What about Bob?

Yes, a very lame attempt in a headline to describe the purchase of a small stake in the Dolphins by singer/songwriter Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio.

An official announcement of the sale will be announced Thursday.

We take it Bill Parcells will not be on hand for the press conference, since he isn't even around when the Dolphins announce the acquisition of big-name free agent players.

We also take it Parcells won't be dressing in a turquoise leather outfit while leading the conga line to the beat of Estefan's Miami Sound Machine.

Besides, my understanding is Parcells is partial to the macarena.

- AP Photo

The Dolphins quarterback wanted to make that clear after an imposter started posting Tweets about him sucking down a 40-ounce Porterhouse and a bottle of red wine for dinner one night last week.

Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald chronicles this and a few other phony Twitter accounts attributed to professional athletes, including the one about Ben Roethlisberger admitting on his Twitter that he was being treated for skin cancer. Not true. Big Ben doesn't have a Twitter account, and the only malady he's dealing with is a sore knee from practice the other day.

(Thanks to M'Asia for passing this one along.)

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald included the following paragraph in his "Florida Sports Buzz" column that was posted late last night:

• Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, who has a residence in Miami, has told people he would love to join the Dolphins if his legal problems are resolved. The Jets and Buccaneers are reportedly interested. Burress will appear in court next month and faces the possibility of a 3 ½ year sentence for carrying an unlicensed firearm.

According to this report, Burress has already had preliminary discussions with the Bucs.

Miami hasn't had a No. 1 receiver since they traded Chris Chambers midway through the 2007 season.

The Dolphins drafted Pat White (former QB from West Virginia) to play wideout, but he figures to be a slot receiver at best — much like they already have with Ted Ginn Jr. and Greg Camarillo.

-Chris Mascaro

Jake Long signed a lucrative rookie contract after the Dolphins made him the top pick in last year's draft -- a five-year pact that included $30 million guaranteed.

The deal was potentially worth $57.5 million total, and according to Harvey Fialkov of the Miami Sun-Sentinel, Long's Pro Bowl selection (he replaced Jason Peters on the AFC squad) appears to have triggered an escalator in the deal. Fialkov cited contract figures from the NFLPA website that showed Long will receive big raises each of the next five seasons.

They are as follows:

2009 - $3.75 $6.5 M
2010 - $4.5 to $9M
2011 - $5.25 to $10M
2012 - $6 to 10M
2013 - $6.75 to $10.75M

That's a lot of dough, but Long, who just turned 24 earlier this month, will be the foundation of Miami's O-line for many years to come.

And it seems like he handles himself well. Said new teammate Jake Grove: "You don't really see him. He's quiet. He always makes his block. You don't hear much out of him. He's not a real flashy guy. He gives a solid, consistent performance. Obviously, he made the Pro Bowl last year. He's a great player, a hard worker. There's no telling how good he can be.''

-Chris Mascaro

(AP Photo)

Bill Parcells may not be as friendly now as he was in his early days in "The Dungeon" with Mr. G, but the guy is as quotable as ever.

Take yesterday, when Parcells, Miami's executive vice president of football operations, was asked if the decision to bring back Jason Taylor was a difficult one.

"If we can get Lawrence Taylor to come back, we'll take him, too," Parcells told ESPN's John Clayton.

Is that a subtle nod to his clash with Taylor before last season about whether the defensive end should appear on Dancing with the Stars (L.T. appeared on the show this season)? Or simply a play on their like surnames? Probably the latter, but with Parcells I wouldn't rule out the possibility of both.

-Chris Mascaro

(AP Photo)

Jason Taylor is coming back to the AFC East again .... with the Dolphins ... a year after being traded to the Redskins.

Not a bad deal for the Tuna. Tell your veteran pass rusher to take a hike if he'd rather compete on "Dancing With The Stars" than particpate in the off-season program, get a second-round pick for your troubles, and then bring the guy back a year later.

