Amid the doom and gloom arising from the failure of the bill that would have given Miami-Dade County residents the ability to vote on public funding for Sun Life Stadium upgrades, the Dolphins have taken another step toward erasing the doom and gloom arising from their recent won-loss records.
On Sunday, the Dolphins inked former Falcons right tackle Tyson Clabo, which presumably means 2012 second-round tackle Jonathan Martin will remain on the left side and any further efforts to trade for Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert will be abandoned, barring season-ending injury to Martin or Clabo.
In his first comments as a member of the Dolphins, Clabo explained that he instantly was attracted to the Dolphins once the Falcons unexpectedly cut him.
“When I was released and became a free agent, one of the first things that we wanted to find out was, who had interest,” Clabo said in comments distributed by the team. “Once we found out who had interest, I sat down and I said, ‘What team do I think has use and is on the move upward in the league?’ and Miami was right there on the top of that list and so we decided that this was the place for us.”
Clabo, who comes from a consistent contender in Atlanta, sees significant potential in Miami.
“We made some big moves in the off-season and in free agency, the draft looked like it went really well, you never know but it seems like there is some talent,” Clabo said. “The young QB with a lot of upside and I just felt like we could make some noise.”
As Clabo sees it, the Dolphins are basically getting the same guy who made it to the Pro Bowl in 2010.
“I’m a pretty tough critic on myself and I don’t feel like there has been much drop in my play to date,” Clabo said, “so I am just going to continue to take care of my body and try to continue to play at a high level.”
The Dolphins need Clabo, Martin, and the other three starting offensive linemen to play at a high level in order to maximize the production of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft. And to keep him upright and in one piece.