Jason Taylor traded to Skins!!!!!!

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamiherald.com/614/story/612906.html

A fresh start for Taylor in D.C.

BY JEFF DARLINGTON
Miami Herald

The cameras stopped clicking. The glitzy introduction had ended.

And now, in a much quieter moment, Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor was standing outside the doors of his new team's training facility Monday, about to hop into a gold Tahoe that would whisk him to a place where he would attend his first team meeting.

''I feel like we're sending you off to your first day of school,'' said Seth Levit, the person largely responsible for the success of Taylor's charitable foundation in South Florida.

''It's like you're back at Akron!'' joked Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard.

They all laughed. They all hugged. And even though each of them tried to make this into a casual goodbye, the way grown men like to do, it was clear that everyone realized this seemingly surreal scenario was actually so very real.

Taylor, who has spent 11 seasons as a household name with the Dolphins, had instantly become the newest face of a different franchise.

''This is very new to me,'' Taylor said earlier, as he stood in front of dozens of cameras and reporters during his introductory news conference with the Redskins.

The flashing cameras? The national attention? The bright lights that make his bald head bead with sweat? No, none of that is new. But this team -- and this feeling -- is something Taylor knows he's going to need time to get used to.

''This is my first time being on a new team,'' Taylor said. ``I haven't had to get a physical like that since the Combine [after college]. I felt young again.''

DAY TO REMEMBER

For Taylor, the rapid events of the past 24 hours had only begun to really sink in. After all, consider how Taylor spent his Sunday afternoon while the rest of his family was visiting in Dallas.

'I went and moved into the Dolphins' facility for training camp [which starts Friday],'' Taylor said. ``I organized my locker, since I hadn't been there for a while. I got all my shoes put together and all that. When I got home, I got a call from my agent.''

Strangely, just when Taylor took his first physical action toward accepting his future with the Dolphins he was simultaneously granted the trade he was hoping for.

''And now,'' Taylor added, ``those boxes are being packed as we speak.''

While Monday's news conference mostly could be characterized as Taylor's introduction to his new team (it took just more than a minute for him to point out the Redskins' three Super Bowl trophies resting in front of him), this also -- at times -- was about mending some of the perceived controversy between him and the Dolphins.

By asking for a trade, Taylor seemingly caused some fans to question his loyalty toward the organization. While he said he sometimes worries about that perception, he wants fans to eventually base their opinions on his entire body of work.

''From my point of view, there is no animosity,'' he said. ``That's home. Miami will still be home. I don't know anything about Virginia. This is my first time here. Miami is going to be home for me.''

So why did he want to leave?

''As an athlete, you want to win,'' Taylor said. ``The reason I play the game is to win, and I think the organization here and the Washington Redskins give me a great chance to win this year.''

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Taylor noted that his family will still live in South Florida, and Levit said Monday that Taylor's foundation will maintain its base in South Florida, although they also hope to expand to Taylor's new community.

Home, maybe. But no longer his home team.

After Monday's news conference ended, Taylor also took a moment to reflect on the past 11 years rather than simply look to his future. Because even though Monday might have been the beginning of a new challenge, it was the end of another.

''There have been so many great times,'' Taylor said. ``I still remember when Dan Marino said hello to me for the first time. I felt like a little kid. We've had some good games, some big wins. There's been so many great moments.

``This still hasn't totally set in yet, but this is bittersweet. I had 11 great years in Miami. That's home. But this is a new opportunity for me. It's a chance for me to write a new chapter.''

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-flspdolphins22sbjul22,0,171601.story

Who will fill void created when Jason Taylor left?

By Omar Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

11:53 PM EDT, July 21, 2008

Joey Porter has Jason Taylor's Pro Bowl pedigree. Quentin Moses' height resembles Taylor's lanky build. Charlie Anderson and Reggie Torbor have most of Taylor's athleticism. And Akin Ayodele has his good looks and charisma.

Combine those attributes and collectively these linebackers might help ease the departure of the Dolphins' top defender and face of the franchise for more than a decade.

At least that's the hope the Dolphins take into training camp, where one of the team's top priorities is finding a suitable substitute for the double-digit sacks the defensive end/ linebacker produced for six of the past eight seasons before his trade to Washington on Sunday for two future draft picks.

