Dolphins, Taylor should part ways -- but with class
So the Miami Dolphins tell us Jason Taylor won't show up for a mandatory minicamp next month. They say he won't be at training camp, either. And it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out he doesn't exactly figure in the team's plans this season.
I got all that from Miami coach Tony Sparano.
|
|
| Taylor has done much for the city of Miami and should be treated with respect. (Getty Images) |
They tried before the draft and failed, but that's because they were looking for a low first- or high second-round draft pick. No club was going to pay that for a defensive end who turns 34 this season and makes the money Taylor does.
But they might consider a third- or fourth-rounder. I know because I talked to one club Wednesday that said it thought either could clinch a deal for the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
But that's not the issue. This is: Somewhere out there is a team willing to take on Taylor for a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder, a fifth-rounder, I don't care. It doesn't matter. What does is that somewhere out there is a team that values this guy and wants him.
So make the deal, and end this nonsense because Taylor deserves better than having Tony Sparano make Taylor's absence at a voluntary minicamp an issue.
"I'm glad we know this," Sparano said on Wednesday. "We've gotten the information, and that's important. I know that Jason is not going to be in any minicamps, and I know that right now Jason is not going to be at training camp."
Well, no kidding. Sources close to the Dolphins tell me that Taylor has been pretty consistent with that message since the end of last season, saying he would prefer it if the Dolphins could move him.
And move him they tried -- only at an unreasonable price. It didn't work, but Taylor stayed quiet, refusing to pull a Chad Johnson. Instead, he went about his business, which was performing on Dancing With the Stars, while Miami's head of football operations, Bill Parcells, seethed in Florida.
And for good reason. The Dolphins' most popular player, their best player and one of the most popular players in the NFL stood up to him and said, no, as a matter of fact, he wasn't all that interested in being part of his program.
Normally, you'd think that would cause a club -- or a coach, GM or head of football operations -- to try to find a solution. I mean, this isn't a second-string tight end we're talking about. This is Jason Friggin' Taylor, for crying out loud, the heart and soul of the Miami Dolphins. So if you're going to make a break with the guy, you want to do it the right way.
Only a Scorched Earth Policy is not exactly what I had in mind.
