NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

This off-season marks the third year now that the Dolphins have been under the control of the Trifecta, and it very well be the most important as well.

With the Dolphins front office mostly making their key acquisitions through the draft the past two years, the time is now to make an impact, make a splash, through free agency.

With the uncapped year becoming more and more possible by the second, it appears as if this could indeed be the Dolphins year to go out and add the needed veteran playmakers that can come in and fill some of the holes that need to be filled this off-season.

The Dolphins have succeeded in building a stellar nucleus for the future of the team, and to ensure that the Dolphins are contenders for years to come now.

But the time is now for the Dolphins to add the necessary pieces to propel the Dolphins not only into the first round of the playoffs, but into the pool of the elite teams in the NFL.

Remember folks, there is not only free agency this off-season. There is still a draft. There is still the ability to make trades on occasion. But the fact of the matter is that the Dolphins have not been pulling their weight in the past couple of years during the free agency period.

So it is not that I do not want to keep drafting young solid, players, and looking to build a young team. It is that I believe that to be a true Super Bowl contender, there must be an equal mix of veterans, and younger players. There absolutely must be the fine line where a team just is an overachieving team with youngsters, (the Dolphins 2008 team), and a team on the decline, that needs an injection of youth (the 2009 Patriots).

The Dolphins seem to be on the verge of finding the correct equation for the final answer, of a Super Bowl contending team. But can they make a splash in free agency this year, and show everybody, that they indeed, had the answer all along?

Although many of us probably saw this happening, it does hurt to hear that the Eagles have parted ways with Brian Westbrook. Andy Reid has said the following on the situation:

Brian is one of the greatest Eagles of all time and he is even a better person and leader. In my mind, there has not been a more versatile running back that the NFL has seen. I had a conversation with Brian this morning to let him know. This is by far the most difficult part of this job. We wanted to make this move now in order to maximize Brian's chances of landing with another NFL team.

A former All-Pro, the dynamic Westbrook led the league in yards from scrimmage in 2007 with 2,104 yards. He rushed for 1,333 yards and accounted for 12 touchdowns that season.

But he spent much of last season on the sidelines. Westbrook missed eight games with a pair of concussions and an ankle injury.

Westbrook had only two touchdowns in 2009.

He has rushed for 5,995 yards in eight seasons in Philadelphia and caught 426 passes for 3,790 yards. The 30-year-old Westbrook has accounted for 68 touchdowns rushing, receiving and on punt returns.

Looks like this is the year where teams are going to look to move top draft picks, as ESPN is reporting that the top four teams picking in the 2010 NFL Draft are looking to move their picks, that would mean St.Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay and the Skins:

With less than two months until the three-day NFL draft, teams already are looking at jockeying and dealing. Each of the teams picking in the top four come late April, St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Washington has discussed trading its pick and moving out of its spot, multiple NFL sources said Tuesday. While there are an abundance of teams looking to trade back, there is the usual scarcity of teams looking to trade up, which is why deals near the top of the draft are difficult to consummate.

The Patriots today announced that they have placed the franchise tag on nose tackle Vince Wilfork, meaning he’ll be with New England at least for the 2010 season. The move was done according to the team in an effort to continue negotiating a long-term agreement.

The team released the following about the move. “A long-term agreement with Vince Wilfork has been the team’s top contractual priority for some time. Unfortunately, despite numerous conversations and proposals, the goal has not yet been realized. Vince is a tremendous player for our team and remains a significant part of our future plans. It is because of Vince’s importance to this organization that we have assigned the franchise designation as we continue to work toward a long-term agreement. We are hopeful that Vince will remain a Patriot for many years to come.”

The 28-year old has been has appeared in 90 regular season games, including 80 as a starter, and has appeared in 12 playoff games with 10 starts since being selected by the Patriots in the first round (21st overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-2-inch, 325-pound nose tackle has recorded 449 tackles (257 solo) and 7.5 sacks for his career. The University of Miami product was selected by his teammates to be a captain in 2008 and 2009. The Patriots’ defense has finished in the top 10 four times in Wilfork’s six seasons.

Last season, Wilfork started 13 regular season and one playoff game at nose tackle and was elected to the Pro Bowl after leading the Patriots defensive linemen with 65 total tackles.

In an expected move, the Chargers today released running back LaDainian Tomlinson ending a nine-year run in which he became one of the NFL's greatest running backs. The move has been expected since the end of the season. Tomlinson had 730 yards on 223 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per carry, all career lows. Tomlinson was due a $2 million bonus in early March.

The 2010 offseason has caused Grabowskies across Bears nation to choose sides. On one side are those hoping for aggressive offseason player acquisitions to get the Bears back in the playoff picture. The other side includes those rooting for the folks at Halas Hall to maintain the status quo in 2010 so we can say "sayonara" to Lovie and staff at the end of the season.

After 3 straight playoff-less seasons, I've firmly entrenched myself on the first side. So if we're going for broke this year, here's the first of 3 moves I think Angelo and crew must make to put the Bears back in Super Bowl contention next year…

Trade 5-time Pro Bowl LB Lance Briggs.

Hear me out on this one. Briggs is the only player, besides Cutler, that the Bears could trade straight up for a 1st round pick (and maybe a mid-rounder too). So if that pick turns into a talented young defensive end or play-making safety, I think we green-light this baby.

And in Jamar Williams, we already have a big talent ready to step in and replace Briggs. He's a restricted free agent and it wouldn't cost the Bears a mint to extend him. Williams has proven himself in the playing time he's had – remember the 20-tackle performance vs. the Rams?

With a healthy Urlacher in the middle, Pisa or Roach on the strongside, and speedy Williams roving the weakside, the Bears would still have a formidable LB corps. And let's face it – in Lovie's Cover 2 scheme, an outside LB is probably the 5th most important position on the field after a pass-rushing D-end, cover-capable middle LB, ball-hawking safety and disruptive D-tackle…and you could argue we don't currently have any of those on the roster now. But a Briggs trade could deliver one over the short and long-term.

Or consider for a minute that we hold onto Briggs and the season goes in the tank – as many folks expect and wish – and Lovie gets fired. Then assume we bring in Cowher, who runs a 3-4 defense. How would Briggs' skills – honed by playing off the ball in open space – translate as a LB in a 3-4 scheme, where he'd either be asked to play in the middle of the action or take on an O-lineman rushing from the outside? Sounds like trade bait in 2011 to me…

There's no doubt parting with Lance would be hard…especially for Urlacher, who would be thrust into an even larger leadership role (along with Alex Brown). And I understand the risk of trading a proven performer for a draft pick that may or may not materialize.

Since leaving his Lamborghini abandoned on the side of a Chi-town expressway in the middle of the night in 2007, Briggs has been one of the most outspoken, stand-up players on the squad. But in this win or get canned year for Lovie and staff, I think the Bears have to shake things up rather than settle for more of the same thing.

Watch for the 2nd and 3rd moves of my offseason makeover in the next couple of days. Until then, I'll enjoy hearing you tell me how crazy I am…