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Sunday, Jul 12, 2009
Dolphins avoid holdout mess by signing No. 1 pick Jake Long before the draft. This Parcells guy must know what he's doing. Plus: NHL playoffs.
By King Kaufman
Read more: Sports, NHL, Football, NFL, Ice Hockey, King Kaufman, NHL playoffs, Sports Daily
April 23, 2008 | The Miami Dolphins have signed Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long to a long-term contract and they'll make him the No. 1 pick in Saturday's NFL draft.
Do you get the idea that with Bill Parcells running things, the Dolphins finally have half an idea of what they're doing?
Long is a 6-foot-7, 313-pound left tackle who'll anchor the Dolphins offensive line for years to come if everything goes according to plan, or even if just some things do. The team, which went 1-15 last year -- and wasn't as good as that record suggests -- signed him for five years, with $30 million guaranteed.
That's a step down from last year's No. 1 contract, which guaranteed Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell as much as $32 million if he reaches certain milestones. But the more important difference is the timing. Russell held out for all of training camp and the exhibition season, finally signing in September. His rookie season was almost a total loss. Long signed before he was even drafted, and he'll be present at the first workout.
Skipping your first NFL training camp while haggling over a few million dollars -- out of dozens of millions on the table -- is a good way to get yourself into this photo gallery, part of Sports Illustrated's fabulous new online archive, known as the S.I. Vault.
Enter the vault at the risk of your own productivity, but the photo essay is called "Top (NFL) Draft Busts of the Modern Era."
It's just as bad and just as dumb for the team to engage in the summer-long staredown as it is for the player. Each side should get the best deal it can, but each simply must get the deal done and get the kid in camp. I have no idea if Long is the best player in Saturday's draft, but if the Dolphins think so, they and Long both did the right thing this week.
What I find strange is that Long becomes only the fourth offensive lineman in NFL history taken with the overall top pick.
The last time it happened was in 1997, when the St. Louis Rams took Orlando Pace, who turned out OK. Before that, the Minnesota Vikings took Ron Yary first in 1968. He ended up in the Hall of Fame. The other was Ki Aldrich, who I don't have to tell you was taken No. 1 by the Chicago Cardinals in 1939.
Leaving out Aldrich, who played when the ball was a live hedgehog and the shoes were made of tree bark, and with all due caveats for sample size, taking an offensive lineman with the first pick tends to work out pretty well, wouldn't you say? I would think that roughly every other overall No. 1 should be an offensive lineman, usually a left tackle, with most of the rest being defensive linemen.
