SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

The [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=mia"][COLOR=#000000]Miami Dolphins[/COLOR][/URL] have reached a contract agreement with Michigan offensive tackle [URL="http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2008&id=12044"][COLOR=#000000]Jake Long[/COLOR][/URL] and will select him with the No. 1 overall pick in Saturday's draft, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.
The announcement will come at a 1:45 p.m. ET news conference.



Despite speculation that Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells really had planned to select Ohio State defensive end [URL="http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2008&id=12144"][COLOR=#000000]Vernon Gholston[/COLOR][/URL] or Virginia defensive end [URL="http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2008&id=11845"][COLOR=#000000]Chris Long[/COLOR][/URL], sources told ESPN's Michael Smith that since the Dolphins opened negotiations with Jake Long they were talking to him exclusively.
Long, a 6-foot-7, 313-pound senior who moved to left tackle in 2006 and started his final 26 games, was an All-America selection and Big Ten lineman of the year in each of his last two seasons.
Offensive line is considered the biggest need for the Dolphins, who went 1-15 last year.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Man, this is turning out to be an exciting week.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

I think he's a smart pick for them.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

I betcha a shiny nickel Parcells has that team turned around in no time.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=12thMan;441448]I betcha a shiny nickel Parcells has that team turned around in no time.[/quote]

alot depends on their QB situation, right now it looks very shaky

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=Mattyk72;441449]alot depends on their QB situation, right now it looks very shaky[/quote]

Yeah, who is the QB down there? Makes you feel good we got Campbell!

Watch for a trade though.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[QUOTE=12thMan;441450]Yeah, who is the QB down there? Makes you feel good we got Campbell!

Watch for a trade though.[/QUOTE]Isn't it going to be Beck, the 34 year old second year player out of The U (BYU).

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=12thMan;441450]Yeah, who is the QB down there? Makes you feel good we got Campbell!

[B]Watch for a trade though[/B].[/quote]
12th, do you have anyone in mind? not a whole lot out there. but i do agree that the dolphins will not enter the 2008 season with Cleo Lemon as the starter. does it say something about the league, if his name is even thought of as a starter?

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[URL="http://http://fftoday.com/nfl/agent/agent.html"]http://http://fftoday.com/nfl/agent/agent.html[/URL]

[URL="http://http://www.nfl.com/teams/roster;jsessionid=4F72FF62E7BC7D0A909ECCEFBB9E4507?d-447263-o=2&team=MIA&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=persons.primary_Position.id.position_Id&d-447263-n=1"]http://http://www.nfl.com/teams/roster;jsessionid=4F72FF62E7BC7D0A909ECCEFBB9E4507?d-447263-o=2&team=MIA&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=persons.primary_Position.id.position_Id&d-447263-n=1[/URL]

They are high on John Beck and have McCown. There are also some decent FA QB's that still don't have jobs. Oh, and they can always add another one later in the draft.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=dmek25;441453]12th, do you have anyone in mind? not a whole lot out there. but i do agree that the dolphins will not enter the 2008 season with Cleo Lemon as the starter. does it say something about the league, if his name is even thought of as a starter?[/quote]

Not many good QBs out there right now. Not even all those bums on the Buccaneers roster are worth a dime.

I would say Trent Edwards (Bills) or yes, Brady Quinn, would have to be on the table for the Browns.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

They should have drafted Quinn last year.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

News conference live right now on ESPN...

Reportedly around $30M in guaranteed money. It's a smart, safe pick for Miami. Their O-line is awful.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

With Jake Long locked up, I can see Parcells taking the best available QB with one of their 2nd Round Picks...to compete with John Beck, Casey Bramlet, Matt Baker, and Josh McCown. Especially if Matt Ryan or Brian Brohm is around.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Great pick for them, If they had drafted Quinn last year they would have had a QB and a LT for 10 years but they are high on Beck, but I couls see them trying to pickup Henne or Flacco.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Oh and I called it in the Warpath Mock Draft

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;441445]I think he's a smart pick for them.[/QUOTE]

no doubt about it..i do agree long is the better pick..But my question is when picks are made 4 days before the draft does that take the fun and excitement out of it?