Very worthwhile transaction for the Dolphins, who will need all the help they can get trying to defend their AFC East title.

UPDATE: IRA reminded us of Taylor's disdain for Jets' fans. AOL Fanhouse's Michael David Smith captures that sentiment with the headline from this item: "Jason Taylor sees the Jets as slightly preferable to suicide."

(AP Photo)

You really thought Jimmy Buffet would open a new stadium with a ribbon-cutting ceremony? No way.

At a special press conference to announce that Dolphin Stadium would now be referred to as Landshark Stadium on Friday, (Buffet's Margaritaville enterprise produces Landshark Lager in conjunction with Anheuser-Busch) Buffet played a three-song set for the gathered guests.

Said Dolphins owner Stephen Ross to BizBash Florida: “Jimmy Buffet is known and loved worldwide for his music and his portrayal of the tropical lifestyle that is synonymous with South Florida, and we are honored to have him bring his unique culture to our organization."

The Marlins will play at the 'Shark Tank' all summer, but the first football game will be a Dolphins' preseason game on August 22 against Carolina (their regular-season home opener is a Monday nighter, Week 2 against the Colts).

Here is some video of the event, courtesy of ESPN. Even more can be seen here.

Enjoy all you parrotheads.

-Chris Mascaro

(Photo by Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press / January 7, 2009)

The former Jets quarterback is the unquestioned starter for the Dolphins heading into the 2009 season. But Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that the team is prepping Chad Henne to be the starter in 2010 and beyond.

What's that mean for Pennington? It could mean he'll be looking for a new team, because the Dolphins signed him to a two-year deal after Pennington was dumped by the Jets.

Salguero reports that the team feels confident enough in Henne as their long-term starter that they will not make a bid for Jay Cutler in the event the Broncos trade the crybaby ... er ... the fourth-year quarterback who was upset that the team considered the possibility of trading for Matt Cassel.

(I'm not much into trivia, but it would be my guess that if Chad H. replaces Chad P. next season, it would be the first time in NFL history that a quarterback named Chad would replace another quarterback named Chad.

The former Giants safety, released after one season with the Raiders, has signed up with the Dolphins, where he'll attempt to pick off passes by Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff, Erik Ainge or any other dude who throws passes for the Jets next season.

That's the word from Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, who reports that a source indicated Tuna told then team owner Wayne Huizenga he would exercise his option to leave the team, even though there were three years and $9 million left on his contract.

Writes Salguero:

Even as the Dolphins were in the middle of their playoff run in late December and football czar Bill Parcells was asking players to remain focused -- going so far as to manage and trim quarterback Chad Pennington's interview schedule the week before the New York Jets game -- Parcells was also thinking of his future, perhaps with another team.

The new clause grants Parcells those same privileges throughout the life of the contract.

Dolphins fans were in a bit of a tizzy a few weeks back when news broke of a clause in Bill Parcells' contract that allowed him to opt out of his contract - with full pay - in the event of an ownership change in Miami.

Then Parcells announced he was staying with the Dolphins, and that was that ... or so it seemed.

Now comes word from ESPN.com that Tuna still has the option to walk away from new team owner Steve Ross. All it takes is 30 days notice.

You tell me: Who has it better than Tuna? I mean, the guy can wake up one morning, decide he's had enough, and tell the owner he's done. And still get $3 mil a year for the remainder of the contract.

He has 30 days from now to decide.

Now that Steven Ross has completed the purchase of his 95 percent share of the Dolphins from team owner Wayne Huizenga, a clause in Parcells' contract was triggered that allows him to walk away from the team - with his remaining $9 million in salary. Parcells negotiated the "out" clause in his deal last year amidst (is that a word, or is it "amid" ... whatever .. Gutes will tell me) concerns about a possible sale.

