*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***

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Jul 11, 1996: -- Brown Get's New Contract; Other news... --

The Miami Herald reported today that JB Brown has agreed to restructure and extend his contract one year through 1998. His new contract will change his salary cap number from $1.575 million to $1.285 million this year.

Brown's base salary will be $865,000 both years and will have $300,000 in playing time incentives. He will receive a signing bonus of $105,000.

Also in the news, there are reports out of Miami this evening that the Dolphins have come to an agreement with former Jet's tight end Johnny Mitchell. So far, I haven't been able to verify this report, but Jimmy Johnson has been talking with Mitchell and has said that they'd either sign Mitchell very soon or forget about him.

I reported this morning that the Dolphins had signed Stanley Prichett yesterday, but that I didn't have any details. Well, according to the Miami Herald, Prichett's new contract is for 3 years at close to league minimums with a $208,000 signing bonus. That works out to a base salary of $131,000 for this year, $154,000 for 1997 and $196,000 in 1998.

The Dolphins have also reached agreement with CB Kirk Pointer and are close to an agreement with RB Jerris McPhail. That leaves just Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Dorian Brew for the Dolphins to worry about.

And last, but not least, as the opening of training camp comes closer, the Dolphins' off-season conditioning program comes to a close. The Herald web site has a great article about the off-season conditioning program, which I won't reproduce here. But it's must reading for all DolFans and the URL is the first one listed below.

The highlights of the article include notes on Darryl Gardener, who outran all other linemen in the shuttle run; Norman Hand, who dropped 24 pounds during the program; Steve Emtman, who dropped 15 pounds and is down to 7% body fat and Tim Bowens, who ran his fastest time ever in the 40.

My Comments:

The news about Brown was expected, although I expected that he'd be asked to take a bigger cut than he was.

The signing of Pritchett is great news, but I'm still waiting on Brew and Abdul-Jabbar.

I'm undecided about Johnny Mitchell. He has had some great games, but has also dropped a few passes. If he doesn't cost too much money, he might be worth signing and he supposedly really wants to play for the Dolphins, but I'm concerned about his reputation. Well, I suppose if JJ can't straighten him out, then he won't be a Dolphin very long.

For those who haven't heard, Keith Jackson has been signed by Green Bay, so he is not an option for the Dolphins any more.

The article on the Dolphins' conditioning program at the Herald web site is very optimistic reading. Apparently, 10 more players have shown up this year than last year and nearly everyone has done very well, especially Darryl Gardener, who has a reputation for poor conditioning.

But the most interesting comment of all came from Jimmy Johnson, who said that the Dolphins are the best conditioned football team that he has ever seen. Now, you have to remember that JJ is prone to hype, but it's still really good to hear things like that.

Related Info:

Miami Herald - Conditioning Article:

Johnson era, players begin to take shape

Miami Herald:

Dolphins, J. Mitchell to talk, but not for long

Dolphins Official Site:

Stanley Pritchett Officially a Dolphin