Dolphins working on a trade for offensive tackle Branden Albert

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Branden Albert trade won’t happen unless he lowers his price
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 21, 2013, 6:46 PM EDT
Branden Albert AP

The much-discussed potential trade of Branden Albert from the Chiefs to the Dolphins doesn’t appear likely at the price Albert is currently seeking.

Although the Chiefs and Dolphins can probably agree on compensation — the Dolphins sending a second-round pick to Kansas City — the hangup is that Albert wants the kind of money that the Dolphins aren’t willing to spend. Specifically, according to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, Albert wants between $8 million and $9 million a year on a long-term deal.

In other words, Albert is looking for the same kind of contract that left tackle Jake Long got from the Rams — the very contract the Dolphins wouldn’t give Long, which is why he left Miami for St. Louis.

If the Dolphins weren’t willing to pay Long that kind of money, it’s hard to see why they’d be willing to give up a second-round draft pick for the privilege of paying Albert that kind of money. So the Dolphins may need to look elsewhere for a left tackle. And Albert may have to settle for playing this season for the Chiefs, making $9.8 million, and hitting free agency next year.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by Wonton Prejudice

Agreed.

Albert also was among the league leaders in fewest hurries allowed!

Where was the post that showed how many snaps of the season Albert was on the field for. You posting the amount of run plays and pass plays is nice, but Albert wasn't on the field 100% of the time.

I don't hate Albert at all, I just don't love him like apparently you do.

[RunKC]

Wonder if Clay will make a bet about Alex Smith since he's so confident that he sucks ass.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Wonder if Clay will make a bet about Alex Smith since he's so confident that he sucks ass.

Don't even bother. No point making a bet with Clayton Welcher.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Wonder if Clay will make a bet about Alex Smith since he's so confident that he sucks ass.

It's funny. When Smith really sucked, he advocated picking him up (or even trading for him, I don't exactly remember the thread).

Smith actually plays well the last 2 years and now Smith is awful.

[Mecca]

This is funny as **** shit, I cannot believe this team is going to use the 1st overall pick to stay the same and save money and that's perfectly fine to some. Do you know how stupid that is?
Posted via Mobile Device

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Mecca

This is funny as **** shit, I cannot believe this team is going to use the 1st overall pick to stay the same and save money and that's perfectly fine to some. Do you know how stupid that is?
Posted via Mobile Device

I think some of us do.

Others... not so much

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Mecca

This is funny as **** shit, I cannot believe this team is going to use the 1st overall pick to stay the same and save money and that's perfectly fine to some. Do you know how stupid that is?
Posted via Mobile Device

Already to the acceptance stage of grief. **** it now.

[RunKC]

And here's another viable question. If Albert is so good at pass blocking, why was he ranked as the 17th best LT in the league on PFF?

I'm pretty sure they use averages for to compare all players.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Wonder if Clay will make a bet about Alex Smith since he's so confident that he sucks ass.

What about that Albert bet?

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Sweet Dick Willie

Herm didnt hit all the time. But you have to wonder if Tank and Turk could have become something under competent coaching. Carr was ALL Herm, ALL day. That goofy mother****er can pick him some D-backs.
Posted via Mobile Device

For sure, if I was an NFL team I'd give him a draft consulting fee and simply have him do a breakdown on his board for DBs and their draft spot value with the hopes of snagging a gem in the later rounds for a possible steal. The guy knows how to eye NFL DBs regardless of what school or level of competition they played in college.

Who knew or spotted Carr before the draft? And, while many pointed to the flaws in Pollard, he's done pretty well for keeping himself in demand on some pretty damn good defenses.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by RunKC

And here's another viable question. If Albert is so good at pass blocking, why was he ranked as the 17th best LT in the league on PFF?

I'm pretty sure they use averages for to compare all players.

From PFF

Friday, April 19th

Chiefs Give Dolphins Permission to talk to Branden Albert’s Agent

At its core, the prospect of Kansas City trading Albert to the Dolphins makes sense; the Dolphins need a quality left tackle as the thought of entering the season with Jonathan Martin there is worrying while the Chiefs’ front office seems to have soured on Albert so much they feel taking a tackle with the No. 1 overall pick is a good option. There’s multiple parts to this particular jigsaw but as it all centers on Albert let’s start there and examine just how good he is.

