Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross Pleased With Team's Offseason Moves

[SteveRobWhatever]

Dolphins owner Steve Ross was so pleased with his team's offseason he joked that General Manager Jeff Ireland, whom a large segment of the team's fans wanted fired 90 days ago, got a favorable vote in a local newspaper's approval rating. "That's a heck of a turnaround," Ross joked of a Palm Beach Post poll, which has less than 10 percent of 2,000 voters opting for the Ireland's "Pathetic and needs to go now" option of the four answers. That's the effect a productive draft - which featured the selection of quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the first round, and two former UM standouts in pass rusher Olivier Vernon and tailback Lamar Miller - will have on a disgruntled fan base. "It was all according to a plan we had, [one] Jeff put together with our coach," Ross said about the team's stance that Tannehill had more upside than quarterback Matt Flynn, who signed with Seattle instead of the Dolphins. "Everyone was looking at the runoffs." Ross is referring to the premature assessment of the team's overhaul in March, when the Dolphins weren't active in free agency, which prompted a fan protest outside the team's Davie facility. "You can see how things are starting to come around," Ross said. "I'm excited about it. The response from the fans has been excellent. We had a great draft and the team has a lot of good prospects."

Source: Sun-Sentinel