*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Mar 25, 1997: -- No More "Free" Agents --
** JJ says Dolphins are Done
Dolphins' coach Jimmy Johnson declared the free agency signing
period over yesterday, saying that with the signing of WR Lawrence
Dawsey, the Dolphins were done shopping for free agents.
"We're a significantly better team today," Johnson said. "If
we had to play a week from now, we'd be better than we were at any
time last year."
The Dolphins began the free agent signing period this year by
saying that they would not be shopping for any big time free agents.
And, for the most part, they kept that word. While they did talk to a
few big names in the free agent market (such as Michael Barrow, Darrin
Smith, Brett Perriman and Eric Metcalf), they never made serious
offers to any of them.
In fact, the biggest contract the Dolphins offered anyone was
the 3 year, $4.5 million deal that Corey Harris, formerly of the
Seahawks, signed with the team.
Nevertheless, the Dolphins brought in a number of players to
help the team. Most of the signed players were either defensive backs
or receivers, but in each case, the player signed was slated to fill a
specific hole on the team.
All in all, the Dolphins signed 10 new unrestricted free
agents this spring. The list is as follows:
Player Pos Team Comments
Corey Harris CB Seahawks Versatile Athlete, will
play safety
George Teague S Cowboys Big playmaker, but might
be inconsistent
Clayton Holmes CB Cowboys Fast CB, originally
drafted by JJ
Cedric Davis CB Cardinals Another Fast CB
D. Atterberry CB None Hasn't played in the
league before
Walter Reeves TE Chargers Big blocking TE
Lawrence Dawsey WR Giants Possession receiver
Tyrone Williams WR CFL BIG (6'5") CFL star
Daryl Frazier WR CFL Fast and not much else
Olindo Mare K Giants Inconsistent, with a big leg.
The Dolphins also re-signed a number of their own players who
were free agents, the most notable of which was Danny Stubbs. Stubbs
had one of his best years with the Dolphins last season, getting a
career high 9 sacks and starting most of the year at right defensive
end.
The Dolphins re-signed 5 players from last year's team that
were free agents this year. They are:
Player Pos Comments
Daniel Stubbs DE 3 years; $3 million
Irving Spikes RB Will continue as backup
Lamar Thomas WR Troubled player gets another chance
Frank Wainwright TE The team's long-snapper
OJ Brigance LB Special teams and backup
The Dolphins made room for the new players by releasing a
number of players in the off-season, including a few veterans who had
started for the Dolphins in the past. The players released included
DT Steve Emtman, CB J.B. Brown, LB Chris Singleton, WR Scott Miller,
and CB Robert Bailey.
The Dolphins also still have a number of players who are
unrestricted free agents that played for the team last year. Of
those, only QB Bernie Kosar and LB Dwight Hollier are likely to even
be pursued at all and if they do sign, they will most likely have to
accept minimum salary contracts.
Other Dolphins free agents who are unlikely to return are S
Louis Oliver, S Michael Stewart, CB Tim Jacobs, TE Brett Carolan,
RB Bernie Parmalee and WR Randal Hill. Of these, Parmalee and Hill
might still be offered minimum salary deals by the team, but it seems
increasingly unlikely that they will play for the Dolphins next year.
** Dolphins have Potential Draftees in for visits
The Sun-Sentinel is reporting this morning that the Dolphins
had 36 eligible draftees in for visits to the Dolphins' training
facility. The most notable names that visited were University of
Miami wide receiver Yatil Green, defensive ends Kenny Holmes and
Kenard Lang and safety Tremain Mack; Florida wide receiver Reidel
Anthony and Iowa State running back Troy Davis.
The team can have as many "local" players in for visits as it
wants before the draft on April 19, and can fly in up to 20 players
from outside of Miami for visits. In this case, local is defined as
players that live or grew up in the Miami area. The team hasn't said
who it will fly in before the draft from outside of South Florida.
Other players that visited the team include Marshall
quarterback Eric Kresser, Florida State linebacker Henri Crockett and
wide receiver Wayne Messam, Boston College cornerback Daryl Porter and
Cincinnati wide receiver Anthony Ladd and all the draft-eligible
players from the University of Miami.
** Two Players Visit
The Dolphins worked out two players in the last few days - WR
Dan Willis, who was with the Buccaneers briefly last year and
quarterback Dan White. I have no substantial information on either
player.
My Comments:
With free agency ending and the Dolphins stocking up on
defensive backs and receivers, there appears to be one glaring area of
need for the team and that is at linebacker. The Dolphins only have 4
linebackers signed and of them, only Zach Thomas started more than 3
games last year.
This would seem to mean that the Dolphins will be looking for
linebackers early in the draft, unless they think they have a
realistic shot at re-signing Dwight Hollier. Of course, JJ may have
another ace up his sleeve.
As far as the potential draftees visiting the team, don't read
too much into that. Basically, the Dolphins had everyone in that they
could get their hands on. That's fine, but it's not necessarily
indicative of any excessive interest on the Dolphins' part in any of
those players.
And a short note on Terrell Buckley - Jason Cole referred to
Buckley as the Dolphins' cornerback and recruiting coordinator. By
all accounts, Buckley has been selling his old teammates (which
include Corey Harris, George Teague and Lawrence Dawsey) on the
Dolphins and was instrumental in getting them to sign with the
team.
It appears that Buckley has really turned into quite a team
player and, under JJ, has finally begun to fulfil the potential that
he had in college. It's really great to see him so involved with the
team - he's turned into a real asset, not only on the field, but off
it as well.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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