Despite my protestations to the contrary I’ve seen many people quote our stats to the effect “Albert is PFF’s 25th-ranked tackle in 2012 or 17th-ranked left tackle”. This paints him as a mid-tier player and as such not a huge upgrade on Martin. I think that’s taking our work out of context and not fair on Albert who I personally feel is a much better player than that.

If you, like I, assume pass blocking is the most important part of a tackle’s job and rate players in that order he becomes the 11th-rated tackle and ninth-placed left tackle. Further, when you dig into our advanced normalization data (we don’t have this on the site but it takes account of teams whose quarterback gets rid of the ball quickly, giving them an unfair advantage) he becomes the sixth tackle with only Joe Thomas, Russell Okung, Michael Roos, Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Clady ahead of him. As for his run blocking, it’s always been a little disappointing for an ex-guard but not problematic and similar to those other tackles I’ve just mentioned with the exception of Okung who is better than the rest in that regard.

On that basis Albert should be looking for a contract similar to the one Will Beatty signed before free agency at $7.5M per year. He’s a better player than Jermon Bushrod who got $7M from the Bears and although he has better history than Beatty doesn’t have Giants upside or ability as a run blocker so something equivalent is equitable. I’m sure the Dolphins would prefer to only give up a three in exchange but a two is probably a fairer reflection of his worth.

So for Miami, if they can get Albert for the above, still have a No. 1 pick to bolster their defense and shore up the biggest weakness on the team, the deal would be a good one but what about Kansas City?

This is where I struggle with the whole thing frankly. The Chiefs are a very talented team who but for a perfect storm of issues shouldn’t have been close to the first pick in the draft. They now have that golden opportunity and seem to be on the verge of using it to make a lateral move. I have no idea how good Luke Joeckel is or will become (or any of the other tackles for that matter) but I do know he is still just a tackle and tackles do not win games; particularly if you had a good player at that position anyway. Even if Joeckel becomes the best left tackle in the league, the difference between him and Branden Albert is probably five to 10 additional QB disruptions a year on 500 passing attempts – so a best case scenario gives you a 1-2% improvement – is that really great value?

With the rookie wage cap expect the first pick to save Kansas City maybe $2M a year on Albert, pick up at very best a marginally better player and net them a second round pick (which as we know from Khaled’s recent Draft Grader series, is still a lottery).

Call me wild, but for a team as loaded in many positions as the Chiefs, that looks like a singularly unambitious strategy.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blo...april-19-2013/

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by -King-

What about that Albert bet?

That Joeckel will be better than the 17th best LT on PFF next year?

Yes.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Mecca

This is funny as **** shit, I cannot believe this team is going to use the 1st overall pick to stay the same and save money and that's perfectly fine to some. Do you know how stupid that is?
Posted via Mobile Device

Exactly.

Trading Albert and taking Joeckel isn't much different that trading down from the first overall pick all the way down to the 12th pick in the second round and only getting 4 million in cap space as compensation.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by RunKC

That Joeckel will be better than the 17th best LT on PFF next year?

Yes.

That Albert will allow less sacks than Joeckel. I don't give a **** about PFF ratings which are pretty subjective. Let's go with concrete stats. Sacks, or hurries if you want.

[raypec85]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

What they are doing is (apparently) dumping Branden Albert and handing this guy, whoever it ends up being, an uncontested starting job. That tells me they must really think a lot of him. So why limit the expectations?

That they think a lot of the draft prospect they have in mind when measured against the other prospects available seems obvious, but that doesn't mean it's the only explanation. It could be a combination of factors, like that they don't think a lot of Albert at the LT position in Reid's system, that Albert is workable but not for the money he wants, that they don't like Albert's attitude, . . . There are other players who will have contracts coming due over the next couple of years like Houston & Asamoah. There is a limit to what they can spend. If they don't think Albert's worth what he wants they shouldn't pay it, especially not when other options are available that they might like more long term. They know they'll lock up a draft pick for the next few years. They have no such assurances with Albert. Maybe they want to get the online changes out of the way now and let them gel together. I'm no insider by any stretch but whatever they are there are likely multiple factors at play here rather than just the one factor of them thinking they're about to draft the next Willie Roaf.