With Taylor on the trade market for most of the offseason, the Dolphins were proactive in finding possible replacements, and preparing to play without the six-time Pro Bowl selection. The offseason signings of Anderson, Torbor and Junior Glymph as free agents, and the trade that brought Ayodele from Dallas, provided some cushion that might help absorb Taylor's loss.

The Dolphins presently have six NFL veterans who have played outside linebacker, plus two undrafted rookie free agents in Keith Saunders and Titus Brown.

"We've got talent here. It's just about finding the best way to use it," Ayodele said.

Ayodele had a career-low 61 tackles last season, but the Dolphins liked him because of his versatility. He has started 76 games at both inside and outside linebacker, and will likely push for a starting spot in either place.

Whether it's inside or outside will likely depend on who steps up. He's expected to compete with Torbor and incumbent starter Channing Crowder for one of the two starting inside linebacker spots. The loser of that battle will likely enter the competition to replace Taylor, which started brewing during the workouts and minicamp sessions Taylor skipped this summer.

Anderson and Moses have filled in as the outside linebacker opposite Porter during the Dolphins offseason program, and like Taylor and Porter, both were college defensive ends who are being asked to become pass-rushing outside linebackers.

Dolphins executives Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland have had interest in Anderson since the 2004 draft. They jumped on the opportunity to add the former Mississippi defensive end by offering the four-year veteran a lofty deal the first day of free agency.

"It's always makes you feel good when you are somewhere where you are wanted. I feel good about the situation," Anderson said earlier this summer. "My mind is open on all possibilities, but I've been known as a special-teams stud and that's the minimum of what I plan to bring."

Moses contributed eight tackles and 1 1/2 sacks playing behind Taylor for the final eight games last season, but this former Georgia standout recently admitted he was primarily freelancing his rookie season. Now, his challenge is to prove he's what coach Tony Sparano classifies as an "up-and-coming guy" by mastering the new techniques he's learning as a linebacker.

Moses, a third-round pick who was cut twice in his rookie season, doesn't regret his early failures because he said without them he wouldn't have improved. And wouldn't be in this situation, battling for a starting spot.

"The mental part of the game was where I struggled. Last year there was a point in time when I was so low from being cut from Oakland, and released from Arizona that I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong," Moses said. "[My struggles] taught me to be mentally strong, and that's where I've had the biggest growth."

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/21/sparano_loss_of_jt_is_anderson.html

Sparano: loss of JT is Anderson and Moses’ gain

By Edgar Thompson | Monday, July 21, 2008, 11:02 PM

Coach Tony Sparano commented on the Jason Taylor trade earlier tonight during his weekly interview on 560 WQAM.

Sparano said after the Redskins lost of a couple of defensive ends to season-ending injuries Sunday during Day 1 of training camp, Vinny Ceratto called Bill Parcells to make a deal for Taylor.

“That’s how these things happen,” Sparano said.

Sparano said he, Parcells and Jeff Ireland pow-wowed and decided “the Redskins were offering good value, and we felt with that compensation that we might be able to continue to rebuild this football team.”

But as everyone knows, it was only a matter of time before the Dolphins traded Taylor.

In fact, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said earlier today on 790 The Ticket that the Dolphins also had been involved in talks with the Saints and Giants that could have landed Taylor in The Big Apple with the defending Super Bowl champions.

Trying to ignite a deal to get TE Jeremy Shockey, the Saints planned to offer a second- and fifth-round pick to the Dolphins, who would send Taylor to the Giants, who in turn would send Shockey to the Saints.

Shockey ended up with the Saints Monday for a second- and a fifth-round pick.

The deal shows either Parcells’ ability to wheel and deal or the Redskins’ inability to do so under owner Dan Snyder.

Shockey will be 28 on Aug. 18 and has an injury history, but he’s a playmaking tight end with the potential for several good years ahead. Taylor will be 34 on Sept. 1 and plans to be play two more seasons.

It’d be interesting to know what JT thinks of nearly ending up in the No. 1 media market with the defending champs.

Mortensen spoke as if Taylor didn’t know and the Dolphins didn’t want him to know. The Giants wanted to speak with Taylor, which Mortensen believes would have been a bad idea.

