*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***

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Jun 24, 1996: -- Update... --

I've been on vacation for the past week, but I'm back now and even though there hasn't been much going on, there have been a few roster moves to update you on.

First of all, the Dolphins signed their 8th draft pick Shane Burton last Wednesday to a 3 year contract for undisclosed terms. Burton was the second of 3 fifth round draft picks that the Dolphins made this spring and was drafted as a defensive tackle, although he has since been moved to the offensive line.

The Dolphins also signed veteran cornerback Tim Jacobs, formerly of the Cleveland Browns to a one year deal for undisclosed terms, but it's probably at the league minimum. Jacobs, at 5'10" and 185 lbs was signed in 1993 by the Browns as an undrafted rookie. Since then, he has played in 24 games for the Browns, starting one.

Last Friday, the Dolphins announced that they had signed their two 7th round draft choices - offensive guard Jeff Buckey and wide receiver Brice Hunter. Buckey reportedly has a 3 year deal and Hunter was given a two year contract. That makes 4 of the 12 draft choices who have signed a contract with the Dolphins.

There was also a report from Pro Football Weekly (brought to my attention by David Hennessy - thanks Dave!), that the Dolphins had signed two more rookie free agents a couple of weeks ago - offensive guard Steve Keim and defensive end Marvin Cross. I don't anything about either of these players, except that Cross was waived last Friday by the Dolphins and is no longer on the roster.

In other news, the Dolphins announced that individual game tickets would go on sale on July 20th at 10 AM. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Joe Robbie stadium box office or from Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone. Tickets are available by phone by calling Ticketmaster at (305) 358-5885 in Dade, (954) 966-3309 in Broward or (407) 966-3309 in Palm Beach County.

And last, but certainly not least, Coach Jimmy Johnson took a flight to Houston with his girlfriend last Friday morning, for unknown reasons. I know this because I was sitting in the departure lounge at Miami International waiting for my flight back to Boston when JJ walked by and took a seat in the waiting area of a flight to Houston. I almost pulled my wife's arm out of her socket while whispering "Honey! HONEY! LOOK!!!!!". To her credit, she didn't smack me - in public.

My Comments:

The signing of more rookies is always a good thing, but the late round picks are usually easy to sign, because they know they don't have much room to negotiate.

I don't know anything about Jacobs, other than hearing that he may be a special teams standout.

As to why JJ would be going to Houston - I have no idea. I toyed with the idea of saying hello to him, but there were already plenty of people hounding him for autographs and pictures there in the lobby, so I decided to leave him alone.

Related Info:

Miami Herald:

Individual Dolphins tickets on sale July 20

Dolphins Official Web Site:

Individual Dolphins tickets on sale July 20

Dolphins Official Web Site:

Dolphins Sign Shane Burton

Nando.Net Sports:

Burton, Jacobs sign with Miami