The hope here is that Parcells doesn't go anywhere. With all the coaching jobs filled (except the Raiders, but who the hell wants to work for Al Davis? ... Tom Cable, 'cause he's got nowhere else to go) and with only the Browns' general manager job open (it's about to be filled by George Kokinis, but why would Parcells wants to be in charge of a coach he didn't hire?), the only thing Parcells can logically do if he leaves Miami is walk away for a year and resurface somewhere else in 2009.

Tuna doesn't owe Ross anything, but it would be a shame to see him leave after doing such fine work in turning the Dolphins from a 1-15 disaster into a playoff team in one year.

He has given strong indications that he's staying. But if you've ever watched Parcells before, you know that nothing's certain.

No, I'm not talking about former Toronto Argonaut Ricky Williams (pictured right).

Turns out Miami VP of football operations Bill Parcells has had his eye on a tough defensive end from north of the border, as he signed Cameron Wake, a 25-year old defensive end with the British Columbia Lions who earned the CFL's defensive player of the year honors the past two years and played his college ball at Penn State. He had 28 sacks on the season, 12 more than his closest competitor.

For you Long Islanders reading, Wake was a teammate of former C.W. Post star Ian Smart with the B.C. Lions. But I digress...

The Dolphins signed the 260-pounder to the richest deal a CFL convert has ever received — four years, $4.9 million with a $1 million signing bonus. Not too shabby. He will be added as a d-end in Miami's 3-4, a unit that was eighth in the league in sacks with 40.

Wake picked Miami out of a long list of suitors, and according to his agent, Paul Sheehy, the Phins AFC East rival, the Buffalo Bills, came in second.

"Overall, the Dolphins were the best fit for his skill set," Sheehy told ESPN.com's Tim Graham. "[Dolphins general manager] Jeff Ireland and [assistant director of player personnel] Brian Gaine did a great job of explaining what his role would be and came up with a great starting proposal out of the gate that got the deal done swiftly.

Sheehy then added: "Buffalo really put a great package together. They did a wonderful job recruiting him."

Guess it wasn't enough.

Wake wasn't drafted out of college. He signed as a free agent with the Giants, but didn't stick and found himself in Canada soon thereafter. Check here and here for some video highlights of Wake, who looks like the real deal.

Check back tomorrow for my first installment of Super Bowl fun facts! (I'm boning up for my shot at Super Bowl tix.)

(Photo by Adrian Wyld / Associated Press)

There was plenty of speculation that the former Chiefs president/general manager/chief operating officer/chief executive office/chief cook and bottle washer might be honing in on Bill Parcells' turf with the Dolphins.

But Carl Peterson said definitively he won't be joining team new Dolphins owner Steve Ross, who was the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars owner when Peterson was the team's GM.

Miami Herald NFL columnist Armando Salguero has his doubts, which he expresses in this piece from today's newspaper.

It's a highly interesting scenario:

As part of his four-year contract with the Dolphins, Parcells negotiated an opt-out clause in the event that team owner Wayne Huizenga, who lured Parcells to Miami after last season, sold the team.

Well, Huizenga has sold nearly his entire stake in the team to New York real estate developer Steve Ross. The deal is expected to be completed in the coming days; once the contracts are signed, Parcells has 30 days to exercise his opt-out clause.

There have been signals from Huizenga, Ross and even some players, including linebacker Joey Porter, that Parcells is staying with the organization. But there have been no public statements from Parcells himself, which leaves you to wonder whether the Tuna will actually stay. Or else declare himself a free agent executive and/or coach.

Consider Parcells' past history of ownership changes, and you'll see why Dolphins fans should not be under any assumptions about Tuna's future:

Continue reading "Is Tuna really staying in South Beach? " »

This according to Dave Hyde's story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Not sure whether this is an ironclad assurance of Parcells that he won't leave the Dolphins, even though under the terms of his contract he can bolt Miami with no financial penalty.

There's been some speculation that Parcells would leave the team and field more offers - the Jets, possibly? I doubt it, considering that Woody Johnson is intent on the coach/general manager set-up, and Parcells' presence would potentially create issues with that setup.