“Once you let a player get involved he controls the situation,” Mortensen said. “That was one of things in the mix.”

Mortensen said the Giants also could have asked to re-do Taylor’s contract, which will pay him a total of $15.5 million the next two seasons. “That’s the kind of thing that blows up a deal,” Mortensen said.

Taylor could have stepped in for Michael Strahan in New York and been on a Super Bowl favorite.

The Redskins could easily miss out on the playoffs. Mortensen sees the Skins are a .500 team, give or take two wins.

He said the Dolphins could finished with anything between five and eight wins.

In the end, the move allows a lot of people to finally look ahead to the season. But Sparano said he and his staff already were preparing for life without Taylor, who had 37 percent of the team’s sacks last season (11 of 30).

“We haven’t had Jason all along so our preparation as a coaching staff was being prepared to play without Jason,” Sparano said.

This has created plenty of chances this off-season and beyond for a couple of young players with potential, linebacker Charlie Anderson and converted defensive end Quentin Moses.

Sparano called Anderson and Moses “two guys we were excited to get a look at during the spring and are excited to get a look at as we get on with this thing.”

Anderson, 26, signed as a free-agent in March, following four seasons in Houston. He was primarily a special teams player there and had only three sacks when he did line up at LB.

But the 6-4, 245-pound Anderson might have the size and athletic ability to develop into solid 3-4 linebacker.

“This whole thing as has been about competition and opportunity,” Sparano said. “And here comes Charlie Anderson and he has a great opportunity in front of him and he’s willing to go out and compete, whether Jason was here or not.”

Sparano called Moses “an up-and-coming player,” a little more than a year after he was a third-round pick by the Raiders.

Moses, who is 6-5, 260 and was an All-SEC player at Georgia, failed to make the team; signed with Arizona and was released; and ended up with the Dolphins, appearing in seven games and finishing with 1 1/2 sacks.

Neither Anderson nor Moses will make anyone forget Taylor. But both seem to be intriguing prospects worth watching as the Dolphins rebuild.

Sparano said the JT trade should help the process along.

The Taylor trade frees up as much as $9 million in cap space, leaving the Dolphins with more than $20 under the cap. League rules require each team to spend 86.4 percent of the salary cap, which is $116 million this season, meaning the Dolphins have to make up around $5 million.

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-vonnie072208,0,3101183.story

Vonnie Holliday on Jason Taylor trade: 'I don't quite understand the move'

By Harvey Fialkov
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

10:34 AM EDT, July 22, 2008

Dolphins defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday, a friend and teammate of Jason Taylor's since 2005, doesn't know how the team will replace the six-time Pro Bowl stalwart.

"It's definitely going to be weird not having 99 out there," Holliday said. "He's a great player, a great friend. I'm certainly sad to see him go and I don't quite understand the move.

"I don't see how it helps us in the immediate future. If we were getting something today that'd be different.

"It kind of puts a little bit of taste in your mouth like the Chris Chambers deal four games into last year. What exactly are we doing? I can't wait to get back to find out, and hopefully they've got a plan to pull some rabbit out of a hat or have something up their sleeve to prove otherwise."

Taylor was traded to the Redskins on Sunday for a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/22/jason_taylor_can_drive_55.html

Jason Taylor CAN drive 55

By Ben Volin | Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 10:56 AM

ASHBURN, Va. - Jason Taylor is done with the Miami Dolphins, and he’s done with the number 99.

Taylor took the Redskins’ practice field Tuesday morning wearing an unfamiliar No. 55 jersey. No. 99 belongs to fellow bookend Andre Carter, who is now in his third year with the team.

Taylor said he contemplated making Carter an offer for his number.

New teammate Clinton Portis once paid $38,000 for No. 26, which Portis still wears. On the other end of the spectrum, former Phillies reliever Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams snagged No. 28 from John Kruk for two cases of beer.

Carter even joked Monday that he and Taylor could have a “dance-off” to determine the number’s rightful owner.

Instead, Taylor opted for a new number to go with his new city and new team colors.

“We talked about it briefly last night, and I told him I’d get back to him. He was open to it,” Taylor said. “I thought about it last night. I talked to my wife and decided that we’ll let 99 stay in Miami and start a new chapter up here.”

