*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Mar 30, 1999: -- R.Potts Agrees To Deal --
** Potts Agrees to Deal
The Miami Herald is reporting this morning that the Dolphins
have agreed to a 2 year deal with fullback Roosevelt Potts. Potts was
one of the free agents that the Dolphins were looking at following the
1998 season.
Originally with the Colts, Potts showed flashes of talent in
his first several years, but got injured and then had a falling out
with the Indianapolis coaching staff. He was released in 1997 and
briefly signed by the Dolphins at the end of that season, but signed
with Baltimore last year as a free agent.
** 27 Players visit the Dolphins
A group of 22 college players that will be eligible for the
draft this year worked out for the Dolphins yesterday. The most
significant of the players that worked out for Miami include RB
Edgerrin James (UM), RB Sedrick Irvin (Mich. St.), and QB Scott
Covington (UM).
All of the players working out on Monday were invited because
they had some local affiliation with Miami. NFL rules allow each team
to hold workouts for "local" college players. That means that they
either grew up in Miami or attended college there. Later, the
Dolphins will have another workout for college players who are not
local to Miami.
The complete list of players who worked out is: DB Nate Brooks
(University of Miami), DB Jason Bostic (Georgia Tech), DB Johndale
Carty (Utah State), DB Reginald Doster (Central Florida), DB Billy
Gustin (Purdue), DB Gana Joseph (Oklahoma), DB Mike McKenzie
(Memphis), DB Troy Saunders (Florida State), DL Charles Dorsey
(Auburn), DL Derrick Ham (UM), DL Michael Lawson (UM), DL Jonathan
Nance (Washington State), DL James Roscoe (Clark Atlanta), LB Damon
Cogdell (West Virginia), LB Antron Wright (Bethune-Cookman), QB Pat
Bonner (FAMU), QB Scott Covington (UM), RB Autry Denson (Notre Dame),
RB Sedrick Irvin (Mich. St.), RB Edgerrin James (UM), RB Nick
Williams (UM), and WR James Adderley (Bethune-Cookman).
In addition to the 22 college players who worked out, the
Dolphins also had 5 other free agents in for workouts. None of these
players was ever on an NFL team, but has been out of college for at
least a year.
These players are DB Martavius Houston, FB Bryan O'Neal,
LB Nate Stinson, LB Mark Word, and S Bart Thomas. Bart Thomas is the
older brother of linebacker Zach Thomas who played with Zach at Texas
Tech.
** Tony Martin's Trail set for May 3rd.
Tony Martin was denied a postponement of his trail on money
laundering charges on Monday and had his trial date set to May 3rd.
That means that Martin will only be able to play in the NFL in 1999
if he is acquitted or if the penalty is not too severe if he's
convicted.
If there's anyone left out there who doesn't know about
Martin's situation, he is being charged with money laundering for
helping a friend make purchases. His "friend" was convicted on drug
charges back in the 1980's and spent 7 years in jail.
Martin is not charged with any direct involvement in the
selling or distribution of drugs, but apparently made several
purchases for his friend and was reimbursed with money that was
allegedly obtained illegally.
Martin had been seeking a trial postponement so that he could
guarantee that he would be available to play in the 1999 season, but
now he will have to wait until the trial is over.
My Comments:
Potts was a very good player in his early years, but has gone
downhill somewhat. Still, he should be a competent backup and could
possibly challenge Pritchett for his starting job if he works hard.
The most interesting aspect of the 22 players invited to Miami
to work out is that 8 of them were defensive backs and only 1 was a
wide receiver. Given all the attention paid to the offensive problems
from last fall, you'd think that JJ would be looking at more offensive
players - especially wide receivers.
Is JJ's interest in defensive backs an indication that he's
dissatisfied with his current group? I doubt it, but it could be an
indication that he's thinking about trading one or more of his current
crop. However, I think it is fair to say that JJ is still not as
happy with the safety position as he wants to be.
It's important to keep an eye on the players that Miami has in
for workouts because JJ draws most of his rookies from players that he
actually sees. If a player is invited for a workout, the team has at
least a passing interest in him. Last year, Avery was one of the
players that JJ had at a workout and the year before, Yatil Green
worked out for the team before the draft.
Plus, most of the undrafted rookie free agents are players
that the Dolphins have in for workouts before the draft.
I think it's very interesting that Edgerrin James was at the
Dolphins camp to work out. This will, of course, fuel the
speculation that JJ will try to trade up to draft him. Or JJ could
be throwing up a smoke screen.
The obvious conclusion to draw from the attendance at the
workouts is that JJ wants James and thinks that he might be able to
trade up to get him - perhaps throwing in a defensive back in the
process.
The problem with that scenario is that it's almost April and
JJ deliberately tries to obscure what he's up to around draft time.
He deliberately doesn't do the obvious - so you can't draw any
definite conclusions from the workouts yesterday.
But it's interesting, nonetheless.
As to Tony Martin, I would have no objection to the Dolphins
signing him now as long as they put in a contingency clause to protect
the team if Martin goes to jail. The more I learn about this case,
the less likely I think it is that he'll go to jail, but given the way
the American legal system works, you can never be sure.
But right now, he'll come at a real bargain price (relatively)
and this would be the best time to sign him - as long as the team
could get their money back if he goes on an extended sojourn to
Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
For those who want to look up each and every college prospect
listed above, check out Prinz's website below. Most of the major
sports news agencies don't have their draft info up yet, but Prinz has
a full listing of college players and some analysis on each one.
Related Info:
[Return to Dolphins News]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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