Upon announcing Taylor’s extended hiatus from the team Wednesday, coach Tony Sparano stressed that he’d like to focus on the players presently participating in the team’s voluntary workout. The Dolphins did just that, inserting recently acquired free agent Charlie Anderson into what was expected to be Taylor’s starting spot.

But Anderson might be doing more than keeping the seat warm. This could be his opportunity to finally become a full-fledged NFL starter. Sparano points out Anderson has benefited greatly from the team’s offseason program and said he fits what the Dolphins are looking for in a pass-rushing specialist.

“We want guys with size, and Charlie’s a big linebacker with size that can really run,” Sparano said. “He was a heck of a special-teams player in Houston and you could see his athleticism. We just felt like this guy, given the opportunity, and that’s what this is, he is a player that can play with a little bit of burst and has size.”

Anderson isn’t the Dolphins’ only option to replace Taylor.

Akin Ayodele, who was acquired from Dallas with tight end Anthony Fasano for a fourth-round pick on the eve of last month’s draft, has started in the NFL as both an inside and outside linebacker. So has free-agent addition Reggie Torbor, who contributed 37 tackles and two sacks when he took over as the Giants‘ starting outside linebacker in the final nine games leading up to the Super Bowl.

Both Torbor and Ayodele where expected to compete with Channing Crowder for the two starting interior linebacker spots, but one could easily slide over.

“For me, I play all four linebacker position there are in a 3-4, so I’m versatile,” Ayodele said. “That’s part of my game. I can cover, and I can also play the run.”

Before this off-season I had no idea who Charlie Anderson was at all, Just another backup for an average team. But since coming to the Dolphins this off-season he has improved much and Sparano thinks he is the perfect man for the scheme we are going into. But the question that comes up is what to do with Torbor and Ayodele. Will they be rotating in and out of plays at ILB, with Crowder staying there full time or will one of them be put to the outside to compete with Anderson. As more Mini Camps come, the questions will be answered but at this moment nothing

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Well certainly he wants to be near Hollywood and the Chargers are as close as it gets. But do they have a need for him? They have Phillips and Merriman and Jason is not really a 3-4 Defensive End. They may rotate him in but who knows.

NFL Network’s Adam Schefter reports the Chargers have made inquiries to the Dolphins regarding Jason Taylor.
We’re not quite sure where he’d fit with Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman already at OLB, but GM A.J. Smith can never have too many good players. The teams also have a history of dealing (i.e. Chris Chambers, Cleo Lemon, and A.J. Feeley). The Dolphins’ asking price around the draft was a second-round pick. San Diego would probably be an ideal landing spot in Taylor’s mind.

A second round pick at this point is most likely pushing it. As Jeff Darlington and other Miami writers put it the most we have been offered is a 4th rounder, and there is no way Parcells and Ireland would give up a huge talent for most likely a backup player. But that report was denied.

The Dolphins have already denied an unnamed team’s offer of a fourth-round pick in exchange for Jason Taylor, according to the Washington Post.
Bill Parcells can do better. Taylor is aging, but should have at least one season of Pro Bowl-caliber play left in him. He says he’s in the best shape of his life after training hard for Dancing with the Stars. The Post notes that the Redskins are not interested in Taylor. The fourth-rounder may have been offered by San Diego.

The trading of Taylor is very much in the air and its really uncertain whether he will even be traded before the season starts. He maybe forced to play to earn his salary and lord knows he wouldn’t want to do that with Hollywood calling. But if anything new comes along it will be posted.

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Jason Taylor’s decision to forgo this weekend’s voluntary mini-camp looks to be the beginning of a long, long absence for the Dolphins star.

Maybe a permanent one.

Coach Tony Sparano said Taylor is not expected to attend any of the team’s OTAs, mini-camps OR the team’s training camp in July-August.

Sparano would not get into any details, including when he found out Taylor would be MIA.

Here’s what Sparano would say:

“I’m going to answer this question one time and I’m not going to answer another question about the Jason Taylor situation. Here’s what I know, and I’m glad we know this, we’ve gotten the information, that’s important.

“I know Jason isn’t going to be at any OTAs, I know that Jason isn’t going to be at any mini-camps and I know that right now Jason isn’t going to be at training camp. That’s what we know.

