much, he thought he was being pranked when texted about it.

My thoughts? I absolutely love this trade. Right now, the Dolphins need serviceable players, and Parcells landed two for one. It's the best value he could possibly get for a 4th round pick, and it stands as yet another glowing moment in the Bill Parcells' Miami Dolphins legacy.