*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 07, 1997: -- Update --
With the Dolphins gearing up for the draft on April 19th,
there has been very little concrete news coming out of the offices of
the team. JJ and his staff are keeping silent about who they are
looking at in the draft, but there are a few news items to let you
know about:
** Negotiations with Hollier Continue
The Dolphins are negotiating with Dwight Hollier on a contract
that will keep him in a Dolphins uniform next year. The 5 year
veteran from North Carolina is the only starting linebacker left from
the Don Shula era and he has been testing the free agent market this
spring.
With the high prices that some linebackers are commanding,
(Chad Brown signed with the Seahawks for $4 million per year), Hollier
was hoping to get a big contract from another team. However, that
contract has not been forthcoming and the Dolphins would like Hollier
back to solidify their linebacking corps.
There has been no word on how much Hollier wants or how close
the team and he are on a contract, but the Miami Herald reported this
morning that the Dolphins would like to get him signed before the
draft on April 19th.
** Reinard Wilson to visit the Dolphins
The Dolphins are planning on having FSU defensive end Reinard
Wilson in to visit with the team sometime in the next few days.
Wilson is widely regarded as one of the top 5 defensive linemen
available in the draft, but there are questions about his size and he
didn't run a particularly good time at the combine in Indianapolis.
However, Wilson may be available at the time the Dolphins
draft at the #15 position and Dolphins' director of College scouting
Tom Braatz has said that he's one of the defensive ends who might rate
a first round pick.
My Comments:
I'm sort of indifferent to Dwight Hollier. He's always been a
steady but unspectacular player who does what he's told and makes the
occasional nice play. Last year, against the Bills in Miami, Hollier
made two successive stops of Thurmon Thomas at the Dolphins' goal line
that forced the Bills to try and kick a field goal - and that was the
field goal that bounced off the upright.
So if the Dolphins can sign him without destroying the salary
cap, I figure that the team is better off with him than without him,
especially with the depth at linebacker being so thin.
I don't follow college football, so I always feel a little
lost at draft time, but on reading the review that Pro Football Weekly
has of Wilson, he sounds very much like a JJ-type player. He's not as
big as some defensive ends, but he plays with a lot of intensity.
During his senior year, he had 101 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss and
13 sacks. He sounds a little bit like Zach Thomas did when he came
out of Texas Tech, although he's gotten a lot more attention.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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