“Jason’s a player under contract with the Miami Dolphins. He knows that. Both parties are well aware of the information. That’s all I’m going to say about it. We’re going to talk about our players now.”

I realize some of you have given JT the benefit of the doubt for his decision to spend the off-season pursuing a career in show business.

He’s understandably built up a lot of goodwill for his performance on the field and his behavior off of it.

But this has to leave even the most dedicated fan of JT a little disillusioned.

Pretty much Jasons tenure with the Miami Dolphins is up as he has turned in his career with the Dolphins for either Hollywood or another team. So long Jason you were a great person but after this debocle it truely shows how big his ego is.

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The first day of mini camp for signed rookies and veterans was today and here are some stories that have some reports about it.

Here are some nuggets from today’s OTA practice, hot off the presses:

The biggest news is that John Beck is taking most of the first-team snaps at quarterback. But that’s just today. It does not mean he’s the starting quarterback — remember there will be a competition — because he and Josh McCown are splitting days taking first-team snaps.

In other words, Beck took first team snaps today, McCown will tomorrow, Beck will Friday and so on. Rookie Chad Henne, who is present despite being unsigned, doesn’t know the offense well enough yet to get thrown in with starters.

“This way is better than going back and forth,” McCown said of splitting first-team snaps day to day. “It’s better for continuity.”

Running back Ronnie Brown was on the field and working. Good news considering he is recovering from ACL surgery. But don’t go overboard here. A non-contact practice in shorts and no pads is not an indication Brown is ready for the season opener. But this is encouraging.

Safety Yeremiah Bell, injured all of last year with an Achilles’ tendon tear, is indeed working, and as a starter no less. So he is obviously healthy. Jason Allen is also taking first-team snaps.

Another player injured much of last year — cornerback Andre Goodman — is working with the starters ahead of Mike Lehan, who was the starter most of last year

Justin Smiley is working at right guard which leaves something of a hole at left guard. Look for Ikechuku Ndukwe as a dark horse at that spot — at least for now. Obviously, Trey Darilek and rookie Shawn Murphy are possibilities, also.

The Dolphins are making the most of their linebacker acquisitions. Reggie Torbor, Charlie Anderson, and Akin Ayodele are all looking like starters at this point. Obviously that doesn’t account for Jason Taylor not being here. That starting group is also joined by holdover Joey Porter.

Porter is still playing the strong side linebacker spot. Anderson is the weakside, or rush linebacker that Taylor would play if he were here.

Torbor (Giants) and Anderson (Houston) were acquired as unrestricted free agents. Ayodele came in a trade with Dallas.

Players predictably played down Taylor’s absence today.

“It doesn’t matter to me that he’s not here,” Porter said. “I’m not concerned about Jason. He’ll be here eventually and he’ll learn everything he needs to learn.”

The Dolphins have injuries they are nursing. The most disappointing is nose tackle Paul Soliai who was practicing at the end of last year but has somehow found a way to be not able to work today. Will try and report his injury later.

Other injured players sitting out work today are safety Renaldo Hill, tight end Anthony Fasano, and guard Steve McKinney. Linebacker Channing Crowder, who finished last season on IR after knee surgery, was on the field but was limited. That’s why he wasn’t in with the starting linebackers when they competed in team drills.

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It’ll be interesting to see what kind of leadership role all the former Cowboys take on this team, which one player joked has become Dallas east.

Do the returning veterans immediately take a backseat to Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele, Anthony Fasano, Nathan Jones, Keith Davis, and all the rest of “their guys.”

Vonnie Holliday admitted Wednesday that there’s plenty of “discomfort” around Dolphins-land, but he pointed out that’s a good thing.

“We were thinking about putting a star on the Dolphins head,” joked linebacker Channing Crowder, who will be part of a heated battle for one of two starting inside linebacker spots. “They brought in some guys who can play, since those guys came from Dallas they know these [players] can play. The Dallas guys I’ve seen out here are great. I’m excited to see what we’re going to do because they brought in a lot of great players, what, 20 or 30 guys?”

Quarterback John Beck took the first team snaps with the offense today, but it appears to be part of a rotation with veteran free agent addition Josh McCown. Rookie Chad Henne took a backseat to those two for now.