But why 55?

“I like double digits, and 88 is a receiver, and 77 is ugly, and 66 is a lineman, so 55 worked,” Taylor said.

Any other reasons?

“I wore 33 in college and 55 at the Senior Bowl, and won the MVP there,” Taylor said. “We’re all superstitious, you know. Thought it might bring us some good luck.”

As in Miami, Taylor will play the hybrid defensive end-linebacker position with the Redskins. The 55 is a linebacker’s number, and is symbolic of his transition to the hybrid “Jack” position.

But Taylor admitted it was strange to look down at his jersey and see “55.” It wasn’t an accident that he spent most of the morning practice with his jersey pulled up over his stomach.

“I wore it pushed up in the front, so I didn’t have to look at it,” he said. “This is all so different for me.”

Coincidentally, Zach Thomas will be wearing 55 with the Cowboys, too.

“I guess we both left our old numbers in Miami,” Taylor said.

And yes, you can already buy a Taylor Redskins jersey.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/22/0722dolphins.html

First day, but no jitters in D.C. for Taylor

By BEN VOLIN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

ASHBURN, Va. — Jason Taylor wore a different uniform today with a different number and worked alongside different teammates in his first practice as a member of the Washington Redskins.

But Taylor felt right at home when the morning practice ended early because of a thunderstorm.

"That's nothing new to me," Taylor said afterwards, without mentioning to the D.C. media that the Dolphins built a practice bubble three years ago for this very reason. "It was nice to see that nothing has changed up here."

Taylor, traded to Washington on Sunday for two draft picks, stepped on a football field at 8:30 a.m. today for the first time since the Dolphins' Dec. 30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The thunderstorm was about the only thing that was familiar.

"It was different - very different," he said. "I feel like a little kid in some ways, and I feel so lost in other ways, so it will take a while to get used to it."

He wore a burgundy jersey - not orange and aqua - and donned No. 55. Fellow defensive end Andre Carter already owns No. 99, Taylor's old number.

"I talked to my wife and decided that we'll let 99 stay in Miami and start a new chapter up here," Taylor said.

Though Taylor will often line up as the left defensive end in the traditional 4-3 scheme, head coach Jim Zorn said this morning that Taylor will continue to play the hybrid defensive end-linebacker position.

"I've done it for the last three years, and I was going to be that in Miami this year, so I can do it," Taylor said.

He often played on the right side in Miami, but Carter occupies that spot in Washington.

Taylor is well behind his new teammates, who began training camp Saturday and also went through off-season programs, so Taylor only participated in one-on-one drills today.

He practiced with the defensive linemen, and was treated no differently than his teammates. When Taylor didn't perform a ladder drill perfectly, defensive line coach John Palermo sent him to the back of the line to do it again.

During team drills, Zorn said, Taylor stood next to defensive coordinator Greg Blache to get a feel for the defensive calls.

"I've got to go through that initial soreness in training camp and all that so we'll ease into it," Taylor said. "But I'm getting work done all the while, not just standing around at the country club."

In the locker room, he sat down next to the only familiar face - offensive guard Todd Wade, Taylor's teammate in Miami from 2000 through '03.

Taylor tried to blend in with his teammates, but it was a near-impossible task. Hordes of reporters and cameras followed his every move. The 2,000 fans in attendance cheered loudly the moment he set foot on the practice field.

While his teammates all wore black cleats, Taylor still had on his white-and-orange Dolphins cleats.

"They couldn't make the Redskins shoes in a day," he said.

Taylor, a 12-year veteran, said he feels like a rookie again. In addition to learning a new defensive scheme, he has to learn basic things, like the names of his new teammates, and where the locker room is.

"But all the while, like I said yesterday, I'm not buying donuts or paying anybody's tab," Taylor joked. "I'm still one of the old guys around here."

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/one-final-post.html

One final post on the Jason Taylor trade

I am still scratching my head and it doesn't even itch. Seriously. Because this really doesn't make sense to me.

Sometime between late January and mid February of this year, Jason Taylor's agent called the Dolphins and informed them Taylor only intended to play one more season and it made sense for him to play that final year someplace else. The Dolphins were, after all, about to rebuild and Taylor, at 33 years old, didn't want to be part of that rebuilding because he wanted one final shot at winning a title.

