Will He Stay or Will He Go?

By now, you've probably heard about the Jason Taylor situation. Former Dolphins beat writer Jason Cole, now with Yahoo!Sports, wrote this piece informing us that Jason Taylor was not going to be a Dolphin next season. All that was required was his consent on the destination, and JT was gone. Rumors had him going to the Packers for a 2nd and a 4th round pick.

Now, reports are coming from sources close to Parcells and from Parcells himself that this report is "journalistic irresponsibility" and the Taylor remains part of the the Dolphins' plans in 2008.

All kinds of opinions have been made on this situation. Most believe that this is just GM-speak and that Parcells is ticked off about the report, which ostensibly lowers Jason's value on the market. If it's known that Taylor won't return, then the Dolphins have much less leverage in negotiations. Therefore, it's been said now that JT will have to retire if he doesn't want to be in Miami in 2008.

I don't know if that's a threat aimed at Taylor, whom they suspect to have leaked the info, or if they are simply stating the obvious. Typically if a player doesn't play for the team he is under contract for, that's because he's retired. So it could mean nothing. Or it could mean everything. We just have to wait and see.

Personally, I hope he gets shipped off to the highest bidder. We've signed a slew of young free agents on defense, and might yet sign Calvin Pace to a monster deal. That would leave several players on this roster capable of playing the 3-4 linebacker position, and create a situation where we have a lot of money and a lot of talent sitting on the bench.

Jason deserves a break from having to carry this franchise around. Trade him to a contender so he can win his ring and then go off to Hollywood. He's earned as much. A 2nd and a 4th round pick will serve this franchise more in the long term (and possibly in the short term if they nail the selections) than having Taylor around for another year or two before he breaks down.

It'll hurt, there's no question about that. The Zach Thomas situation a few weeks ago illustrated just how painful it is to see a longtime player leave for greener pastures. But it would be the right thing to do.