Click here to get an update on Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams participating in the OTA, to find out who is the starting offensive guard opposite Justin Smiley, who started in Jason Taylor’s place, and why Crowder’s participation was limited.

It appears the only person at Dolphins camp who cares that Taylor isn’t practicing this week is Bill Parcells, who watched every minute of the session from the field.

While Taylor might not have won Dancing With The Stars, he’ll probably walk away from the competition as the biggest winner.

At best Kristi Yamaguchi will probably end up doing DWTS competitions while Taylor’s at least doubled his exposure, and set himself up for a career after football. The least he’ll be able to do is become a football analyst on Sundays.

But since football is where he makes his money, and A LOT of it, it’s about time he sifts his focus, and that’s what management is waiting on.

Here are a couple of my observations from this OTA viewing.

None of the quarterbacks were sharp. None, but it takes time to get adjusted with new receivers.

Since we’re on receivers, Ernest Wilford is bigger than I expected, and he’s a smooth route runner. David Kircus is smaller than I expected, but he appears to have an extra gear and made one nice catch that caught my attention.

Jason Allen and Yeremiah Bell began the practice session as the start safeties. I have no idea if they are rotating in and out with Keith Davis and Chris Crocker like the quarterbacks are.

Andre’ Goodman was the starting cornerback opposite Will Allen, who blew by the media like Randy Moss blows by opposing receivers.

Ricky Williams looked good, real good. I know this is an OTA session without pads, but I would say it’s not a stretch to say he could start a game or two next season.

Matt Roth and Vonnie Holliday were the two starting ends with Randy Starks and Phillip Merling as their backups. I wasn’t paying much attention to most of the rookies but I saw Merling get pancaked by an offensive tackle (wasn’t 100 percent sure it was Jake Long).

Lionel Dotson is also working as an end, which was surprising considering I thought he’s be the nose tackle project. That appears to be rookie free agent Kory Robertson, but it’ll be interesting to see what Paul Soliai’s role is when he gets back from whatever’s limiting him.

Newly signed linebacker Keith Saunders caught my eye yet again. While he was working with the rookies and long-shot unit Saunders sacked Henne. Also standing out amongst the linebacker was Kelvin Smith, who intercepted a pass and ran it back for a decent return.

Edmond Miles and Kelly Poppinga we the inside linebackers on the scrub unit for those keeping count. I’m not exactly sure what role Smith will have. Is he inside or outside?

One player whose physique really caught my eye was offensive tackle Julius Wilson, and it kind of explained why this practice squad leftover was retained while most of last year’s borderline guys got the boot. I honestly don’t know how Wilson performed but it appears he’s put in the work to get his body right.

That appears to be all this new regime is looking for from “their” team, at this point.

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More as they come in

In addition, the team today signed three of their 2008 draft choices in running backs Jalen Parmele (pictured) and Lex Hilliard, as well as defensive end Lionel Dotson. All three signed multi-year deals. The Dolphins also signed center Matt Spanos as an undrafted college free agent. With tackle Jake Long, the Dolphins’ first-round draft choice and the top pick in the draft, having signed on April 22, Miami now has four of its nine-man draft class under contract.

Parmele was the first of three sixth-round draft picks by the Dolphins (176th overall). The 5-11, 225-pounder was a four-year letterman at Toledo (2004-07) where he finished his career with 3,119 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns on 589 carries (5.3 avg.). He racked up 1,511 yards and 14 touchdowns on 276 attempts as a senior when he was a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection.

Hilliard was the third of Miami’s three sixth-round picks (204th overall). He played four years at Montana (2003-05, 2007), during which time he amassed 4,016 yards rushing and 50 touchdowns on 806 attempts (5.0 avg.). The 5-11, 234-pound Hilliard was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection as both a sophomore and junior, and a second-team pick in 2007 when he accumulated 1,132 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 242 carries.

Dotson was the team’s seventh-round draft choice (245th overall). He played four years at the University of Arizona (2004-07) and appeared in 40 games with 32 starts in his career with the Wildcats. He registered 121 tackles, 14.5 stops for loss and 10.5 sacks over that stretch. He put together career high totals of 50 tackles, nine stops for loss and 6.5 sacks as a senior when he started all 12 games and was a second-team All-Pac-10 Conference selection.