Gary Wichard, the agent, made the logical points to Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and even team president Bryan Wiedmeier. It was a compelling argument because, after all, Taylor gave his all for 11 seasons and wanted the Dolphins to reward that service by letting him get a chance at a title in his final go-'round.

Fast forward to April when Wichard made the point to the Dolphins again. Then in June when Taylor got in front of the media and said, "I told the Dolphins my intentions from Day One. My intentions are to play one more year."

Then fast forward again to this week when Taylor is traded to the Washington Redskins and, all of a sudden, that stuff about playing one more year which he and his agent have been saying for seven months is simply swept under the rug. "I know I made a statement in June that I would play one more year in '08," Taylor said, "but I have talked to [Redskins owner] Dan Snyder and [executive vice president] Vinny [Cerrato] and coach and I'm going to play out my contract and I will be here for more than one year, God willing, unless something bad happens. I'm here to play ball as long as I can."

Are you feakin' kidding me?

So one conversation with Snyder and the Redskins and suddenly the story he has told the Dolphins from "Day One," is out the window? One day in Washington is enough to convince Taylor to play the two years remaining on his contract and maybe more but 11 seasons in Miami wasn't worth that kind of commitment?

Here is my point: The only reason the Dolphins had to seriously, seriously want to trade Jason Taylor is because they are rebuilding and a Taylor who intends to play one more season isn't as valuable as a draft pick because by the time the team is good again, Taylor would be out of the league.

But if Taylor tells the Dolphins, he's playing until the end of this contract and, in fact, says he's playing "as long as I can," that definitely changes EVERYTHING. Suddenly the team should be thinking it has a pretty good player, one who is rarely injured, for 2009 when the team is hoping to be very competitive and perhaps beyond -- maybe to 2010 when thoughts of playoffs might be on everyone's mind again.

Suddenly the entire picture is different.

Fantasy, you say? Well, are you aware that Taylor would be 37 years old in 2010? In 2004 when Michael Strahan (who Taylor respects) was 33 years old as Taylor is now, his team was 6-10 and finished last in the NFC East? Three years later Strahan, at 37, was a key contributor on a Super Bowl champion. Things change in the NFL. They change quickly.

And the irony here is that the posturing about getting one final chance to win it all is bunk now because the Redskins, with all due respect to those guys that wear pig noses and dresses on Sundays, don't look like much of a legit title contender.

Yes, they made the playoffs last year, but they could just as easily take a step back this year because they don't have Joe Gibbs anymore, they still have an unproven QB, their defensive coordinator isn't as good, they won't have the momentous emotional lift that brought them together last year when Sean Taylor was tragically cut down, and they still play in the world's toughest football division.

Maybe JT hasn't noticed but the Cowboys are loaded. Maybe he hasn't noticed but the Giants won the Super Bowl. Maybe he hasn't noticed but the Eagles, which finished last in the division with an 8-8 record last year, are healthy and added several high-priced free agents. They also have a better coaching staff than Washington now.

So the Redskins have absolutely zero guarantee of making any playoffs. Yet that was enough to make him about-face on the one-and-done statement?

I wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins are watching the playoffs on TV this year, just as the Dolphins probably will be. I wouldn't be surprised that by 2010 the Dolphins have passed the Redskins on talent.

And, given his recent history, I wouldn't be surprised if sometime in the next 12-13 months, Taylor changes course on this issue. Again.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/22/0722dolphins.html

Jason Taylor gets high approval ratings

By BEN VOLIN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

ASHBURN, Va. — Many of the 2,000 fans at Redskins Park shouted Jason Taylor's name as soon as their newest defensive end stepped onto the practice field Tuesday morning.

A local sports-talk radio host, Jason Bishop, had no qualms about declaring on his morning show that Taylor is a "damn good-looking guy."

And a Washington Post columnist said Taylor is his "new man-crush."

From Capitol Hill to Virginia Beach, the former Miami Dolphins star has supplanted Obama vs. McCain as the topic of the day.

"It's a fan base almost like college football. The people really are that crazy about their team," said offensive tackle Todd Wade, who played with Taylor in Miami from 2000 through '03. "Jason was such a big guy in South Florida, but it's going to be multiplied up here. He has no idea."

