*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Oct 14, 1997: -- Barnett Waived --
** Fred Barnett Waived **
The Dolphins announced yesterday that they have waived veteran
wide receiver Fred Barnett. Barnett was the starter opposite OJ
McDuffie at wide receiver at the beginning of this year, but lost his
starting position to Lamar Thomas last week after he had failed to
perform well in the first 5 games of this season.
Barnett was originally signed in the spring of 1996 to a 5
yard deal worth approximately $8.5 million. As part of that deal,
Barnett received a $2.1 million signing bonus. According to NFL
rules, that signing bonus was counted against the salary cap equally
over each year of his contract. However, now that Barnett has been
waived, approximately $1.2 million of that signing bonus will be
accelerated to count against the Dolphins' salary cap this year - if
Barnett is claimed off waivers by another team.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Barnett must pass through
the waiver process because he was released after the October 7th
trading deadline. This means that another team may be able to claim
him. Of course, that also means that they must pick up the rest of
his contract with the Dolphins, which would amount to about $5
million over the next 3 years.
If he isn't picked up off of waivers - I have no idea what
happens to his salary cap numbers, but the Post implied that there
would be no additional hit on the Dolphins' salary cap if he was not
picked up off the waiver wire.
Last year, Barnett tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his
right knee during training camp and had the ligament replaced with a
new ligament from a cadaver. He made a miraculous recovery and even
though he only played in 9 games last year, he ended up second on the
team in receptions and receiving yardage for 1996, behind OJ McDuffie.
This year it appeared as if Barnett was well on the road to an
outstanding season when he set a personal best time in the 40 yard
dash this spring. However, a series of minor knee problems apparently
kept him from playing up to his former ability and so far this year,
he had only caught 17 passes for 166 yards in 6 games.
The waiver of Barnett leaves the Dolphins with one open roster
spot. As of right now, there are no plans to sign anyone else to the
roster.
Now that Barnett is gone, wide receiver Brian Manning will
most likely be the 4th wide receiver in the Dolphins rotation. Both
he and Qadry Ismail will get increased practice time and when Brett
Perriman recovers from his surgery, he will also get a chance to
compete for that position.
** Clayton Holmes Waived **
Immediately after the NFL approved Clayton Holmes'
reinstatement to the league from a suspension for substance abuse, the
Dolphins waived Holmes from their roster.
Holmes was placed on a 4 game suspension this summer for
violation of the league's substance abuse policy, but was reinstated
by the league yesterday.
Since the Dolphins were granted a roster exemption for Holmes
while he was on suspension, releasing him does not give the team any
extra openings on the roster.
** George Teague to Start at Free Safety **
Jimmy Johnson announced that George Teague would start at free
safety this week in place of Corey Harris, who had been the Dolphins'
starter at that position since the beginning of the season.
Harris, a former cornerback with Seattle, was signed as a free
agent by the Dolphins in the off-season. From the beginning, he was
expected to play safety with the Dolphins, but has given up a number
of big plays this season from that position, including a 70 yard pass
to Wayne Chrebet in the Jets game this past Sunday.
Teague was also signed as a free agent by the Dolphins this
summer and lost the competition with Shawn Wooden to start at strong
safety. He was also hampered by injuries through part of training
camp and has since been working at both the strong and free safety
positions.
Against the Jets this Sunday, Teague replaced Corey Harris at
free safety in the middle of the game and played well enough to earn
the starting position.
My Comments:
While Fred Barnett has been a major disappointment this year
in terms of performance, I think that it is a mistake for JJ to
release him at this time. Barnett was not a troublemaker or a
malcontent. He was a steadying influence on the younger players and
provided a good example of work ethic, discipline, motivation and
attitude.
The offense finally had their breakthrough game on Sunday and
just as that unit begins to solidify and perform up to expectations,
JJ waives one of their most respected members. Marino had finally put
the questions about him to rest and now JJ comes along and begins
stirring the pot again.
If it ain't broke....
And what does waiving Barnett accomplish? It doesn't appear
to accomplish anything that I can see. Unlike some other former
players, I don't think that keeping Barnett on the roster would have
been bad for the team. I think that his influence would have been a
positive one on the team for the rest of the year.
As for Clayton Holmes - well, that's no surprise. And no
loss.
The moving of Teague to the starting free safety job is
probably a good thing. Teague had expected to start when he came to
Miami and now he will get the chance. The experiment with Corey
Harris didn't work out as well as JJ hoped. It appears that Harris
hasn't been able to adjust to the job of a safety the way that they
thought he might.
I figure that you'll still see a lot of Harris in multiple
defensive back situations, but he just won't be asked to cover the
deep man in passing situations any more.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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