Spanos was a three-year letterman at USC (2004-05, 2007). He played in 10 games, including nine starts at center, as a senior in 2007 when he was an All-Pac-10 Conference honorable mention pick. Born December 31, 1984, he attended Corona (Calif.) High School.

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Q. You have now been head coach of the Miami Dolphins for more than three months. From a personal standpoint, tell the fans what the experience has been like so far?

A. The experience has been fast and furious since I got here. I haven’t really had time to look back on it, but we’ve gotten an awful lot accomplished. Think about it. We put in a new system on both sides of the ball, and that includes a real emphasis on special teams. We had a draft, we’ve gone through free agency. There has been a lot of moving parts here, so it’s been really exciting.

A. I’m pretty much a bottom line guy. I don’t beat around the bush much with my players. I don’t think that’s the right way to do business. I try to be as straight forward as I can and develop a good relationship with my players. From a coaching standpoint, I’m a hard-nosed coach, yet I care a lot about the players and try to get them to communicate as much as they can.

A. I’ve been with Bill Parcells now for five years. Part of the process in Dallas and now here in Miami has always been to build this thing from the middle out. Big guys are hard to come by in our league. If you can get them and keep them, that’s going to be important for us down the road. Acquiring big guys who are athletic, getting them as strong as they can possibly be, and keeping them in house for a while, is going to be a big priority with this football team.

A. So many things stood out. His toughness was very obvious. So was his ability to learn. His athletic ability is something you clearly saw on film. But, more importantly, was the way he played, the way he went about his job. I thought by watching this guy he was someone who was unique at his position and someone I thought we had to have.

A. I see competition at a lot of positions. That’s something we really want here. We felt like in order for our team to be better this year and go on to be a competitive team right now we had to have competition on the practice field. Every position is up for grabs. We made no bones telling our entire team that. The veteran players who were on this team last year all know that at some point during training camp or during our off season practices they will have to show us what they can do, whether they are a young guy or a 10-year veteran. Competition will bring that out.

A. Age and experience will not be a factor in who will be starting on opening day. The guy who moves the team the best and gets this team in the end zone will be the deciding factor. I’ve been on both sides of this issue before, but the way I believe to do things is based on performance and success. Let me see who moves this offense the best and he’ll be our starter.

We need to see these guys out on the field and under the gun before we can make any final determination. But what I think we’ve done is provide three solid options out there, all of them knowing that they are competing against one another right now and that includes the rookie Chad Henne. Every one of those quarterbacks knows they have a chance to start here. I think that’s very important.

A. The reason I believe we’ll succeed is that we are bringing in players who we believe have the right make up, players that have the qualities to succeed in this league. I have also surrounded myself here with some of the best coaches that I could find. I think what we’ve done here in the offseason from a strength and conditioning program has been different from what they’ve done here in the past. All of those things we believe will provide results.

A. I don’t make predictions, but my realistic expectation is that we are going to be a competitive team when we get out there on the field and hopefully have a chance every week to win a ballgame. If you can give yourself a chance each week because of the margin of victory in our league, you have a chance to be successful. That’s all I can ask at this point.

A. It really wasn’t the plan going in. I think the plan was to see what our needs were. There happened to be some people out there in Dallas that filled our needs, people like Keith Davis and Akin Ayodele and Anthony Fasano. Of course, Jason Ferguson fit our needs from a defensive line position, another big body guy we knew a lot about. So it wasn’t really part of the plan going in, but as we grew with our plan we saw there were guys there that fit our needs.

A. It’s not imposing, but there are times when I’m sitting here at 10 o’clock at night and I think about that. It’s interesting because when I first came through the building I never thought in a million years that this was the office that Don Shula was in or any of that. Now that I sit here, it’s something that excites me. I like being a part of that tradition and that history here in Miami.

A. No it can’t come soon enough. I can’t wait to get to training camp. Right now when you have the players in helmets and T-shirts, you can see their athletic ability and you can challenge them from a mental standpoint. But you really can’t see where they are physically. All the work we are putting in during the off season program can only come to a head in training camp. That’s what I want to see. I want to see if we are a tough football team. So it can’t come soon enough for me.

