*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 18, 1997: -- Parmalee and Hollier Re-Sign --
** Parmalee and Hollier are Back
The Dolphins announced that they had re-signed unrestricted
free agents Bernie Parmalee and Dwight Hollier to new contracts that
will keep them in Miami. Parmalee's contract is reportedly for one
year at league minimum, with incentives that could end up doubling his
salary and Hollier has signed on for three more years for undisclosed
terms.
Both Parmalee and Hollier had offers from other teams on the
table. Parmalee had offers from Chicago and Minnesota and Hollier
entertained offers from Atlanta and at least 3 other teams, but both
chose to remain in Miami. According to Hollier's agent, he could have
made more money elsewhere, but chose to remain in Miami.
For the time being, Hollier will continue to be the starter at
strong side linebacker and Parmalee will continue to back up Jerris
McPhail as the third down running back. Parmalee will also continue
to play special teams.
** Dolphins Still Pursuing Darrin Smith
According to a report in this morning's Sun-Sentinel, the
Dolphins have made a multi-year contract offer to free agent
linebacker Darrin Smith, formerly of Dallas. However, with Smith
still seeking a deal in the neighborhood of $2.5 million per year,
it's unlikely that he will accept the Dolphins' offer.
Bob Ackles, the Dolphins' vice president of football
operations, says that the deal would have to be done before the draft
and that it's "unlikely" that the Dolphins will be able to sign Smith.
** Dolphins Sign New Assistant Coach
The Dolphins have hired Les Koenning as an offensive assistant
coach. Koenning has been a college assistant coach for the past 16
years and was most recently the receivers coach at Texas A&M
My Comments:
I'm glad to see Parmalee and Hollier back. While neither are
exactly lighting the world on fire with their play, both are steady
contributors that add a measure of consistency to the team.
The re-signing of Hollier also takes some pressure off of the
team on draft day. The Dolphins now don't have to find a starting
linebacker in the draft and that gives them more flexibility as far as
trading picks or taking chances on unproven players with a lot of
potential.
And because the Dolphins won't need to find another starting
linebacker, they may be more willing to trade the number 2 pick to the
Ravens to get Boulware.
The situation with the draft has now changed, with the signing
of Hollier and the trade of the Rams to move up to the number one
spot. The Rams will almost certainly take Orlando Pace, which means
that the Raiders and Seattle will hold the key to whether or not the
Dolphins can trade up and get Boulware.
The Raiders wanted Pace, but with Pace gone, the most likely
candidates for them to take are defensive tackle Darrell Russell and
cornerback Shawn Springs. If the Raiders take Russell, the Seahawks
will probably take Springs and the Dolphins can then get Boulware.
On the other hand, if the Raiders take Shawn Springs, the
Seahawks are more likely to take Boulware. They are likely to take
either Boulware or Darrell Russell.
So the signing of Hollier, combined with the Rams' trade, has
just made the draft even more exciting. I can hardly wait!!
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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