The official Jason Taylor discussion thread (mega-merge)

[MTK]

From JLC:

As those of you who check in regularly already know, the Redskins rejected the Dolphins quickly and decisively when Miami called shopping DE Jason Taylor before the draft. He's the kind of player defensive coordinator Greg Blache has avoided - an aging big-name who has one eye (if not both eyes) on Hollywood and his next incarnation as The Rock/Brian Bosworth in front of the cameras. Based on everything I have heard from both inside and outside the organization this is not in the cards.

Yes, the Skins have a need an end, but unless the Dolphins decide to give the guy away, then it's no. And, according to league sources, the Fins have already denied an overture for a fourth round pick for Taylor from one NFL team and may in fact holdout for at least a pick in the first three rounds. Again, the Skins are not and have not been players here, and at that price it's a no-go.

The Redskins have already passed on a bevy of linemen in free agency and on the trade market, and, again, there are reservations among many in the organization about how focused and dedicated Taylor is to football given his turn as a ballroom dancer and his obvious flirtation with the lure of La-La Land. Taylor's overt rejection of reporting for Miami's mini camp and training camp runs counter to everything Blache stands for.

Washington has preached building through the draft above all else - that offer of two first round picks for Chad Johnson not withstanding - and by dealing a pick in the first three rounds you are trading an asset that should translate into a longtime starter for the right to rent a player like Taylor for a year or two. The Redskins have had no recent discussions with the Dolphins since rejecting Miami's initial approach about Taylor, sources said, and he is not someone they are planning to pursue.

As one NFL executive put it:

"Blache is not a guy who is infatuated with stats and sacks. There's a lot of other things you need to be able to do to play for him, and at this stage of his career can Jason Taylor give you those things for 65-70 snaps a game for 16 games? No, he can't, and he's a guy making $8 million a year.

"That's a team that says now that they are building through the draft and you have to take them at their word there, and after over-spending for so long that now they may be taking a different approach. You can't just build a team one way; there has to be a balance between the pro side and the college side and you can't be balanced if you're always giving away first-day picks. In the first three rounds, you've got to think of those guys as starters. I can't see too many teams offering those picks for Taylor. If I'm the Redskins I'm not making a move for the guy."