*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Mar 06, 1997: -- Free Agent Update --
** Dolphins Talk Numbers with CB Corey Harris
The Dolphins are not making a lot of serious offers in the
free agent market, but they have been talking dollars with CB Corey
Harris, who has been the starting cornerback for Seattle for the last
2 years. Harris, at 5'11" and 200 lbs is bigger than any of the
cornerbacks that the Dolphins have now and has been an effective
player for the Seahawks for the past 2 years.
** Other Free Agents Drift Away
Other than Harris, the Dolphins have not been actively
pursuing many players this spring and a number of free agents who had
been looked on as possible Dolphins' signees have been moving farther
away from signing with the team.
First, WR Kevin Williams of the Cowboys has decided to talk to
some other teams after receiving offers from the Dolphins and Cowboys.
Apparently his agent has convinced him that he could get more money
elsewhere.
Also, LB Ron George, who was considered to be the fastest
linebacker available in the draft, has probably eliminated the
Dolphins from his list of teams that he would consider offers from.
And CB Dave Thomas, whom the Dolphins had in for a visit last
week, re-signed with his old team the Jaguars, over the weekend.
** Stubbs, Parmalee and Hollier talk to other teams
Dolphins' free agent Danny Stubbs has been talking to at least
5 other teams and is apparently confident that he can get the $1
million per year that he has been seeking as a salary. His agent has
not shown any preference for the Dolphins and he has said that if he
gets an offer he wants, he will take it without giving the Dolphins a
chance to match it.
Bernie Parmalee has also been shopping himself around, talking
to Indianapolis, Chicago and New England. However, his agent has said
that he would give the Dolphins a chance to match any offer that
Bernie got from another team.
And LB Dwight Hollier has been talking to the Atlanta Falcons,
who are concerned over the loss of LB Ron George. Right now, it's not
clear how much interest they have in him.
The Dolphins have made an offer to one of their free agents,
extending Lamar Thomas a contract offer for a minimum salary. Thomas
is still in the process of deciding when he will serve his 8 day jail
sentence.
** Off-Season Conditioning Begins
The Dolphins off-season conditioning program officially began
on Monday, as JJ and conditioning coach John Gamble began preparations
for next season. The program is not "mandatory", but JJ has said that
anyone who doesn't participate in the program would not be in his
favor this coming year.
The program consists of 3 phases. Phase I began Monday and
consists of strength and conditioning workouts on Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday from 8:30 AM to 11:15 AM. Phase II will drop the
workouts to 3 days a week and will run from the draft to minicamp in
May. Phase III will begin in June, and will prepare players for
training camp in July.
My Comments:
First of all, let me apologize for the lack of news over the
last week. I had to go to Florida on short notice for my Grandmother's
funeral and I've been out of touch. My Grandmother was an amazing
woman and I needed to say goodbye to her.
As far as the Dolphins go, they have been talking to a lot of
players, but have been making very few serious ovatures to any free
agents. This makes the attempt to sign Corey Harris all the more
interesting. I don't know much about Harris, but JJ must see
something there if the Dolphins are talking money - either that, or
he's so worried about the cornerback situation that he'll sign anyone.
I suspect that it's a little bit of both.
Losing any chance to sign Dave Thomas is a little
disappointing, but not entirely unexpected as is the loss of interest
on the part of Ron George.
The Kevin Williams situation is different. My best guess is
that his agent convinced him to hold out for more money, but I think
that he's wasting his time. Defensive players are getting big bucks,
but has anyone else noticed that there seems to be very few offensive
players getting signed? That's possibly because there aren't really
that many big name offensive players out there, but I think that
Williams is not that hot a property.
I'm a little concerned about the Dolphins' lack of interest in
Danny Stubbs. Stubbs is not that great a player, but as of right now,
the Dolphins don't have anyone to play the right defensive end if
Stubbs leaves. While they could find someone in the draft, that's
not exactly a sure thing. I hope that they at least show some
interest in Stubbs.
On the other hand, Bernie Parmalee is more expendable because
the Dolphins are deep at running back with Abdul-Jabbar, Spikes and
McPhail. But I'd hate to lose Bernie because he's such an unselfish
team player and a good special-teamer.
Dwight Hollier is, in my mind, a similar player to Stubbs.
He's not that great, but who is there to take his place?
Related Info:
PLAYER PROFILES:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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