*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 22, 1998: -- Rashaan Salaam Acquired in Trade --
** Dolphins Trade For Rashaan Salaam **
According to a report on ESPN this afternoon, the Dolphins
have traded a conditional pick in the 1999 draft for Bears running
back Rashaan Salaam. The pick is unknown at this time.
Salaam was a former number one pick of the Chicago Bears and a
Heisman Trophy winner. At 6'1" and 225 pounds, he was expected to
bring a bruising running attack to Chicago, but he has been hampered
with injuries since his time in the NFL and has never fulfilled the
promise of his college career.
His best season was his rookie year in 1995, when he started
12 games for the Bears and rushed 296 times for 1074 yards (a 3.6 ypc
average), scored 10 rushing touchdowns, and caught 7 passes for 56
yards.
Since then, Salaam has started only 9 games in 2 years and has
rushed for about 600 yards. Last year, Rashaan played in only 3 games
for the Bears and gained just 112 yards.
** Perriman Waived and Tucker Signed **
In addition to Irving Spikes, wide receiver Brett Perriman was
waived today, just 2 months after the Dolphins had re-signed him to a
one year contract.
Perriman was signed last fall after being waived by the Kansas
City Chiefs in the middle of the season. For the Dolphins, he played
in 8 games, starting 5 and caught 19 passes for 309 yards and one
touchdown.
The Dolphins have also signed free agent tight end Syii
Tucker, formerly of the Carolina Panthers. The 6'4", 236 pound Tucker
was the only rookie free agent to make the Panthers roster last year,
but he underwent arthoscopic knee surgery and didn't see any action
with the Panthers last year.
He attended the University of Miami, where he had 41
receptions for 495 yards and five touchdowns during his career,
averaging 13.8 yards per reception.
My Comments:
I suppose I should just stop being surprised at JJ's moves and
accept them. It would make my life a whole lot easier.
But it would be more boring, that's for sure.
The purpose of this move is fairly clear - the more players
they have in camp competing for that starting running back spot, the
more likely they will be to find a starter by the fall.
It does cast into doubt the statement that JJ made a few weeks
ago about being happy with his running backs, however. Lawrence
Phillips and Rashaan Salaam have never lived up to their pre-draft
hype and Karim Abdul-Jabbar has been a good back, but not a great
one.
And John Avery is a completely unknown quantity.
It should, however, make for an interesting training camp.
Don't forget, though, that Rashaan Salaam still carries a
first round draft pick's salary with him and the Dolphins will now
assume that salary. I don't know how much that is, but it's probably
a $1 million to $2 million hit on the salary cap.
Oh, and one more note on the Salaam deal - Armando Salguero of
the Herald reported this morning that the Dolphins were on the phone
to the agent of Raymont Harris. I guess they were talking to Chicago,
but not to Harris.
I just love seeing Salguero get it wrong.
On a different note, I was telling a friend a couple of weeks
ago that I didn't think that Brett Perriman would start this year, no
matter how well he had healed in the off-season.
The reason I said that was that JJ prefers younger, faster
players. From that standpoint, Perriman has two strikes against him
because he's neither younger nor faster.
Perriman's release could mean that JJ is happy with the wide
receivers he's got, but if he is, then he must know something that I
don't know. I hope that it means that Yatil Green is progressing well
in his recovery.
As for Syii Tucker - he's probably just training camp cannon
fodder. Not to take anything away from him, but it's doubtful that
he'll unseat anyone currently on the roster.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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