DOLPHINS: News for 5/7

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Packers also seek former All-Pro
BY JASON COLE
jcole@herald.com

Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said the team has made a contract offer to free agent safety Sammy Knight in hopes of upgrading the secondary with the former Pro Bowl player.

The offer appears to be in response to one Knight received from Green Bay.

Knight was supposed to visit the Packers in the past few days, but he has delayed the trip because of the birth of his daughter Samone last Wednesday.

Knight opted out of a contract that would have paid him about $1.5 million this season.

The Dolphins want to sign him to a deal worth closer to the league minimum ($530,000) this season.

''Obviously, we're talking about a football player who was a starter last year who opted out of a big contract,'' Wannstedt said. ``We would like to have him on this team, but we have to do something we can afford.

``Right now, we're not there on either end.

more (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/5802117.htm)

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By Craig Barnes
Staff Writer
Posted May 7 2003

Former teammate Jimmy Cefalo, who caught a 76-yard touchdown pass from him in Super Bowl XVII against Washington, remembered David Woodley in a simple way, something the former Dolphins quarterback would have liked.

"I always remember him in his purple tennis shoes," Cefalo said. "He had them forever, and they were never tied."

Woodley, the Dolphins' eighth-round draft choice in 1980 who became the youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl, died late Sunday night in a Shreveport, La., hospital.


more (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-woodley07may07,0,1403919.story?coll=sfla%2Dsports%2Dfront) http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/thumbnails/photo/2003-05/7687641.jpg

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Shula to 'Bama? It's a matter of timing

By Alex Marvez
Staff Writer
Posted May 7 2003

DAVIE· Dolphins quarterbacks coach Mike Shula still awaited word Tuesday night on whether he will be offered the vacant coaching position at the University of Alabama. But if he gets the position, Shula's father and brother can ask him the following question:

What took so long?

In 1963, Don Shula became the youngest NFL coach, hired by the Baltimore Colts at 33.

Shula's record was broken by his son Dave, who was named Cincinnati's coach at 32 in 1992.

more (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-shula07may07,0,1553278.story?coll=sfla%2Dsports%2Dfront) http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/thumbnails/photo/2003-05/7693355.jpg

[TypicalBill]

Dolphins | Knight Not Close To Signing - from www.KFFL.com
Wed, 7 May 2003 05:30:29 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Sun-Sentinel reports the Miami Dolphins and the agent for free agent S Sammy Knight (Saints) have exchanged contract proposals, but the sides aren’t close to an agreement. “We’re trying to do something we can afford,” said Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt. “Right now we’re not there on either end.”

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ESPN Insider:

The Miami Dolphins have made an offer to free-agent safety Sammy Knight, but it's not close to the kind of money he'd like to receive. The Dolphins want to sign him to a deal worth closer to the league minimum ($530,000), but Knight just opted out of a contract in New Orleans that would have paid him about $1.9 million this season.

"Obviously, we're talking about a football player who was a starter last year who opted out of a big contract," Wannstedt told the Miami Herald. "We would like to have him on this team, but we have to do something we can afford. Right now, we're not there on either end."

The Dolphins have strong interest in Knight to compete for playing time at free safety or strong safety against Brock Marion and Arturo Freeman. The Green Bay Packers are interested in Knight as well, though they aren't believed to have offered much more than Miami. But if Knight is forced to sign a below-market deal, he'll want to do it for a team that will give him a chance to start.

In Green Bay, he would likely have the starting job handed to him. He would start in place of strong safety Marques Anderson, whose play regressed in the last two months of last season.

Anderson's backup is Antuan Edwards, and while he is talented, his injury history makes him a question mark. Plus, Anderson is currently sidelined with a pulled hamstring, and while there is a chance that he could be ready for the June minicamp, there's no guarantee. Add to that the fact the Packers didn't draft a safety, and you have a perfect situation for Knight.

Gary Uberstine, Knight's agent, didn't discuss his client's contract talks in detail, but he did say that his client is going to be patient.

"He wants to get to the right team in the right situation, so he's not going to panic and rush through this, and at this point, with similar contract offers, it looks like the right team is Green Bay. " Ubestine told the Herald