Sunday, July 20, 2008

Jason Taylor Traded

According to ESPN.com, Miami Dolphins DE Jason Taylor has been traded to the Washington Redskins for draft picks. The 'fins recieve a 2nd rounder in 2009 and a 6th rounder in 2010. Wow.

This offseason has been full of drama for the Dolphins and JT. That has now come to an end. Taylor reportedly asked for a trade at the beginning of this offseason, and the Dolphins were originally looking for a first round pick. They didn't get that. They got what will probably amount to a good 2nd stringer and a guy who might make the practice squad.

As if there wasn't enough drama around Taylor, the Dolphins so far have failed to comment on the trade, even after the trade was announced. In fact, Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene stated that, "we're not prepared to confirm that." Jason Taylor said all the right things while saying nothing. "I love Miami (and) will always cherish my 11 years with the Dolphins," Taylor said in a statement. "Having said that, I'm looking forward to meeting with Mr. Snyder and getting to know my new coaches and teammates. I'm just proud to be representing our nation's capital as a Redskin." Well, the Redskin's don't mind commenting on it. And ESPN doesn't have a problem reporting it. And I don't have a problem saying the Dolphins might have the worst defense in 2008. Joey Porter and Channing Crowder don't scream leadership to me. Their most experienced DE right now is 4 year vet Matt Roth (who?). 2008 1st round draft pick (32nd overall) Philip Merling will probably have to play a cruicial role in the upcoming season.

Now I know JT wasn't exactly looking forward to coming back to play for the Dolphins. He's made it known he wants out (I still think he exaggerated his "brushoff" by Parcells to give him more reasons to be traded.) The question became would you want someone who doesn't want to be there, but a high caliber player on the field playing for you? Probably not, but he's been the Dolphin's face for years. You think Dolphins, you think Taylor. Trading him is losing the final piece of what used to be the Dolphins puzzle. Now it just looks like a 4 year old tried to tackle a 1500 piece jigsaw.

The Dolphins are going to have problems scoring points to begin with, unless one of our three backup QB's learns very quickly, or one of our five 3rd WR's turn into Randy Moss. Tack on a defense that might not be able to keep the points off the board, and we might be in for another long year. But look on the bright side, another high draft pick in 2009, plus an extra 2nd round pick, we might have a great college team next season. Then again, it's only July. I guess I should wait until at least October to throw in the towel.

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