Then again, how do you not at least consider Parcells if you're Johnson? Sure, Tuna left the Jets and Johnson after the 2000 season. But with his track record of turning things around, he'd have to at least consider it.

I really do hope Parcells will stay in Miami and not leave after just one season - especially if he's got designs on the Jets' job. It would just seem weird, although if the guy has it in his contract he can leave, I suppose anything's possible.

Just seems like it would be a little creepy, that's all.

So much for the MVP and the MVP runner-up getting to the second round of the playoffs. Oh, well. Fire away.

Now that MVP Peyton Manning is out of the playoffs, we'll see what happens with the guy we voted for the award. We went with Chad Pennington over Manning, giving credit to a player who helped his team improve by 10 WINS over last season.

Now he goes against the Ravens today in a 1 p.m. AFC wild card game. It could come down to how well Miami's "wildcat" offense performs against the Ravens' smothering defense.

The Ravens were one of the few teams this season to successfully defend against the offense, which features a heavy dose of direct snaps to running back Ronnie Brown and plenty of misdirection plays featuring Pennington, receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and running back Ricky Williams.

As solid as the Ravens were in their regular season win, the Dolphins have actually tinkered with some of the formations since then, and could fool Baltimore’s second-ranked defense a time or two.

“They have expanded that package, they've grown it,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “It looks more and more like the complete package. They run every one of their runs off of it. They run a number of different passes off it, expanded the gadget plays off of it. So, it's tougher to defend than it was earlier in the year.”

Take that, Eric Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum!!

UPDATE: I have a vote in the AP post-season awards, and I will tell you that I did not select Pennington as my Comeback Player of the Year. One reason I didn't vote for him was because he'd already won the award. Another reason was that Kerry Collins was equally deserving for the award, especially because he essentially came back from nowhere last season.

I will tell you that I did not completely ignore Pennington in the AP votes. The AP asks that we not divulge our votes until after the awards come out, so I will not tell you how Pennington was represented on my ballot.

As for the two other awards that came out, I voted for the winners in each one: Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan as offensive rookie of the year and Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo as defensive rookie of the year.

Oh, my.

Chris Mortensen is reporting that Bill Parcells has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave the organization - with his full salary - in the event that Wayne Huizenga sells his majority stake in the team.

With Huizenga poised to execute that sale to New York real estate magnate Stephen Ross, Parcells will have 30 days from the time of the closing to inform Ross what his intentions are. If Tuna leaves, he would get $12 million in salary, and if he were to join another team, that team would owe the Dolphins nothing in compensation.

Now tell me. If you're Parcells and you have a chance to walk away with $12 mil AND have a chance to earn perhaps that much - if not more - by jumping to another team, how do you not walk?

Memo to Woody Johnson: If Tuna becomes available, you owe it to your fans and to yourself to bring him back to New York.

Bill Parcells.

In yet another example of why YouTube was invented, check out the Miami sound machine of the early 1990s.

We say if the Jets lose to Miami this Sunday, they should be forced to remake this song in those Miami zubaz pants. Conversely, if Miami wins, they should do a 2008 remix . . . with the zubaz pants! Bring in Jamie Foxx and Kanye West to produce.

Ok, it wasn't quite a wardrobe malfunction, but headline writing is clearly a game of "made you look."

On the Dolphins' game-winning drive over the Raiders, the headset in Chad Pennington's helmet malfunctioned. Instead of hearing offensive coordinator Dan Henning's voice, Pennington kept hearing a high-pitched squeal.

When he finally had a chance to get to the sidelines, he had the team's equipment manager cut off the communication device. The team used hand signals instead.

Tuna is used to his pass rushing linebackers doing their talking on the field, not in the papers.

A guy with the initials L.T. comes to mind. And we're not talking about that "fake" L.T. in San Diego, the running back named LaDainian.

