Jason Taylor reiterates trade demands

According to Jason Cole (ex Dolphin beat writer for 2 papers before becoming a national football writer for Yahoo sports), Jason Taylor has once again politely asked the Dolphins for a trade to a contending team. Taylor is one of the top performers on "Dancing with the Stars" and aims to be a Hollywood star once he decides he has had enough football. He could retire if the Fins DON'T trade him. He wants to pattern himself after another former Miami area football player, Dwayne
"The Rock" Johnson and become an action star.

The Fins SHOULD trade him for a high pick this year. If JT guarantees to his new team that he will (at least) honor his final two year contract, then a team on the cusp of going all the way, and need a defensive stud to push them over the top SHOULD give up a low 1st round pick.

The Cowboys have TWO first rounders, #22 from Cleveland and their own #28. The Jacksonville Jaguars gave the Patriots a run for their money last year and have the same blueprint the Giants have - strong running game, very good caretaker QB, and a nice defense. The Jags have strong d-tackles but imagine putting JT on their front line? They have to be considered VERY dangerous at that point, and they have the #26 pick.

here is Cole's article

"Dolphins have decision to make on Taylor
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
15 hours, 43 minutes ago

It is time for Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga to listen to Jason Taylor.

In October 2007, when the Dolphins were in London for their game against the New York Giants, Huizenga opened the door for Taylor and then-teammate Zach Thomas to leave the team at season’s end, if either so chose.

”That’s really more up to them,” Huizenga said at the time about the possibility of either Pro Bowl player being traded. “When the season is over we’ll see how they feel about that. The trade deadline has passed so there’s no sense discussing something that can’t happen. But those guys aren’t bashful. If they want to talk about it after the season, we’ll talk to them.”

Of course, a lot has happened to the Dolphins since then. Huizenga hired Bill Parcells to be the vice president of football operations. The Dolphins finished the season at 1-15 and Parcells went about gutting the coaching and personnel staffs. In addition, Thomas was released by the team after a concussion-filled season and because of a high salary.


Taylor remains a Dolphin, but that’s not what he wants. Publicly, Taylor is putting a big smile on everything and saying all the right things. However, he has told the team that he’d like to take Huizenga up on the owner’s offer, according to multiple sources close to the player.

The Dolphins declined comment on the situation Friday, but if they refuse to accommodate Taylor’s request prior to the beginning of the NFL draft on April 26, Miami could be looking at a repeat of NFL history come July.

In July 1966, Cleveland running back Jim Brown, easily the greatest player of his generation and maybe the best player in NFL history, received an order from then-Browns owner Art Modell to report to training camp immediately.

Brown, a man who has butted heads with the norms of society plenty of times, was working on the movie “The Dirty Dozen.” After nine seasons, seven years of topping 1,000 yards (in 12-game seasons his first four years, no less), winning three Most Valuable Player awards and a Rookie of the Year award, Brown responded to Modell’s demands by scribbling his retirement letter on a piece of paper.

Fast forward 42 years and here’s what the Dolphins could be looking at: Either they trade Taylor now or he could start his acting career a couple of years early.

Taylor hasn’t made any threats or demands on the Dolphins and he won’t. He has politely told the team he wants out. Taylor, who will be 34 when the Dolphins open next season and has two years left on his contract, knows the Dolphins are more than two years from competing.

The league’s defensive player of the year in 2006 and Man of the Year last season, Taylor also wants to win a Super Bowl. However, he knows it’s an extreme long shot to happen in Miami at this point. Fact is, there’s only so much time left and so little talent on the Miami roster.

There are also other things Taylor wants in his life, which is why he moved his family to Los Angeles at least temporarily this offseason to participate on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” where he stands a great chance to win.

For those who haven’t noticed, Taylor is working extraordinarily hard on this show. Like any great athlete, he’s competing hard and he refuses to be embarrassed. Moreover, Taylor is a showman. He has undeniable presence on television and he’s competing for his next career.

In fact, pick up a copy of the April 14 edition of US Weekly and check out the feature titled “TV’s New Top 10 Dream Men.” In the article, Taylor is referred to as a “humble hunk” and that “his physique rivals a Greek statue.” Of the 10 men featured, Taylor was the only one to pose sans shirt.

Two years ago, Taylor took acting lessons from Marc Durso of the Act True school in South Florida.


“He was excellent as a student,” Durso said. “He took it very seriously and was very open to learning the skills. He basically said to me, ‘teach me this, I want to know how to do it.’”


Apparently, Taylor has his eyes wide open to a Hollywood career. He could ultimately make a lot more money and gain a lot more fame in a hurry by making movies rather than chasing quarterbacks, particularly if chasing quarterbacks is really in vain.

Now, the Dolphins may believe this is all a big bluff by Taylor, who has said in radio interviews that he’ll come back to the team. Parcells, reacting to a Yahoo! Sports report in early March that Taylor and the franchise would part ways before the draft, told the Miami Herald: “The only way Jason Taylor doesn’t play for the Dolphins in 2008 is if he retires.” That faintly sounded like a Modellian dare.

If Taylor is adamant about leaving and Miami refuses to trade him, then the Dolphins face the possibility of an April Fool’s Day prank turning into reality. While Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland was at the NFL owner’s meeting on April 1, Profootballtalk.com, a website that lives to rake the muck, ran a story about Taylor quitting football to become a professional dancer.

Ireland bought it, initially, and hurriedly grabbed his cell phone to check the story. If the Dolphins aren’t careful, they could be checking another such headline come July. This would be in some publication like Variety and will say something to the effect that Taylor has signed to do a movie for as much money as he can make in a year of football.

Or as one of Taylor’s friends put it: “Things are happening fast for Jason out in Los Angeles. The Dolphins don’t understand that world and what’s available if Jason really wants to pursue that.”

That’s why the Dolphins should not rule out the possibility of a trade. There are plenty of teams that could use Taylor, such as the Browns, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and even the New York Giants (depending on whether Michael Strahan retires).

One team personnel executive, who has already asked the Dolphins about a trade for Taylor, said recently: “They can easily get something for him. Come on, this is Jason Taylor. Really, they really should trade him. That team isn’t going to be any good for at least two years, probably more.”

What is Taylor worth? Some teams like to throw around second- and third-round picks. But the reality is that Taylor, if he’s committed to playing for two more years, is worth as much as a low first-round pick. Would Jacksonville, which has the No. 26 overall pick and is in good position to compete for a title, and Philadelphia, which has the No. 19 pick and competes in the same division with the Super Bowl champion Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, swap their first-round positions for a proven veteran like Taylor? Who knows?

Bottom line: If the Dolphins don’t soften their stance, the only place they might see Taylor soon is in a movie theater. "