*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***

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Jul 17, 1995: -- Billy Milner Signs --

The Dolphins announced yesterday that they have signed first round draft pick Billy Milner to a 4 year deal for undisclosed terms. Milner was the final unsigned Dolphin draft pick.

Milner, the 25th pick in the 1995 draft, was picked up by the Dolphins primarily because of the recommendation of Kim Helton, who was Milner's head coach at Houston. Helton was former Miami assistant coach.

Milner, at 6'5" and 290 lbs, was considered to be one of the best natural athletes in this years crop of offensive linemen. He was drafted to eventually replace the aging Ron Heller at right tackle, but he is a year or two away from earning a starting spot.

Also in the news, the Boston Globe had a nice article on tight end Pete Mitchell in this morning's paper. In the article, they stated that Mitchell's contract was worth $650,000 over three years. They also said that the starting long-snapper job was "his to lose".

My Comments:

The last of the draft picks gets signed just in time for training camp - a good omen.

For those of you who don't know, the first three days of training camp are technically "voluntary". That means that the Dolphins can't *force* anyone to report on Monday because of the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league.

However, given the history of Don Shula and the expectations of the team, I would expect that everybody will be in camp today.