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Even if Jake Long only ends up being a league average LT (which I would see as the worst possible scenario), it's hard to say that Parcells' approach isn't more intelligent than San Francisco's "uh...we've got to grab-the-best-quarterback-available!!!!" approach of 2005.

This is a good pick simply because he's not overvaluing the first overall selection trying to pick the most hyped player, he's just picking the player that makes the Miami Dolphins the best team in the long term.

Again, that's why teams like the Raiders and Lions fail, while the Dolphins will be competent 2-3 years down the road.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Since the first pick is signed, does that mean that technically, and officially, the 2nd team selecting can now discuss contracts with players?
I know no one but the 1st can talk to players about contracts...but does that right pass to the second now?

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

This is not only smart for the 'Phins, but it helps out the league in a big way.

Parcells really probably wanted to get Chris Long or Gholston. But he also wanted a very "signable" draft pick. There is much more worth placed on a pass rushing DE or franchise QB and either of those 2 positions taken #1 sets a high barometer for signings. Think of the type money that Mario Willimas got and the money that JaMarcus Russell got.

With Jake Long he gets a guy that is very signable and sets the barometer for this years draft class.

And even though Parcells has not had much success with Michigan QB's (See Drew Henson), I could see Chad Henne being taken by Miami in the second round.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=Mattyk72;441449]alot depends on their QB situation, right now it looks very shaky[/quote]John Beck is going to be a 27 year old Sophomore, but he has a nice college projection, and the Dolphins aren't going to hurt themselves by giving him a full season.

If he's awful, they can always sign a vet next year to take over while the team improves, and spend their '09 pick on a QB.

It's sort of like what we did with Campbell and Brunell. In this case, Beck plays the Ramsey role, but again, he's got a pretty good chance to be successful, based on what he did in college.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[quote=sandtrapjack;441536]This is not only smart for the 'Phins, but it helps out the league in a big way.

Parcells really probably wanted to get Chris Long or Gholston. But he also wanted a very "signable" draft pick. There is much more worth placed on a pass rushing DE or franchise QB and either of those 2 positions taken #1 sets a high barometer for signings. Think of the type money that Mario Willimas got and the money that JaMarcus Russell got.

With Jake Long he gets a guy that is very signable and sets the barometer for this years draft class.

And even though Parcells has not had much success with Michigan QB's (See Drew Henson), I could see Chad Henne being taken by Miami in the second round.[/quote]

Longs contract seems to be significantly more than russles and williamses, Longs contract is over 5 years, so the guaranteed money he gets and the overall money he gets per year is more

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Very smart choice by the Dolphins. They don't have to worry about extended holdouts with him now, and offensive line is one of their biggest needs and now they have a franchise tackle. He's the safe choice too. Good for them to get that locked up and for getting the smart choice.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[QUOTE=SKINSnCANES;441502]Since the first pick is signed, does that mean that technically, and officially, the 2nd team selecting can now discuss contracts with players?
I know no one but the 1st can talk to players about contracts...but does that right pass to the second now?[/QUOTE]

No Chris Mortenson reported on Sportcenter that its against league rules for #2 pick holder (Rams) to discuss a contract, that is a first pick only priveleage. But he did say the Rams are officially on the clock

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

I think all holders of the number 1 pick should get there contract done before the draft just so the player does not hold out during mini-camp ala: JRussell. Also it could help other teams to sign they're picks as they can be slotted after that selection.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;441445]I think he's a smart pick for them.[/QUOTE]

They really couldn't go wrong with either Long, but it's still a great move for them. You're only as good as your front line, this is a move that will help them for years to come.

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

While we don't know how they feel about Beck, I think it's fair to say we can't draw any conclusions about him based on his half year starting for the worst team in football (with all respect to Tripp :)). It's bad enough how quickly we give up on number one overall qb picks, are we going to make the evalution period for second round guys half a season now?

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

Are the Dolphins going to go Michigan, Michigan in the first two rounds? Will Henne be headed to the Phins as well

Re: SOURCES: Dolphins reach contract agreement with Jake Long
 

I just thought about last week when Jim Ireland said in his press conference that he hoped whoever they drafted would be a great defensive player for years to come, and everyone thought he slipped up and revealed some info. Nice smokescreen on his part, he had a lot of people fooled.