*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Jul 17, 1998: -- Avery and Shaw Sign --
** John Avery and Scott Shaw Sign
This morning, the Dolphins signed first round draft choice
John Avery to a 5 year deal. Avery was taken by the Dolphins with the
29th pick overall in this year's draft after trading out of a higher
position with the Green Bay Packers. Details of Avery's contract are
unknown at this time, but his salary is likely to be in the $1 million
per year range.
Talks were reportedly going slowly between Avery and the
Dolphins because of disputes about the length of the contract. The
Dolphins wanted a 5 or 6 year deal, which is consistent with most
first round draft picks. Avery's agent was said to be holding out for
a 4 year contract so that Avery could become a free agent after just 4
years in the league.
Also, 5th round draft pick Scott Shaw was signed to a contract
today for 3 years at a salary of approximately $638,000, which
includes a signing bonus of $98,000. Shaw and Avery are the 4th and
5th draft picks to sign this year.
With training camp opening for rookies next Tuesday, July
21st, the 5 draftees that remain unsigned are CB Patrick Surtain, LB
Brad Jackson, DE Kenny Mixon, WR Larry Shannon and QB John Dutton. As
of right now, the only information available on these 5 is that Brad
Jackson is reportedly close to a deal.
** Tim Bowens Threatens Holdout
Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Tim Bowens, has threatened that
his client may hold out of Dolphins training camp next week if he
doesn't get the kind of contract that he's looking for. Rosenhaus is
asking for a long term contract in the range of $5 million per year
and the last known offer of the Dolphins is about $3 million.
As the Dolphins' franchise player, Bowens is guaranteed a
contract that averages what the top 5 defensive tackles in the league
made last season. However, with the increased television revenues,
the $2.8 million guaranteed salary that Bowens must get will be low
for a franchise player in the coming season.
My Comments:
Whew! It's always a relief when the number one guy signs,
because he'll have the biggest salary and the highest expectations.
In this case, it's particularly important, because Avery needs to be
in camp from the very start if he's going to compete for the starting
running back position.
Of the remaining players still not under contract, the one
that I'm most concerned about is Patrick Surtain. Mid-second rounders
seem to be hard for the Dolphins to sign these last few years and
Surtain will need every minute of training camp to get ready for the
season.
I would expect that Larry Shannon, Kenny Mixon, Brad Jackson
and John Dutton will sign over the weekend sometime.
I don't think that it's very smart for Bowens to sit out much
of training camp. He's good - but he's not that good - and JJ doesn't
have to pay him a cent if he doesn't show up. I would expect that if
he and the Dolphins can't come to some kind of arrangement in 2 weeks
or so, that he'll report and play for the paltry $2.8 million that
he's guaranteed this year. Then he'll be a free agent again at the
end of 1998.
Of course, the Dolphins could use the franchise tag on him
again next year, but that has two drawbacks. First of all, it would
guarantee Bowens the average that the top 5 defensive tackles are
making in the league in 1998, which will be in the $5 million to $6
million per year range.
And second, the Dolphins won't be able to use the franchise
tag on Richmond Webb, who is in the last year of his contract.
It will be interesting to see how this drama plays out.
Rosenhaus imagines himself to be the toughest agent in sports and will
drive a hard bargain for Bowens. Bob Ackles has his work cut out for
him.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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