Since I have some time, I just wanted to tie up a few loose ends in regards to this Jason Taylor trade before we can move on and look forward to training camp - which kicks off on Saturday.

First of all, Peter King tells us that trade negotiations between the Dolphins and Redskins took place for just 3 hours and 10 minutes.  That's all it took from the first phone call by the Redskins to the two teams coming to terms.  In fact, King writes that this deal took less than 6 hours to go from "idea-germination to finish."  I guess that's what happens when both sides are motivated to get a deal done quickly.  Of course, one can only wonder what might have happened if the Dolphins held out a little longer and made Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato sweat a little.  Could the Dolphins have gotten a better deal?  I guess we'll never know - but I'll try not to second-guess too much here.  I'm still happy with the deal.

CAP SPACE
Some people have been wondering about the savings Miami will get from the trading of Taylor.  In a nutshell, the Dolphins will save $15.5 million over the next 2 seasons ($7.5 million in '08 salary and $8 million in '09 salary).  So what will the Dolphins do with this new money which has created even more cap space?  They could use it on any veteran players that peak the front office's interest between now and the regular season.  Remember: the Dolphins now lack depth even more at linebacker.  The Dolphins could also simply save it for next off-season when some big-name players could potentially be free agents.

I think a more likely scenario is that some of the cap space will get used up at some point during the season on contract extensions for a couple of players.  Vernon Carey comes to mind first.  The Dolphins must bring him back, as he has the potential to be a long-time pro-bowl right tackle.  Channing Crowder will be a free agent following this year, though I'd bet the Dolphins will wait and see how he plays this year before offering him an extension.  Some other players who will be free agents after this year are Andre Goodman, Yeremiah Bell, and Ricky Williams.  But, again, I think the first thing they should do is lock up Carey to a long-term extension ASAP.

RARE PRAISE
Don't look now, but a member of the national media actually is praising the Dolphins.  CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco says this about the Taylor trade:

Looking at all the stories about the Miami Dolphins' trade of Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins, you would think the Dolphins got fleeced.

The reality is the Dolphins got the better end of the deal.

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He had 11 sacks, which is better than any Redskins player had last year, but he wasn't as effective, according to some scouts.

"Watching the tape from last season, he just wasn't the same player," said one team's personnel chief. "He wasn't worth more than a fourth-round pick."

I agree.

The Redskins gave up a second-round pick in next year's draft and a sixth the following year. That's too pricey.

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Fans love deals that involved big-name players. Most of the time, these backfire for the teams that get that player.

This one will be no different.

Taylor for a second-round pick is a fleecing all right. It's the Dolphins that did the fleecing.

Sure, it's just one person's opinion.  But considering how the national media loves to hate on the Dolphins, it's a little satisfying to read something like this.

That's all for now.  Later tonight/tomorrow morning, I'll be back with a look at what this trade might mean on the field for the Dolphins.