Kaspers Korner

The Miami Dolphins have the first pick in the up coming National Football League draft later this month.  Already the Dolphins have confirmed that there are problems with the draft, since no team wants to trade up.

Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga indicated that teams are not interested in moving up to the first spot, according to the Miami Herald.  Indicating that there is no clear cut number one pick this year.  In addition to that Huizenga said, “the top four or five picks — a lot of teams aren’t willing to spend the money to move up. This is one of those off years where no team really wants to move up.'’

That is exactly the problem with the draft.  The top player in this years draft will almost get just as much guaranteed money as the top quarterbacks in the league.  Eventhough, they have never played a down in the NFL.

To make things worst the problem cannot be addressed till the league, and the players union sit down at the table to work on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The only other solution is that the Dolphins can let the time expire intentionally, and let teams go first.  The only problem is that the guy they might want might be selected by another team.

In the end Huizenga said it best himself on their situation, “it’s important not to make a mistake, because it could screw up your whole program.'’ “If you pay $35 million to a person who does not work out, you are stuck with that for five or six years, which means you can’t get rid of them — which means someone else could be there taking the money. We always pay to the cap. We’re not trying to save money. It’s a matter of being prudent in putting money in the right place.”

In the end if the Dolphins are going to get out of the NFL basement any time soon they have to hit on their pick.  IF they do not then they will be in the top five of the draft for many years to come.

Bill Parcells is now in control of the Miami Dolphins.  However, it will be the input of Dolphins quarterback coach David Lee that will most likely decide the fate of the Dolphins number one pick.

Lee before joining the Dolphins was the quarterback coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  According to the Miami Herald Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo credits his development as a quarterback to Lee.

Quarterback John Beck, who was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round in last years draft, stated that he has received more individual attention this offseason than he did all of last year.  Beck sited that being the third quarterback on the depth chart as the reason.

Beck went on to say this about the increased attention, and his development, ‘’Now, it’s been nice because we’ve been able to focus a little bit of time on me. Coach Lee definitely has helped me. I’ve made a lot of strides since the end of the season in some smaller detailed things.'’

This is huge for Dolphin fans in regards to the upcoming draft.  If Lee feels that Beck will be a quality quarterback in the National Football League, then Parcells, along with the rest of the front office, will decide on another position to take with the first pick.

What could also influence the Dolphins choice at number one is what happens to defensive end Jason Taylor.  Taylor on Saturday in an interview pretty much shot down all the rumours that have been going around.

So, in the end what will happen in regards to the draft with the Dolphins? 

With Beck progressing, and Matt Ryan not a clear cut number one a quarterback will not be taken by the Dolphins.  Also, running back is out of the question with the Dolphins having Ronnie Brown, and Ricky Williams on the roster.

If you have been looking at mock drafts then you know it will come down to between offensive tackle and defensive tackle, and maybe defensive end if a player takes a lower guaranteed contract.

in the end looking at Parcells history I would not be surprised if the Dolphins grabbed a defensive player, especially a defensive tackle.

The Miami Dolphins this past season was the worst in the league, and part of the reason was the fact that running backs Ronnie Brown, and Ricky Williams were hurt.  Even with that in mind the Dolphins are seeming to enter the season with them two as the top running backs again.

According to Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “All signs point to the Dolphins not using any of their first three draft picks on high-profile running backs such as Arkansas’ Darren McFadden or Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall.”

Fialkov a little later did go on to point out that Parcells has a history of getting quality running backs in late round picks. 

Still the matter of fact that the Dolphins are not going into the season without an emergency play is dumb.   Also, and in preparing for the possible departure of Ricky Williams, whose contract expires after this year, you have a receipe for disaster.

The Dolphins do have a lot of holes on their team, but the Dophins have a much easier schedule this year facing the NFC West.

Obviously, Parcells is relying on his ability to get a running back in the late rounds to fill the void at the third running back spot. 

The matter of the fact is that picks panning out in the late rounds is like finding a needle in a haystack.  The only team that has made a knack of finding picks in the late round is the New England Patriots.

