Adieu Joey Porter?

The blogosphere hive is swarming with the 99.9 % (according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel) chance that Joey Porter will be cut before the March 4th deadline.  Is Miami in danger of losing the baddest, loudest mouth on the east coast since T.O. fell into the abyss that is Buffalo? 

Now that several seasons have passed since Joey was a Steeler, the prevailing opinion is that Mike Tomlin cut him due to his attitude and not because of concerns about his injuries.  He came to Miami to become an anchor to a team in desperate need of some attitude and spunk.  Sometimes he was fun.  Calling the Patriots cheaters and promising to decapitate Brady made football fun and gave the Fins much needed airtime.  Sometimes it was humiliating....such as when he called out the Pats and then failed to register a single tackle all afternoon.

Mostly this past year he has just been silent.  Blame the defensive scheme if you want, but Mr. Porter has been more of an honorary captain this year than a football player.  He is angry about losing his double locker and locker room dominoes game.  I'm sure Parcells is angry that Porter refused to come off the field on third down situations and had to be benched for making the team look foolish due to his aforementioned boasts in the direction of AFC rivals. 

Porter is 33 and not really doing his job.  As a captain, he presided over a defense with abyssmal records against tight ends and did not lend much support to a young and untested secondary.  His refusal to come off the field cost Jason Taylor his chance at a great homecoming.  So what's the debate?

The players love Joey.  His fire and bravado have inspired them in times of uncertainty.  Weak coaching in the past and the loss of confidence after a 1-16 season were supplemented by the strength and confidence of number 55.  The fans love Joey.  He is the big, mean, dangerous beast we are enthralled by as couch potato fans.  Adding Joey to the equation gives it a heightened element of danger.  Does Parcells think these intangibles are worth the 1.5 million dollar roster bonus he's due in March?  Probably not.