So with Joey Porter ridiculing Pats quarterback Matt Cassel a second straight day, we can just see the smoke coming out of Parcells' ears. Not to mention the ear-to-ear grin of Bill Belichick, who has some of the easiest bulletin board material of his career.

Dolphins at Pats on Sunday.

LIVE CHAT TODAY AT 11 AM!!

To the surprise of no one, Chad Pennington has been named the Dolphins' starter.

Pennington vs. Brett Favre in Miami on opening day.

Can't wait.

A melee broke out at Dolphins practice yesterday morning when former Giants cornerback Will Allen and receiver David Kircus got into a scuffle after a pass play. Allen threw a bunch of punches and Kircus turtled up and didn't fight back.

But once that ended, an unidentified offensive player went after Allen, and all the players jumped in for what turned out to be a few seconds of chaos before order was restored.

My sense is this is a good time for the Dolphins to break camp.

The Dolphins cut the former Giants kicker, who has been a regular on First Take, as well as other ESPN shows in recent years.

Not a surprise at all here. Feely is a guy unafraid to speak his mind, which is at odds with Bill Parcells' approach. Tuna wants his players to play hard and shut up; Feely was willing to do the former, but not so much the latter.

Could be.

The Dolphins have reportedly inquired into Chad Pennington's availability now that he's a free agent after being released earlier today by the Jets.

Remember, it was Dolphins football czar Bill Parcells who drafted Pennington with one of four first-round picks in 2000. And with none of the Dolphins' top three quarterbacks showing much in training camp, Pennington could be a good fit for Miami.

The Jets open the season at Miami on Sept. 7.

The subject came up in our live chat last week, when a participant asked if we had any insight into the battle for the Dolphins' left guard.

Uh ... left guard? On a team coming off a 1-15 season? Whoa.

We didn't have an answer then, but being the full service site we try to be, we did get an answer from our peeps in Miami.

At this point, Trey Darilek is the starter, but rookies Shawn Murphy and Donald Thomas have caught the coaches' eye and might contend for the job.

Don't be surpirsed to see it happen.

It was Glenn who was forced on Parcells in the first round of the 1996 draft, when Patriots owner Robert Kraft took away Parcells' personnel powers. During his first training camp with the Patriots, Glenn suffered a tweaked hammy, and at a press conference that turned out to be somewhat historic (I was lucky enough to be there, actually), Parcells was asked about Glenn's status.

"She's doing fine," Parcells said.

It created a firestorm of controversy, and further alienated Parcells from Kraft. After that season, in which the Patriots went to the Super Bowl and were beaten by Brett Favre's Packers, Parcells jumped to the Jets.

Glenn eventually became an elite receivers and was recruited by the Cowboys when Parcells was coach. Thus, I'm not surprised at all that Glenn would be rejoining Parcells. In fact, I predicted it last month.

Perhaps if I could predict football games like that, I might not be the butt of Newsday football handicapper and thoroughbred maniac Ed McNamara's cackling during the season.

Bill Parcells has finally broken his silence about Jason Taylor, and the Tuna says he wants to see JT in a Dolphins uniform this season.

"Why wouldn't you want one of the very best players?" Parcells said in an interview with The Associated Press during an appearance at a Gatorade promotional event.

Parcells said any reported rift with Taylor is "a fabrication."

Earlier this week, Taylor said he wants to play one more season, and has told the Dolphins he would agree to a trade if they wish.

Even with Parcells' public stance, it wouldn't shock us in the least if he turns around and trades Taylor. He has let a potential Hall of Fame defensive end twist in the wind too long by remaining silent on the situation until now. Besides, Taylor is not the prototype pass rusher for the Dolphins' 3-4 defense. He is a classic rush end in a 4-3 alignment, so there will have to be some alterations made, either in his game or in the team's defensive approach.

Terrell Owens weighed in on the Jason Taylor situation in Miami, accusing Dolphins football czar Bill Parcells of playing head games with players.