Dolphins fans are right to be skeptical about the teams ability to turn it around.  After all this is a team, as SI’s Peter King pointed out, that does not have one player on their roster from their drafts earlier this decade.

So, in the end how can Dolphins fans have hope that the scouting staff wil get the job done.

The Miami Dolphins had the worst record in the National Football League last year.  With it now comes being in the worst situation of having to give a draft pick $30 million in signing bonus money, and not being able to get out of it.

It has become unanimous that there is not one clear cut number one draft prospect in the upcoming draft.  That means that teams will not be willing to trade up into the number one spot.

Miami has the undoubious job of having to rebuild completely from scratch.  Their front office has done so horrible of a job that no player remains from one of their drafts from eariler this decade. That means that they are pretty much an expansion team right now.

If this was several years ago the Dolphins could trade out of the spot, and get multiple draft picks.  Now, agents have pushed the asking price of the first pick so high that teams are reluctant to even want to be in that position.

As John Clayton stated in an interview on the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN radio, “Teams would be willing to trade up if there was a clear cut number one, but there is not that this year. So teams will not want to trade up to the number one spot, because of the bonus money that they have to give out to that player.

The difference between the number one draft pick and the number eight draft pick is almost $20 million, eventhough there is not much of a drop off.  That pretty much means the Dolphins are screwed.

They will have to tie up a large amount of their cap in a player that has never played a down.  The money should go to resigning of players, and free agents. 

Even Bill Polian agrees with this thinking in a statement he made at the Combine according to NFL.com, “The draft was designed to either allow the weakest teams, based on record, to choose the best players, or if they chose not to take a particular player, to gather a bunch of picks to further accelerate their growth and competitiveness.”

So Dolphins fans buckle up it is going to be a long time before the Dolphins are back into the playoffs. 

The Miami Dolphins since Bill Parcells has cleaned house, and continued that with the release of linebacker Zach Thomas.  Now, what will happen to Jason Taylor?

According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.com the Dolphins released Thomas today.  That means that the only significant veteran left is Jason Taylor  Whose days are obviously numbered now.

With Taylor pretty much on the way out also one has to wonder where he will go, and for how much.  An obvious fit would be the Giants if defensive end Michael Strahan calls it quits.

Strahan almost called it quits last year, but decided to comeback.  Now, with a Super Bowl Trophy in hand one has to ponder what is holding him back from calling it quits.  Most likely money due to a divorce.

Taylor would obviously want to go to a winner.  The other question is would Bill Parcell even let Talyor have any say in the matter.  Parcell is a no nonsense type of guy, and Taylor could wind up somewhere he does not want to go.

Things should get interesting in the verteran market as teams seem to be sliding more to the drafting rather than building through free agency.

The Miami Dolphins fired head coach Cam Cameron shortly after the season.  Since then rumour has spread like wild fire that Dallas Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Sparano will be the Dolphins next head coach, and thus leaving it hard for them to find minority candidates to interview.

The Rooney rule states that when any of the 32 National Football League teams have a head coaching vacancy they must have at least one minority candidate interview for the job.  So far the Dolphins haven’t interviewed any.

They have so far only interviewed white candidates, and the black candidates have pulled out.  It also seems that they do not have one scheduled in the near future.

Their next interview is expected to be Tenessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.  Who is a top candidate with many others.

If Miami does not comply with the Rooney rule then the Dolphins should have their first round draft pick this year ripped from them.  Pffenders Not following rules for racial equality should be severly punished.

Spy gate is nothing compared to a violation of the Rooney rule.  The rule was set up for the simple purpose of giving a minority a chance  Hey after all you never know what will happen.  The candidate might just blow the team away.

Newy hired Dolphin Bill Parcell should know better than anyone about following the rules.  He is one of those old school hard nosed my way or the highway guys.

The fact is that the NFL does not need all the bad plublicity of a team going against the Rooney rule.  After all they have big enough of a head ache with Tony Romo and Jessica circus.  Along, with all the bust cops have been making of NFL players.

Good luck Miami trying to find one.  Being a Bills fan it will be fun to watch squirm around out of this mess.