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Taylor, Fins dancing to different tunes
Posted on Mon, Mar. 10, 2008
BY ARMANDO SALGUERO
asalguero@MiamiHerald.com
AL DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor has had 24 1/2 sacks the past two seasons combined.
A week before his national television debut on Dancing with the Stars, Jason Taylor is doing a delicate and artful dance with Bill Parcells and the Dolphins.
Taylor, the Dolphins' best and highest-profile player, would like out of Miami, according to two sources. But those and other sources say Taylor knows he has no choice but to play for Miami if the team decides not to hang the exit sign on his locker.
The call, simply, is not Taylor's to make.
Taylor knows the decision is in Parcells' hands. And he knows the Dolphins, losers in the Calvin Pace sweepstakes, might ultimately decide keeping him is in their best interests.
And so the dance of two dissimilar desires has begun.
Taylor is tied to the Dolphins for two more seasons, as required by his contract. That means no matter how much he would welcome a change, it is up to the Dolphins to let him go, and the team has made no public or private concession that it will unlock the front door and either trade or release him.
Fact is Parcells vehemently has denied a report suggesting the sides had ''graciously agreed to part ways,'' insisting the only way Taylor doesn't play for the Dolphins is if he retires.
Taylor's response to that stance has been to say nothing because he doesn't want to anger or embarrass the Dolphins.
Unlike DeAngelo Hall, who went to the scouting combine to lobby for a trade, unlike Chad Johnson, who publicly signaled to Parcells to call the Bengals and get him out of Cincinnati, Taylor is not ready to make any public plea for his escape -- at least not as of Sunday.
Taylor has post-NFL show business aspirations, but he has decided to perform what could be his final Dolphins act behind a curtain of civility and grace.
STAYING QUIET
Taylor's representative, agent Gary Wichard, has convinced him it wouldn't serve their interest to confront the Dolphins publicly because an upset Parcells is nothing if not unpredictable.
And so the sides dance.
Taylor, one source said, doesn't want local fans to think his open-armed welcome of a trade or release would be a commentary on South Florida. Taylor mostly has loved his time with the team that plucked him out of tiny Akron in the third round of the 1997 draft.
He made friends here. He met his wife here. They formed a family here.
If the Dolphins hadn't been such a disaster last year or seemed capable of competing this year -- not necessarily for a Super Bowl but for a playoff run -- Taylor might not consider finishing his career in another town.
But the truth about today's Dolphins is they don't have a proven starting quarterback, they don't have a left tackle, they don't have a left guard, they don't have a healthy starting running back or a proven tight end.
They do have a rookie head coach, a rookie general manager and play in a division in which they didn't win a game last season.
So the Dolphins, in short, don't seem to have much of a chance.
And Taylor wants to be on a team that does.
ANOTHER HOLE TO FILL
The Dolphins might counter that trading Taylor would add just another position to their litany of needs. Losing the 24 ½ sacks Taylor has brought the past two seasons without replacing them is not exactly a great way to improve a roster.
And so the sides dance.
At 34 years old in September, Taylor has more NFL Sundays in his past than his future. He knows his time is short. Each loss has become more painful. Each season has become more urgent.
This comes at the same time Miami's urgency to win now is diminished rather than heightened. The Dolphins are starting a rebuilding project for the second consecutive year. Their coming season will be about laying another foundation rather than winning a title.
So the Dolphins and Taylor are on different courses. And their dance continues.
Taylor has hinted he would welcome playing for a contender, even if it meant leaving Miami. The last time it happened followed the midseason Chris Chambers trade to San Diego.
''Chris just picked up three wins overnight,'' Taylor said, comparing Miami's record and San Diego's at the time. ``He might get a chance to get to the playoffs. He can't be too upset about that. I don't think anybody would be.''
Now Taylor, for all his professional and philanthropic local ties, would welcome a similar move to a playoff contender. But the reality is only Bill Parcells can make that happen.
