by
Chris Shashaty, Phins.com Columnist
"; echo "Printer-Friendly Version"; echo "\n"; ?>
With
the start of camp rapidly approaching (August 1), Miami Dolphins first round
pick Vontae Davis remains unsigned. This seems to be the norm across the NFL, with
only 4 of the 32 first rounders under contract as of this writing.
So
no worries, right?
Wrong.
Agents
typically rely on the contracts of players drafted above and below their
clients to help set the parameters for a deal in terms of salary, bonus, and
term.
As
of this writing, the closest signed player to
With
so many players still unsigned just days away from the start of training camp,
it is difficult to see how the right chips will fall into place in time for
But
there’s more to consider here.
With
the NFL’s labor situation on the brink of potential chaos, agents could be
posturing for terms that will best serve their clients should the rules of the
game be turned on their proverbial ear. Remember that, in May of 2008, owners
decided to opt out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. This would
mean that the 2010 season would not have a salary cap limit and that a work
stoppage in 2011 would be imminent unless a new agreement is reached
beforehand.
Therefore,
long term deals are not necessarily in a rookie’s best interest at the present
time. Teams, on the other hand, would like to avoid doing short term rookie
deals as they could have adverse consequences down the road. These two
positions are not easily reconciled.
Another
potential complication in getting
Four
years ago,
Admitted
Brown in regards to his 2005 holdout, “Unfortunately I missed camp and I think
that slowed me down a little bit”.
Actually,
it slowed him down a lot. Brown didn’t get rolling on offense until late
September, and was a part-timer for the rest of the season. In fact, if it
weren’t for Ricky Williams, the 2005 Dolphins (9-7) wouldn’t have finished
above .500.
Interestingly,
Now
he has to show them the money.
When
one considers the current lack of salary parameters, the looming CBA issue, and
This
we know: the Dolphins cannot afford for
As
is always the case with rookies,
Neither
of these issues is uncommon with rookies, and both are correctable with hard
work under the supervision of Dolphin coaches. The Dolphins don’t want to waste
one minute in getting
Fortunately,
they hedged their bets by drafting
This
is what happened to Brown in 2005. Yet if Brown made a rookie mistake, they
could just line up and run the next play. If
This
is why history is against the success of rookie corners that are late to camp,
especially in today’s NFL; swimming in playbook terminology, thinking instead
of reacting, is a recipe for disaster.
Realistically,
a tardy
This
is not what the Dolphins had in mind when they drafted him. Yet this is the
fate that likely waits if his contract situation isn’t settled, and soon.