Taylor, 33, said he wanted to play for a Super Bowl contender after 11 title-less seasons in Miami. Taylor, who was traded Sunday for two draft picks, said he was happy to go to Washington. He believes the 'Skins are, at minimum, a solid playoff team.

Washington has reached the post-season in two of the past three seasons. But Taylor, a six-time Pro Bowler who is two seasons removed from being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year, won't automatically transform the Redskins from a wild-card team to a Super Bowl contender.

The Redskins went 9-7 last year and were blown out in the first round of the playoffs against Seattle. And Washington plays in the NFC East, which might be the toughest division in the NFL with the Super Bowl champion Giants, the 13-3 Dallas Cowboys and an 8-8 Philadelphia Eagles team that finished last year on a three-game winning streak.

On top of all that, quarterback Jason Campbell has to bounce back from a knee injury while learning the West Coast offense installed by new coach Jim Zorn.

"Jason Taylor is an upgrade, but it's going to depend on how well Jason Campbell adjusts to a new offense," said Joe Theismann, a former Redskins quarterback who still attends training camp practices almost every day. "The quarterback position is going to be the determining factor as to where the Redskins wind up finishing."

Still, Taylor is optimistic that the team can at least return to the playoffs, something he hasn't experienced since January 2002.

"This team can contend for the division," Taylor said. "It's a tough division, but this is great to be in this position, where you know that every week is crucial."

Taylor's arrival should jump-start a stagnant pass rush. Among 2007 playoff teams, only Indianapolis had fewer sacks than Washington's 33. Only Seattle allowed more passing yards than Washington's 214 per game.

Taylor had 11 of Miami's 30 sacks last season, and has the most sacks in the NFL this decade (1001/2). Some observers believe the trade will reinvigorate Taylor, who had four games last season with fewer than two tackles.

"Historically, when you make a trade like this, the player usually performs better than he had the previous season," said Gil Brandt, the longtime personnel executive with Tom Landry's Cowboys who now writes for NFL.com. "Especially if they were coming from a team that didn't have a good record."

When Taylor went through his first practice with Washington on Tuesday, he wore his new No. 55 jersey - defensive end Andre Carter wear's Taylor's old No. 99 - and quickly impressed coaches watching one-on-one drills. He lined up at left end and exhibited the quickness that made him a superstar.

"We tried to pinch him today, and he went inside on us in the blink of an eye," offensive line coach Joe Bugel said. "He's a slippery hombre."

Defensive coordinator Greg Blache said he hopes Taylor's presence will open up the field for Carter (10.5 sacks) and defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin.

And the Redskins hope that their offensive line will improve after facing Taylor in practice every week, especially right tackle Jon Jansen.

"I told him this morning, 'I'm glad you're here,' " Bugel said.

"We spent enough time preparing for you.' "

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_seasonticket/2008/07/fins-taylor-wea.html

Fins: Taylor wearing No. 55

Back in town.

Did I miss anything?

(I asked the same thing the last time I was out-of-pocket for a few days. That time, Nick Saban quit. If I leave again, the Dolphins will trade for Brett Favre.)

I'm still confused about one aspect of this story: Jason Taylor now verbally committing to play at least two more seasons. Again, his side consistently said for months that he would only play one more season, and then Taylor said that publicly, even when it didn't seem to benefit him to do so. Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard, has also made it clear that Taylor will be spending his offseasons working on Hollywood stuff, so Vinny Cerrato must be comfortable with that. But, after all the back-and-forth, I'll believe that Taylor plays in 2009 when he actually takes the field.   

Anyway, Taylor has decided to wear No. 55 in Washington D.C., at least for now.

Can anyone make the case that Joey Porter, wearing the same number in Miami, will finish with more sacks?

There may be a better chance that Porter has more tackles than the other guy wearing No. 55 (Zach Thomas in Dallas), only because Thomas could be one more concussion away from a lengthy absence.

Is anyone out there planning to buy any of those three jerseys -- Porter as a Dolphin, Thomas as a Cowboy, Taylor as a Redskin?