So the two must somehow get in step. Start the music.
Posted on Mon, Mar. 10, 2008
BY ARMANDO SALGUERO
asalguero@MiamiHerald.com
AL DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor has had 24 1/2 sacks the past two seasons combined.
A week before his national television debut on Dancing with the Stars, Jason Taylor is doing a delicate and artful dance with Bill Parcells and the Dolphins.
Taylor, the Dolphins' best and highest-profile player, would like out of Miami, according to two sources. But those and other sources say Taylor knows he has no choice but to play for Miami if the team decides not to hang the exit sign on his locker.
The call, simply, is not Taylor's to make.
Taylor knows the decision is in Parcells' hands. And he knows the Dolphins, losers in the Calvin Pace sweepstakes, might ultimately decide keeping him is in their best interests.
And so the dance of two dissimilar desires has begun.
Taylor is tied to the Dolphins for two more seasons, as required by his contract. That means no matter how much he would welcome a change, it is up to the Dolphins to let him go, and the team has made no public or private concession that it will unlock the front door and either trade or release him.
Fact is Parcells vehemently has denied a report suggesting the sides had ''graciously agreed to part ways,'' insisting the only way Taylor doesn't play for the Dolphins is if he retires.
Taylor's response to that stance has been to say nothing because he doesn't want to anger or embarrass the Dolphins.
Unlike DeAngelo Hall, who went to the scouting combine to lobby for a trade, unlike Chad Johnson, who publicly signaled to Parcells to call the Bengals and get him out of Cincinnati, Taylor is not ready to make any public plea for his escape -- at least not as of Sunday.
Taylor has post-NFL show business aspirations, but he has decided to perform what could be his final Dolphins act behind a curtain of civility and grace.
STAYING QUIET
Taylor's representative, agent Gary Wichard, has convinced him it wouldn't serve their interest to confront the Dolphins publicly because an upset Parcells is nothing if not unpredictable.
And so the sides dance.
Taylor, one source said, doesn't want local fans to think his open-armed welcome of a trade or release would be a commentary on South Florida. Taylor mostly has loved his time with the team that plucked him out of tiny Akron in the third round of the 1997 draft.
He made friends here. He met his wife here. They formed a family here.
If the Dolphins hadn't been such a disaster last year or seemed capable of competing this year -- not necessarily for a Super Bowl but for a playoff run -- Taylor might not consider finishing his career in another town.
But the truth about today's Dolphins is they don't have a proven starting quarterback, they don't have a left tackle, they don't have a left guard, they don't have a healthy starting running back or a proven tight end.
They do have a rookie head coach, a rookie general manager and play in a division in which they didn't win a game last season.
So the Dolphins, in short, don't seem to have much of a chance.
And Taylor wants to be on a team that does.
ANOTHER HOLE TO FILL
The Dolphins might counter that trading Taylor would add just another position to their litany of needs. Losing the 24 ½ sacks Taylor has brought the past two seasons without replacing them is not exactly a great way to improve a roster.
And so the sides dance.
At 34 years old in September, Taylor has more NFL Sundays in his past than his future. He knows his time is short. Each loss has become more painful. Each season has become more urgent.
This comes at the same time Miami's urgency to win now is diminished rather than heightened. The Dolphins are starting a rebuilding project for the second consecutive year. Their coming season will be about laying another foundation rather than winning a title.
So the Dolphins and Taylor are on different courses. And their dance continues.
Taylor has hinted he would welcome playing for a contender, even if it meant leaving Miami. The last time it happened followed the midseason Chris Chambers trade to San Diego.
''Chris just picked up three wins overnight,'' Taylor said, comparing Miami's record and San Diego's at the time. ``He might get a chance to get to the playoffs. He can't be too upset about that. I don't think anybody would be.''
Now Taylor, for all his professional and philanthropic local ties, would welcome a similar move to a playoff contender. But the reality is only Bill Parcells can make that happen.
So the two must somehow get in step. Start the music.
