Jason Taylor deserves better from Dolphins

Jason Taylor deserves better from Dolphins

Everyone knows the NFL is a business. And in every business there is management, and with those positions in management comes power. Unfortunately, sometimes the use of power is abused and that appears to be exactly what is happening down in Miami.

The Dolphins are in a feud with former MVP and Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor and at the core of the problem is Bill Parcells, who seems intent on sending a message to Taylor.

And Taylor doesn't deserve the treatment he is getting from an organization he has given everything he could to for the last 11 seasons.

Taylor has played at an extremely high level for a Dolphins team that hasn't seen the postseason since 2001. He has gone to six Pro Bowls. He has notched 10 or more sacks in five of the last six seasons. He has been voted the Walter Payton Man of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

There may be those who will argue that Taylor asking to be traded to a contender was out of line. But how many other players do we hear asking for the same thing when their careers are winding down? And why not? Isn't winning an elusive championship is what playing in the NFL is all about?

And consider something else if you will. The Dolphins traded wide receiver Chris Chambers, who led the team in receiving five straight seasons (2001-2005) to the Chargers last year. Longtime middle linebacker Zach Thomas was also gone. Just maybe Taylor saw the writing on the wall. That the Dolphins were going in another direction and older veterans may very well not be part of the equation. And it may be some time before Miami actually does become a contender.

And apparently, Miami did make efforts to trade Taylor, but could not reach a deal with anyone.

But most likely, because Taylor chose to participate in the TV series "Dancing with the Stars" instead of attending team workouts, new VP Parcells took issue with him. So much so, that Parcells more or less gave Taylor the cold shoulder when he visited the team a while back.

There are two schools of thought on the issue. One would be that Taylor, being a veteran and leader on the team, should have attended voluntary workouts. The other one being that Taylor has more than earned time off to pursue a personal interest.

But the real bottom line is that Bill Parcells wants everyone to know who is in charge, and that no one, not even a potential Hall of Famer, is safe if they do not adhere to his agenda.

In some ways, that may be a good thing. Some players need a disciplinarian as much as they need a head coach. But Jason Taylor is not one of those players and everyone knows this. And that is one of the reasons why Parcells and the Dolphins looked like the bad guys, and Parcells knew that.

So what did the Tuna do?

He trotted out new coach Tony Sparano to make Taylor look like the malcontent earlier this week. Sparano addressed the Taylor issue in exactly the manner Parcells would. In fact, Parcells probably drafted it for him. Sparano made his statement more like a defense lawyer than a head coach who one would think would be concerned if they were looking at not having the services of their best defensive player for the upcoming season.

But all Sparano could offer was, " I know that Jason is not going to be at any OTAs, I know that Jason is not going to be at any minicamps, and I know that, right now, Jason is not going to be at training camp. So, that's what we know. Jason is a player under contract with the Miami Dolphins. He knows that. Both parties are well aware of the information. That is all I am going to say about it."

And that was it. Sparano refused to answer any more questions about Jason Taylor. Just plant the seed that he is in the wrong and back to business as usual.

The puzzling part of the statement is how Saparano came to the conclusion that Taylor may not plan to attend training camp, which is two months away. Puzzling because Taylor has never mentioned skipping training camp.

Maybe Sparano or Parcells have a crystal ball at team headquarters?

Or a ploy by Parcells to get the finger of blame pointing at Taylor? My guess would be the latter.

So Bill Parcells has succeeded in sending his message. In the process, he has also accomplished a few other things. 

He has failed in his attempt to make Jason Taylor look like the bad guy in this whole mess. Granted, Taylor has fired back some after the comments by Sparano, but nothing to cast him as a malcontent.

He has made head coach Tony Sparano look like nothing more than his puppet in the Taylor situation.

He has turned the entire Jason Taylor situation into a public relations nightmare, which the Dolphins didn't need by any means considering the fact that their fans have been through more than enough in the past few years with Nick Saban, Ricky Williams and so on.

But he also may have accomplished something that may come back to haunt him and the Dolphins.

Jason Taylor is one of the most respected players in the NFL. Treating him in the manner that he has could have some very negative effects.

There will be players on the roster that will look at the Taylor feud, take notice and ask themselves a simple question. If a potential Hall of Fame player who has played his entire career for the organization gets this type of treatment, what may lie in store for me?

Yes, the NFL is a business. Bill Parcells and the Dolphins just have made it a little uglier the way they've handled the Jason Taylor situation.

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