> Posted by Ethan J. Skolnick at 1:58:41 PM

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamiherald.com/611/story/614240.html

Marino only Dolphin better than Taylor

BY GREG COTE
Miami Herald

The two images of Jason Taylor that fill the mind most readily are unfortunate ones in the overall. They are not what we should be seeing as we reckon his place in the history of the franchise.

One snapshot is of a man surrounded by loss, bowed head covered by a towel or buried in his huge hands in a somber locker room after the latest Dolphins defeat. The image would link the misery of the past six seasons in a row out of the playoffs with some fundamental lacking on Taylor's part, when in fact no player was less to blame.

Another snapshot, more recent and with a merrier soundtrack, would find Taylor not in uniform but in ruffled sleeves, in frivolous pirouette, hip-wiggling to the cha-cha or mambo on Dancing With The Stars, his controversial, Bill Parcells-irritating diversion of the past offseason. The image would invite a question mark on Taylor's commitment to football, when in fact nothing in his preparation or performance across 11 Miami years indicated anything but admirable dedication.

To frame either snapshot as the lasting picture of the Dolphins' No. 99 would be unfair because there is something far more accurate than loser or dancer to describe Taylor as he leaves us.

The single greatest defensive player in 42 years of Dolphins football is the description I would choose.

And it isn't even close.

Broadening the frame to include all players, I would depose that only Dan Marino was better or more accomplished at what he did.

One man's view of this franchise's 10 greatest players:

1. Marino; 2. Taylor; 3. Larry Little; 4. Larry Csonka; 5. Zach Thomas; 6. Mark Clayton; 7. Bob Griese; 8. Dick Anderson; 9. Nick Buoniconti; 10. Bob Kuechenberg.

The case that I omitted someone would be easier to sell me on than the argument I am rating Taylor too high. It might be too soon for some fans to see it, though. The divorce might be too raw, especially for that sizable faction of Dolfans who see Taylor in villain's clothes as he exits. As selfish for wanting out.

True enough the way Taylor left the Dolphins was neither neat nor sweet, but he's in good company. The franchise's twin titans, Don Shula and Marino, didn't exactly leave on their own terms and smiling, either. Csonka was called a traitor once, too, for jumping leagues.

Pain, anger, regret -- all of those things will fade, and let us more clearly see what we have lost in Taylor: the best we ever had at what he does. I believe he will make the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, especially if his career continues productively in Washington beyond just one more season.

Taylor would be the only Dolphins defender other than Buoniconti to reach the Canton, Ohio, shrine, and Nick, history books remind us, was an established, seven-year Boston Patriots star before ever coming to Miami.

Taylor's credentials for Canton would be decent as is, even if the past weekend's news was his retirement rather than his much-anticipated trade.

The Giants' Michael Strahan is the only defensive end contemporary of Taylor's who has had, arguably, a greater career, although it is fair to note that Taylor's overall sacks-per-season average of 10.6 is better than Strahan's 10.1. It also is notable that Taylor's 100.5 sacks since 2000 make him the NFL's decade leader, by far.

That, coupled with his 2006 Defensive Player of the Year Award, makes a pretty strong argument that Taylor was dominant in his era -- one of the bedrock prerequisites for the Hall of Fame.

Oh, did I mention that Taylor has scored more defensive touchdowns than any player in history?

Competing in the Miami market, never on a Super Bowl stage and the six-year playoff drought have left Taylor far less a national star than his career performance (augmented by a model's looks and a star's personality) suggest he should be.

Put it this way. If Taylor is the same person with the exact same career, but with the New England Patriots -- same sack totals, same stats, but plus-three on the Super Bowl rings -- he is today considered to be the NFL's biggest defensive star, judged a first-ballot lock for the Hall, and probably being mentioned in Lawrence Taylor territory as one of the all-time defensive greats.

He is that player, diminished by the losses that surrounded him and by the rings that are not there, but never, ever diminished by his own performance.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/23/final_thoughts_on_the_jt_trade.html

Final thoughts on the JT trade

By Ben Volin | Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 11:51 AM

Stuck in D.C. for a few more hours, so you get one more blog post on the Jason Taylor trade. I promise, this is the last time you will see his name for a long time (at LEAST 24 hours) … .