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Offensive lineman Steve McKinney, coming back from a knee injury that forced him to miss most of the 2007 season, signed a contract Monday to join the Miami Dolphins.

The deal was confirmed by the office of McKinney’s agent, Tim Irwin.

The six-foot-four, 302-pound McKinney was a starter in each of his first eight NFL seasons, but after he allowed 9 1/4 sacks in 2005 he became a part-time centre for Houston. He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the Texans’ third game last year and missed the rest of the season.

On March 25 the Texans released McKinney, 32, who is still rehabilitating his knee. Once healthy, he’s expected to compete for playing time at guard or as a backup to starting centre Samson Satele.

The Dolphins waived guard Drew Mormino last week after he failed a physical. Following a 1-15 season in 2007, the Dolphins are revamping their offensive line under new head coach Tony Sparano, who was offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dolphins said they were not yet ready to confirm McKinney’s deal. He’s the older brother of Seth McKinney, was played centre and guard for the Dolphins in 2002-05.

McKinney will more than likely will be the replacement for Drew Mormino who failed his physical and was cut. We have no idea what Morminos role was going to be, on the Dolphins official site he was listed as a center which would make him the backup but most people knew him more to be a guard. We won’t see what his role is till training camp and nobody really knows what he is capable of.

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Well here comes that time when players start to guarantee things and start to talk about their team being amazing. And you would not guess who is talking, the newly acquired Jason Ferguson who will most likely be the NT in the 3-4. Heres a little snipit of what he had to say.

”No doubt about it, people misunderstand,” Jason Ferguson says as he drives home from another full day of offseason work at the team’s training facility. “Tony [Sparano] and Bill are not here to say, `OK, we’ll do a little better than we did last year and that’s our goal.’

“Our goal is the same as every other team in the league and that’s to win a championship. That’s our goal.”

Its pretty harmless because well hes not guaranteeing anything but until this quote we know he is really serious that he wants to get to the playoffs.

”We’re not far away,” he says seriously. “I’m not here to say this is a total rebuilding project. We’re not here to say, `We’re only going to win two or three more games this year and wait to win more next year.’

“I don’t have those kind of years left in me. My years are getting short now. I’m pushing for the playoffs this year.”

Now I know he doesn’t have alot of years left but I really cannot see playoffs and I am a diehard Miami fan. I mean, I think I predicted 8-8 last year and we were light years away from that. If Miami do make the playoffs next year call Ferguson a genius because I surely do not see it coming. The Dolphins still need to work on the secondary and receivers (which we still have to see if Wilford works out), and see if the QB problem finally resolves. We will put our faith in Ferguson and we hope he proves us wrong, its nice to see this out of new players and hopefully he has a monster year.

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Well here comes that time when players start to guarantee things and start to talk about their team being amazing. And you would not guess who is talking, the newly acquired Jason Ferguson who will most likely be the NT in the 3-4. Heres a little snipit of what he had to say.

”No doubt about it, people misunderstand,” Jason Ferguson says as he drives home from another full day of offseason work at the team’s training facility. “Tony [Sparano] and Bill are not here to say, `OK, we’ll do a little better than we did last year and that’s our goal.’

“Our goal is the same as every other team in the league and that’s to win a championship. That’s our goal.”

Its pretty harmless because well hes not guaranteeing anything but until this quote we know he is really serious that he wants to get to the playoffs.

”We’re not far away,” he says seriously. “I’m not here to say this is a total rebuilding project. We’re not here to say, `We’re only going to win two or three more games this year and wait to win more next year.’

“I don’t have those kind of years left in me. My years are getting short now. I’m pushing for the playoffs this year.”

Now I know he doesn’t have alot of years left but I really cannot see playoffs and I am a diehard Miami fan. I mean, I think I predicted 8-8 last year and we were light years away from that. If Miami do make the playoffs next year call Ferguson a genius because I surely do not see it coming. The Dolphins still need to work on the secondary and receivers (which we still have to see if Wilford works out), and see if the QB problem finally resolves. We will put our faith in Ferguson and we hope he proves us wrong, its nice to see this out of new players and hopefully he has a monster year.

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