"I think [Parcells] plays too many head games with a lot of people," Owens said during a radio interview posted on Bloomberg.com. "What Jason was doing was beneficial for him. It's not football related; it has to do with his personal life. ... They're starting to realize he is kind of out of touch with a lot of today's athletes and things that are going on."

Of course, Parcells played his share of head games with Owens, as the two clashed during their brief time in Dallas when Parcells was the head coach. Tuna often referred to Owens as "the player."

Owens' revelation that Parcells plays head games with players leads us to this two word reaction: Ya think?!

It's kiss and make up time in Miami, where Dolphins coach Tony Sparano now says he wants Jason Taylor to be back with the Dolphins playing football this season.

It was only a few days ago that Sparano suggested Taylor had no intention of reporting to the Dolphins, and the coach didn't seem to mind that scenario.

Lawrence Taylor, the Giants' all-time great linebacker, was at Jason Taylor's celebrity golf tournament outside Miami and said he believes the sniping between JT and Bill Parcells can and will settle down once JT decides to report to the team.

Jason Taylor has indicated a willingness to play one more season, but now reserves the right to change his mind. Interesting choice of words he uses; Parcells often cites that phrase when he says things.

LT had his share of differences contractually with the Giants, but things always had a way of working out. He thinks the same can happen for JT.

That's the question teams must answer before they do a deal with the Dolphins for defensive end Jason Taylor, who said earlier today that he would like to play one more season before retiring and going into show business.

It's no secret the Dolphins and Taylor are at odds, with head coach Tony Sparano announcing several days ago that Taylor would not be at any of the team's off-season functions, up to and including training camp.

The Dolphins have gotten a few nibbles for Taylor, but they appear to be holding out for a meaningful draft pick. But if you're a team looking to rent Taylor for as little as one season, how high do you go?

Certainly not a first-round pick. And probably not a second-rounder either.

Jacksonville offered a fourth-rounder, but the Dolphins weren't biting.

Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor spoke about football for the first time since head coach Tony Sparano opined that the player had no plans to report to the team any time soon. Including training camp.

Taylor said that wasn't necessarily the case.

"I'm under contract with the Dolphins," he said at a charity golf event in Des Moinse, Iowa. "So again, I'm looking forward to playing some golf."

Yes, that clears it up.

The NFL has been onto Allen, the former Giants cornerback who now plays in Miami, for quite some time.

Apparently, Mr. Allen drew the attention of the league when a bank in Detroit notified the NFL about a suspiciously large amount of money that was wired to South Florida.

Allen is a former first-round pick of the Giants.

He was a decent, if unspectacular, cover corner.

Unfortunately, Neil Best could catch the football better than Allen.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said earlier today that it's his belief that veteran defensive end Jason Taylor will not only miss the rest of the team's off-season activites and mini-camps, but that he'll also be missing from training camp.

Translation: See ya.

Taylor, who has been a popular contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," has hinted he'd like to be playing elsewhere. And the Dolphins looked into trading him before and during the draft. But they couldn't find anyone willing to give up enough for a stud pass rusher.

But now that the head coach is saying that he doesn't expect Taylor to be at training camp, it's a fait accompli (sorry, I love that phrase when it's applicable) that Taylor is history in Miami.

Now he's with Miami, and he is being questioned by police after an altercation in a parking lot at a Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Evidently, it does not center on whether Allen was looking to buy silk sheets. One report suggests gambling debts were involved.

Allen is a former first-round pick of the Giants who bolted for Miami as a free agent. He had his moments in New York, but never did quite live up to the hype. Maybe if he had better hands than Neil Best, he might still be with Big Blue.

... you are correctamundo. The Dolphins just signed the Michigan offensive tackle to a five-year deal.

There's still plenty of time to hop on board the "What About Bob" mock draft contest, so fire away. Big Ben is Back! has plenty of work do on his spreadsheets, so y'all are doing a good job to keep him busy.

Still haven't heard from Black N Gold and Craig on the contest, but we assume two of our most loyal readers will weigh in shortly.