You already read about JT switching to No. 55, how he called his split from Miami “amicable” and how the D.C. area is collectively drooling over its newest star.

Yesterday, I briefly caught up with JT as he walked off the Redskins’ practice field to talk about his expectations with the Skins and being a more recognizable figure in D.C. than Barack Obama and John McCain. Then I asked if he had spoken to anyone with the Dolphins organization, especially Bill Parcells, et al.

“I texted Vonnie Holliday today, but haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him yet,” Taylor said.

Are you sick of talking about your Dolphins teammates and former coaches, and trying to put that in the past?

“It’s in the past, obviously, but it will always be a part of me. I still have a vested interest in seeing how they do, and I still have a lot of friends and people I love there still. A piece of my heart is still in Miami. My wife and kids are still there, we’re not detached.”

How are your new teammates treating you?

“They’ve all been great. I got a few dance jokes already. Rock (Cartwright) asked me to dance with him already, teach him how to dance. So there’s some of that going on. If they’re messing with you it means they like you.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s what a couple of outsiders have to say about the trade:

Gil Brandt, the longtime personnel executive with Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys, effused high praise on Bill Parcells for being patient and obtaining two valuable draft picks.

“This is where perseverance pays off,” he said. “If anybody would’ve told me that Bill was gonna get a second for Jason Taylor I would’ve said no way. And he ended up getting a second and a sixth. Sometimes with patience, keep your mouth shut, good things happen.”

Brandt continued (UNDERSTATEMENT ALERT): “Whether Jason Taylor plays for Miami or not, I just don’t think that they’re a playoff team. I think they’re an ascending team that will do much better, but I don’t think they’re a playoff team.”

On the Redskins end, Brandt expects Taylor to have a big year. He said the trade reminded him of when the Cowboys traded for Mike Ditka in 1969, and then for Lance Alworth in 1971. Both caught a touchdown in their Super Bowl VI win over Miami.

“Historically, when you make a trade like this, the player usually performs better than he had the previous season, especially if they were coming from a team that didn’t have a particularly good record,” Brandt said. “When we were close to a Super Bowl and we traded for Mike Ditka and Lance Alworth, it always seemed that those guys played a little bit better than they played at their previous place.

And Joe Theismann, the former Redskins quarterback who still attends training camp practices almost every day, said the trade was a double-whammy for Washington. Not only do the Skins get Taylor (as a replacement for the injured Phillip Daniels), but they also prevent Dallas, Philly or the Giants from picking him up.

(Keep in mind, of course, that Theismann bleeds burgundy and gold).

“Philly lost Jevan Kearse, they need a defensive end. Dallas would probably want a bookend opposite DeMarcus Ware. Obviously, you’d love to have someone opposite Osi Umenyiora. When you looked at the Redskins, a healthy Phillip Daniels probably made them the least likely team to need a Jason Taylor.”

But the trade “changes things in the NFC. By him not going to any of those three shifts power in the division.”


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And finally, this isn’t a Dolphins story, but I wanted to pass along a funny anecdote from Theismann.

He was talking to me about new head coach Jim Zorn, and his dedication to teaching quarterback Jason Campbell the West Coast offense.

“Funny story: Jason got married not too long ago. Dan Snyder, Vinny Cerrato and Jim Zorn went to the wedding,” Theismann said. “Through most of the reception, Jim had Jason cornered, talking about football at his own wedding. But that’s the thing that Jim Zorn, he’s the ultimate teacher.”

Nice. I bet Mrs. Jason Campbell appreciated that.

[dolfan13]

big difference, skins aren't "very close to the super bowl"... in fact you can make a good argument that they are the worst team in their own division.

interestingly enough, miami played the nfc east last year, and here is what jt did against the those teams:

Date            Opp     Tk     Ast   Sck    Stf     FF      FR     PD    Int     Yds     TD
Sep. 16     DAL         2       1      0        0      0         0     0      0        0        0
Oct. 28     NYG         0       0      0        0      0        1      0      0        0        0
Nov. 18     PHI         1        0      0       1       0        0      0      0        0        0

[TonyB0D]

someone better tell cote about this guy named dwight stephenson... 

[DolFan619]

someone better tell cote about this guy named dwight stephenson... 

  As well as some guy named Langer.