Jeff Ireland gets extension from Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland looks on prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins are 3-0 and certainly have the talent to keep things up and make the playoffs this year, but I wonder if making this move was too soon. According to a league source close to the Miami Herald’s Adam H. Beasley, the Miami Dolphins have extended the contract of General Manager Jeff Ireland, who has been criticized plenty by the fan base.

But Ireland’s early returns on a spend-heavy offseason have been big, despite the fact that Dustin Keller was lost for the entire season. The Dolphins signed wide receivers Brandon Gibson and Mike Wallace, added right tackle Tyson Clabo in order to ease the loss of franchise tackle Jake Long, they decided to add upgrades at linebacker in Philip Wheeler and Dannell Ellerbe to more than replace departed players, they re-signed under-appreciated (on a national level, because I know Dolphins fans give him his due) safety Reshad Jones, and the ‘Fins also replaced Sean Smith with a more reliable No. 1 CB in Brent Grimes. This also doesn’t include the Miami Dolphins draft, with the most prominent pick clearly being the aggressive move to trade up and take uber-athletic Oregon Ducks star Dion Jordan.

Those moves did cost plenty of money, though, and there are some legitimate criticisms that can be made (like giving Mike Wallace that kind of a contract). But by and large, Jeff Ireland did an excellent job bringing in a lot of talent to Miami, and Stephen Ross and Ireland certainly did make the team better, more exciting, and achieved their goal of adding more playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Per the Miami Herald, Ireland’s new deal will take him “at least” through the 2014 campaign, but no details have been made available yet beyond what has been reported. Ireland’s current deal would have ended following this season, and I don’t think Ross really ever wanted Ireland to leave.

Ireland has done an incredible job with the team through this past offseason, and the Dolphins are 3-0 coming off of a huge victory over the Atlanta Falcons. This team definitely looks like a playoff team, so Ireland does deserve an extension on those grounds. The issue, though, is whether or not this was too quick of a reaction, and I agree with that line of thought. While it looks like Ireland was on track to get his extension, I think the Dolphins should have waited a bit before making the move.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter for more NFL updates and analysis @SorianoJoe. Be sure to like us on Facebook here and follow our site on Twitter as well.