We'll be back with a lengthier mock draft - one that will invariably include some changes based on our discussions with folks around the league. Not to worry as far as the contest is concerned, though. I'll go with my original 10, plus the Giants' pick at No. 31.

Maybe Bill Parcells simply wanted to disrupt all the mock drafts being bandied about in recent days amidst reports the team is negotiating with Michigan tackle Jake Long.

Or maybe the Tuna and his Dolphins crew are blowing smoke in hopes of targeting another player. Say, a defensive player? Say, Vernon Gholston or Chris Long?

Interesting moment when GM Jeff Ireland, a Tuna disciple, was talking about what the team wanted from the first overall pick.

Here's how Miami Herald beat reporter Jeff Darlington described the moment:

"'Of course I want guys who have great upside -- this is the first pick in the draft," Ireland said. ``This guy is going to be, you hope he's a pillar of your defense for a long time. Of course you hope he's going to have upside. The economics to me . . .''

Ireland stopped mid-sentence, looking over at two reporters who were smiling about what they thought they just heard. Ireland gave the reporters a curious smirk of his own.

''Defense?'' one of the reporters said.

''What's that?'' Ireland responded. ``What did I say?''

''Pillar of your defense?'' someone else said.

The laughter in the room escalated as Ireland tried to rebound.

''Pillar of your defense, your offense, your team,'' Ireland said, as even he couldn't help but laugh at his own wording. ``That's a Freudian slip.''

All jokes aside, the moment quickly heated up sports radio and Internet message boards as they began debating the deeper meaning of Ireland's words.

Beach volleyball, that is.

The guy who replaced Dan Marino with the Dolphins - and did a decent job, mind you, especially in hindsight - is giving professional volleyball a shot.

Fiedler never did make it back to the NFL after suffering a shoulder injury while with the Jets. But the former Oceanside High star, one of our personal favorites because of his stand-up attitude in the NFL, still misses the sport.

Good luck with the volleyball thing, Jay. This guy Karch Kiraly made quite a nice living hitting the beach. Kiraly, the former Olympian, is now retired and serves as a commentator on beach volleyball broadcasts.

Bill Parcells would love to trade the first overall pick. But all indications are, at this point, anyway, that no team is willing to offer a blockbuster package to move up. That could change, of course, with teams keeping their plans close to the vest.

In the meantime, Tuna's troops are getting a good look at Virginia defensive end Chris Long and Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan.

Miami defensive end Jason Taylor, who has been in the news lately because of speculation about his future with the Dolphins (he thinks he'll be back in 2008, but we'll believe it when we see it), begins his long-awaited stint on Dancing With The Stars tonight on ABC.

Talk about pre-game jitters.

"I'll be shaking," he says.

Taylor says he's having "a blast" learning to dance, and has been training for up to six hours daily. And if Taylor decides to keep playing this season (there has been speculation he might retire or be traded), I guarantee you he'll credit his experience with dance as helping him somehow rush the passer more effectively.

The show has featured former NFL players Emmitt Smith, who won the competition, and Jerry Rice, but Taylor is the first active player to take part in the show.

Bill Parcells promised big changes in his first year as the Dolphins' personnel honcho, and he is certainly delivering on that vow.

He is going nuts on the first day of free agency.

A half hour into the signing period - at around 12:30 this morning - he signed 49ers guard Justin Smiley.

He has agreed to terms with Giants linebacker Reggie Torbor.

He has signed Titans free agent defensive tackle Randy Starks.

He has traded for Cowboys defensive tackle Jason Ferguson.

And now he has agreed to terms with Jaguars free agent wide receiver Ernest Wilford.

Oh, yeah, he's aggressively attempting to sign Cardinals free agent linebacker Calvin Pace.

(UPDATE: Parcells is at it again, signing Raiders free agent QB Josh McCown to a two-year deal. Parcells is signing players faster than Neil Best writes blog posts.)