Dolphins Bring out the Antique Cutlery Against Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons will visit Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Thursday night to face the Miami Dolphins and their brand spanking new quarterback Jay Cutler.
The Atlanta Falcons will visit Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Thursday night to face the Dolphins and their brand spanking new quarterback Jay Cutler. Well, not so much ‘new,’ but you get the idea.
Freeman at last, Freeman at last, Thank God almighty Devonta Freeman at last
The Falcons can kick the preseason off with a peaceful mind and a clear conscience now that the team and running back Devonta Freeman have come to terms on an $8.25 million, five-year contract extension. As a result he’ll earn $8.25 million per year – compared to the measly $1.8 million he would have gotten according to his rookie deal.
Freeman confessed back in January that he was “struggling” with his role in the Falcons’ offense, and just last month he was all but ready to allow himself to be wooed by other teams. Fortunately, general manager Thomas Dimitroff finally decided to cough up the dough.
"“Everybody’s happy,” Freeman’s agent, Kristin Campbell said. “I’m so excited for him. He’s excited to be a Falcon for life. He loves the city.”"
It’s safe to say that she “showed him the money!” in the parlance of our times. However, although the Falcons’ offensive core – including Freeman, running back Tevin Coleman, wide receiver Julio Jones, and of course quarterback Matt Ryan – remains in effect, the offense as a whole is still a bit of a question mark. A question that new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will only begin to answer tomorrow night against the Dolphins.
Journeys end in Cutler’s meeting
Unlike former Jaguars offensive tackle Branden Albert, Jay Cutler managed to successfully pull the un-retirement. The Chicago Bears unceremoniously released arguably the greatest quarterback in franchise history in May. The following month Cutler announced his retirement, seemingly resigned to his fate as a (shudder) FOX Sports analyst.
As chance would have it, though, Ryan Tannehill’s potentially season-ending injury opened the door for Cutler and former Bears offensive coordinator and current Dolphins head coach Adam Gase to be reunited (and it feels so good). Cutler signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Dolphins on Monday. Somewhere – presumably a South American jungle – Colin Kaepernick must be seething. Cutler split first-team reps with Matt Moore on Tuesday, and did not disappoint Gase.
"“[He] remembers basically everything with the offense,” the coach said via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “Basically for him, it’s just kind of getting that feel with the [pass] rush. It’s one thing to throw routes on air and one-on-ones, but to get in there and be able to take some reps with the line in there and to be able to see everything develop and our players’ body language and how they run routes, that’s the biggest difference for him.”"
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Cutler added that his arm felt “fine.” He missed most of last season with a labrum injury in his throwing shoulder. Cutler also said that in a few more days he would be back to a 100 percent.