Dolphins Negotiating With Gholston Too

[AvengerRam]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Contract talks begin with J. Long, Gholston

By Omar Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
April 10, 2008

Apparently content to keep the No. 1 overall pick, the Dolphins have begun discussing contract parameters with at least two players on their short list of candidates to become the draft's top selection.

Official contract negotiations with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, and Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston were started this week, according to a source. Coincidentally, Long and Gholston are represented by the same agency, CAA, but have different agents.

Long and Gholston are believed to be two of the five prospects the Dolphins have thoroughly investigated in case they don't trade away the top pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, which takes place on April 26-27.

Virginia defensive end Chris Long, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, and LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey are the other potential candidates to be taken first overall.

Negotiating a contract before making the selection could allow the Dolphins to avoid a potentially ugly holdout like the one that took place with the Raiders last year over the No. 1 selection of quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Russell missed all of training camp before a six-year deal worth $68 million (with $29 million of it guaranteed) was finalized.

According to another source, the Dolphins "haven't even sniffed at" the possibility of selecting Arkansas running back Darren McFadden with the draft's top pick.

McFadden is viewed as the draft's top offensive player, but the Dolphins appear to be set at running back with Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams and Lorenzo Booker already on the roster. Also, Bill Parcells' draft history shows he's traditionally shied away from selecting running backs that high.

Parcells, the Dolphins' new vice president of football operations, generally prefers to start building a team in the trenches. Gholston, Dorsey and both Chris and Jake Long, who are not related, would address that.

Dorsey is viewed as a traditional defensive tackle, one more suited for the 4-3 defensive scheme. The Dolphins are presently set up to play a 3-4 even though coach Tony Sparano won't commit to it until practices start.

Gholston and Chris Long are viewed as the two college defensive ends that would have the smoothest transition to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. The Dolphins have had private meetings with each.

Selecting Jake Long would address the team's most pressing need: the offensive line.

The Dolphins have two glaring holes on the starting line, one at right tackle and the other at left guard. Last week Sparano said the plan is to fill those spots through the draft, allowing the line to "get younger."

Waiting until the second round to draft an offensive linemen could be risky considering most NFL executives and draft analysts say this is the best year for offensive tackles in more than a decade, and believe as many as six could be taken in the first round.

When asked at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis about the possibility of playing for the Dolphins, the 6-foot-7, 313-pound Long said, "It would be an honor."

"They would get a hard-working, passionate player," said Jake Long, who allowed two sacks and was flagged for two penalties throughout his four-year college career. Jake Long and Gholston, who is 6-4, 265 pounds and runs in the 4.6 range in the 40-yard dash, were the two strongest players at the NFL combine. Both bench-pressed 225 pounds 37 times. Jake Long's lone sack of his senior season was to Gholston, who finished his junior season with 14 sacks before entering the draft.

Omar Kelly can be reached at okelly@sun-sentinel.com



Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[laram0]

Does this mean the Dolphins aren't sure which guy they're going after with the 1st pick in the draft? I don't see how they could get both of them.

Or are they just playing games?

[AvengerRam]

I think they are comparison shopping. If Gholston wants less than J.Long, maybe they go with him. If they want the same $, I suspect they have a preference for Long.

[LeBulger]

Doesn't anyone else find it strange that Miami are negotiating with Gholston before they do with C. Long?

Bu still, I agree with Avenger, if Gholston or maybe Chris Long later one, say they would accept a smaller contract, then maybe that could be the incentive for the Dolphins to pick them ahead of Jake Long.

I still don't know what to expect from the Dolphins though. If they traded the pick away tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised the way they're going about things...

[itsguud]

You the big issue here isn't the fact that the dolphins are negotiating with MULTIPLE players... but is the fact that they are negotiating at all... Rookies entering through the draft should only be able to make a set amount for a set number of years no matter where or when they are drafted... teams could then decide how much they want ot pay these players. The current system is absolutely absurd, players (employees) with all the power... dumb system.

[general counsel]

The system is a result of years of collective bargaining between the players and the owners. What i find amazing is that you would think that the players association would be strongly biased in favor of non-rookies, just based on the number of guys in the league who have been around more than one year.

The current system pays crazy money to rookies, at the expense of guys who have been around longer, since there is only x amount of cap dollars for the entire team.

