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I am with you Sup, I do not get the belief that Talib is in line for a big contract. First the Dolphins overpay for players on a regular basis, look at their signings last season, so with that considered Grimes contract should be assessed in context with who gave it. The Dolphins are not a team that sets the market for UFA. Not to mention Grimes is worth more than Talib, he is just as good as a player, comes with none of the baggage and unlike Talib, he proved he could remain healthy.
More than that, I really do not understand what has changed from the 2013 UFA period when Talib received a 1-year $5 million contract to this impending UFA period. Did he play well last year? Absolutely but Talib has played well many times in his career, he compiled 11 interceptions and 26 pass defends in 2009 and 2010 combined, this play in 2013 was not a first. Despite that we were able to acquire him for a fourth round pick in 2012 and sign him for $5 million last offseason. Injuries are still a concern, and character concerns are still an issue, after the Hernandez situation, nobody is going to put any stock in the fact that nothing bad is being said about the player and assume the character issues are no longer an issue.
I think best case scenario Talib is looking at 3 years for maybe $6.5M per season, I would be shocked if the deal was any longer or cost more than $500K more per season than that.
I agree with you that MIA paying Grimes may not have as much bearing on the Talib deal as most people think. As you stated, we've seen them overpay for many players before. Another aspect to consider is that most had Brent Grimes as a pretty clear cut #1 CB in the free agent market, so thinking that Talib will receive 1--1.5 million less per year may be quite reasonable.
I have no idea what he'll get here or with another team, but I'd be a bit surprised if it was in line with Grimes' money myself. I had been suggesting something in the 4/22 (plus incentives) range up to 4/25 or so. That was before Grimes signed his deal though, so it's possible that another hungry and desperate team may decide to overpay a bit and try to go up another couple million.
Of course, there's always the possibility that Belichick may feel the same way and go up to the higher 20's on a 4 year deal just as well--especially if incentives are included. The good news is that we'll know soon enough, but in my opinion the "real" free agency period starts Saturday as you'd have to be naive to think that deals aren't getting done ahead of time. It's actually how I believe Amendola was signed last offseason by us, even if you can't do it formally and legally for another 72 hrs. I think that this legal tampering period has just opened things up 3 days earlier myself.











