*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Feb 18, 1998: -- Donnalley Signed --
The Dolphins signed offensive lineman Kevin Donnalley to a 4
year deal yesterday for a reported $14 million with about a $4 million
signing bonus. If that figure is correct, the Dolphins got Donnalley
for a lot less money that they originally had thought to spend.
Original estimates put Donnalley's contract close to $20 million.
Donnalley was originally drafted by the Oilers in 1991 and has
been with them ever since. He has started every game for the last
three years at guard and has a reputation for being a hard-hitting and
tough player. Dolphins offensive line coach Larry Beightol said of
Donnalley "He is Ron Heller".
Donnalley will most likely start at right guard for the
Dolphins in place of Everett McIver. McIver is an unrestricted free
agent who the Dolphins may now let go.
In other news, the Dolphins appear to have lost in their bid
to bring in John Randle. Randle was apparently touring the Dolphins'
training facility when he got the call that the Vikings had met his
contract demands. He reportedly cut his tour short and flew home to
Texas.
The Dolphins are still looking at possible free agent
defensive linemen, but the pickings are slim at this time. The only
free agent defensive end that the Dolphins are said to be interested
in is Tony Bennett of the Colts, but Gabe Wilkins, John Copeland and
Neil Smith are all still available.
On the offensive line, the Dolphins are going to have guard
Jim Pyne of the Bucs in for a visit tomorrow and have also expressed
an interest in Joe Panos of the Eagles. Other available guards
include Aaron Taylor of the Packers, Todd Rucci, Brian Habib and Mark
Schlereth.
Of the Dolphins' free agents, no one has signed with any other
team at this time and Craig Erickson cancelled his trip to Chicago to
talk to the Bears. Bernie Parmalee is going to talk to Seattle and
James Brown is going to visit Arizona.
Darrin Smith will be in town on Thursday to talk to the
Dolphins about a job at linebacker and Panthers' tackle Matt Campbell
will also visit Miami, to talk to the Dolphins about possibly being a
replacement for James Brown, if he leaves.
Also still available is Dana Stubblefield, but his agent says
that he's working on a deal that will make him the highest paid player
in the league. The Dolphins have not shown any significant interest
in Stubblefield.
My Comments:
The news about Donnalley is good and hopefully he'll bring
some aggressiveness to an offensive line that has suffered from being
too passive over the last several years.
Maybe we can coax Ron Heller out of retirement to play next to
him at right tackle. Wouldn't that be an offensive line?
It now looks like John Randle was only in Miami to force the
Vikings to meet his demands. It doesn't appear that he ever had any
intention of accepting the Dolphins' offer and only wanted to push the
Vikings into giving him what he felt he deserved.
It will be interesting to see how the Vikings manage to sign
Robert Smith and Doug Evans with the money that they have already
spent.
I think I now see why the Vikings put the transition tag on
Randle, instead of the franchise tag. This way, they could ensure
that they would get him back by being able to match any offer and
Randle doesn't get insulted by having to accept a lower contract than
he thinks he's worth.
John Randle would have really improved the Dolphins' defense
dramatically, so it's a real disappointment to see him remain in
Minnesota. About the only thing that can botch the deal now is if the
Vikings ownership mess prevents them from honoring their part of the
contract.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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