Thus, i would think that the players would favor a rookie cap. I think the reason that they dont is the fear that the owners would use it as an excuse to bargain harder on the overall cap increase, thus, lowering the amount payable to both rookies and vets.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[r8rh8rmike]

Originally Posted by LeBulger

Doesn't anyone else find it strange that Miami are negotiating with Gholston before they do with C. Long?

Not really since Jake Long (who they have already started negotiations with) and Gholston are represented by the same agency. No reason why they wouldn't begin negotiations with Dorsey, Ryan and Chris Long soon.

[TekeRam]

Well, GC, the players get somewhere between 55 and 60%(closer to 60, I believe) of the gross income of the league. That's set in stone by the CBA. There's no reason why within the CBA an agreement to slot draft picks couldn't be put in without changing the amount of money given to the players in general.

I also really don't understand why the players union doesn't favor THEMSELVES more than rookies. Every single member of the union will never sign another rookie contract, and so the more money every year that goes to the rookies comes out of their future pockets. Even moreso, only a few of those players were even drafted in the first round, and so if it came down to first rounders vs the rest of them it would be overwhelmingly in favor of the other guys. It will befuddle me until someone explains why the union isn't in favor of it.

To get this back on track, I don't find it strange that the Phins are negotiating with Gholston before Long, because one, I think Gholston would convert to a 3-4 LB easier than Long. Second, by getting what Gholston wants first, they can approach Long with a lesser number than that and see if he'll take it, saying that if he wants more, they can take Gholston.

[Mooselini]

Hmmm. Since these two have the same agents (or something like that, I read it somewhere) it makes sense that they negotiate with Gholston before Chris Long.

I'm more than sure that its a comparison. They don't want to spend tooo much money on their first round pick just incase they dont live up to their college and combine.

[txramsfan]

Just saw on Rivals.com that they are going to take Matt Ryan....

The draft is like a high school cheerleader grapevine....."I heard that Vicki said that Carmen heard from Kim that Shelly has a crush on Skip who likes Jessica but Jessica wants Chip to ask her to the dance but Chip likes Michelle".

[badmoforamfan]

Does the players union receive a percentage of player salaries or is it a capped contribution? Percentage wise, if you drive up the market with rookies then hopefully you put a preimium on vets which may be why we see an inflation in FA for mediocre players.

[RAMarkable]

Originally Posted by txramsfan

.."I heard that Vicki said that Carmen heard from Kim that Shelly has a crush on Skip who likes Jessica but Jessica wants Chip to ask her to the dance but Chip likes Michelle".

.... No, actually Carmen heard it from Shelly and it's Vicki that has a crush on Chip, but Michelle REALLY likes Skip. At least this was the case about an hour ago.

WHAT SAY YE?

[Nick]

I wonder if the Dolphins negotiating with Gholston will begin to put an end to the opinion that he'd be a reach for the Rams with the second overall pick...

[TekeRam]

Moose: They have the same agency, not agent. Matt Ryan and Jake Long actually have the same agent. So why aren't they negotiating with him?

Tx: I don't care who you are, that's funny. Do we have to add cheerleader comments to your shot list?

mofo: I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I think you're asking what the union take of player salaries are. Probably a percentage, as a flat sum benefits the few superstars and hurts the everyday player, but of course, non-slotted rookie salaries hurt the vets too.

Driving up the rookie costs actually only takes cap money out of the pool to be given to vets and has little to do in my opinion of the free agency issue. There will always be a premium on good vets. The inflation we have seen in free agency is due to the salary cap being superinflated by the new media deals outpacing the old not yet expired contracts. So, teams, flush with cap space, are able to hold onto all the vets they want and release those they don't care about. Then, with a below average skill level for the free agents, those money flush teams overpay for mediocre talent because it's the only talent out there. Plus there's the mindset from the 90's that free agency wins championships. That doesn't happen anymore. Look at the champions for the last number of years and you'll see that drafting and cheap free agents were the backbon eof their teams.

[Rambos]

I wonder if the Dolphins negotiating with Gholston will begin to put an end to the opinion that he'd be a reach for the Rams with the second overall pick...

Needs...Phins have way more holes, if they can get him cheap why not.