CLAYTON: Ricky who? Miami close to acquiring Gordon

[Nick]

Rams likely to receive third round pick
By John Clayton
ESPN.com

The Miami Dolphins appear to have ended their summer-long search for a replacement for Ricky Williams. They are close to reaching a trade agreement with the St. Louis Rams to acquire halfback Lamar Gordon.

The Rams didn't want to trade Gordon, so the cost is likely going to be high. To get Gordon, the Dolphins may have to give up as much as a third-round draft pick, but they have the luxury of having acquired an extra third-round choice from the Bears in the Marty Booker-Adewale Ogunleye trade.

But the price of a third-round pick could be cheap in comparison if Gordon can take over the starting halfback job. Gordon is a 6-1, 228-pound back who runs quick to the line of scrimmage and is tough to tackle.

He had nine starts in two years filling in for Marshall Faulk. During those games, he's rushed for 526 yards and had a career 3.9 yard rushing average. A former third-round choice out of North Dakota State, Gordon has shown the durability to handle more than 20 carries in a game.

With Faulk and Stephen Jackson ahead of him in St. Louis, Gordon wasn't going to be too active in the Rams' running game this year. The Dolphins had targeted Gordon and Anthony Thomas of the Chicago Bears, and were willing to give up a third-round choice for Thomas.

In Gordon, the Dolphins believe they get a back with more explosion than Thomas. The potential trade comes after coach Dave Wannstedt named Travis Minor as the starting halfback but also said that Sammy Morris would get some action.

For the past few days, the Rams were slow in returning calls to the Dolphins because they wanted to keep Gordon as an insurance policy for the future. The Rams told the Dolphins it would be pricey to acquire him. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the Rams wouldn't give the Dolphins a price.

On Tuesday night, negotiations heated up to the point where the Dolphins were confident a deal could be completed by Wednesday morning. Gordon first would have to meet with coach Mike Martz and the final details of the trade had to be work out.

Gordon had ankle surgery early in training camp, but came back in three weeks and had 22 carries for 77 yards against the Raiders in the final preseason game.

Once the trade is completed, the Dolphins will feel as though they acquired two offensive starters -- Booker and Smith -- for Ogunleye.


John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

[yogacolumbia]

third rounder is way to cheap!

[RealRam]

Good grief, I thought it was settled that we need LG for definite depth at RB!

Do n-o-t trade him.

[RamWraith]

NOTE: 3rd rounder is only speculation. Don't get your undies in a bunch yet, I am betting we get at least a second and maybe more.

[Yodude]

It's a done deal...Gordon to Miami for a 3rd,

[txramsfan]

No biggie as far as I'm concerned. He was hurt convieniently when Faulk was hurt. Not saying he wasn't, it's just how it was. He was buried under the depth chart with Jackson anyway. I just hope it's the Dolphins pick not the compensatory one for Chicago.

[CRAZYHORNS]

Why only a 3rd round pick. Did we not draft Gordon in the 2nd round???? We lose value and help out the Dophins. COuld the Rams not grab up any Lineman in this deal to provide some depth on this team????

[txramsfan]

Remember Crazy, the Dolphins are starting John St. Clair. What does that tell you about their O Line depth?

And what were we going to get for him anyway? What has he done besides being hurt all the time? He was buried in the depth chart and I think would have been a Restricted FA next year anyway.

So we only got a third, so what? The draft after the first round is a crap shoot anyway, and sometimes first rounders don't necessarily pan out.

[RamWraith]

Gordon was a third round pick in 2002