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During last years NFL draft the Miami Dolphins surprised most, including it's own fan base by trading up with the Oakland Raiders to select Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan with the third overall pick. Many fans were excited over the prospect of having the player that many draft analyst had ranked the top defensive player in the draft on the team. Jordan did not come to the Dolphins without concern though, having just had surgery to his repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder two months prior. This was then followed up by a re-injury of the shoulder in training camp and a season of mixed reviews based primary on very limited playing time.
Lack of playing time for draft picks has been a hot topic among Dolphins fans, most specifically and recently as it applies to Jordan. This has been accompanied by many a debate over whether he was the right pick or if he is even a good fit for the defensive systems that the Dolphins currently deploy. This debate has since spilled over from the regular season in to this off-season. Then Friday comes a report from CBS Sport's Jason La Canfora via twitter, citing "numerous" league sources, that the Dolphins are in fact "shopping" Jordan to other teams. Chaos then ensued! If you are like me and you have a twitter account full of primarily fellow Dolphins fans then you probably though this was the day that we would finally break twitter. Great! Just another thing for them to blame in the Dolphins!
La Canfora was not done. The mere site of riots in the streets of Davie Florida would have been enough for some men but not for Jason. He then followed it up with this gem- "Numerous league sources, including executives from other teams, say the Dolphins might be open to dealing receiver Mike Wallace and pass-rushing ace Cam Wake.". Then this happened. Amazingly twitter still did not crash although the overreaction index did seem to be at an all time high. Of course the open ended claim that some team "might be open to dealing" a player is a claim that anyone can make and in fact is most likely a true statement no matter which team or player you apply it to, sans a true franchise QB.
The claims of La Canfora was quickly followed up by a denial from the Miami Dolphins organization that any of the three were being shopped. Miami Herald veteran reporter Barry Jackson tweeted "Both Armondo Salguero and I were told that the Dolphins are not shopping Joran and Wake and Wallace contrary to CBS. Fins adamant on that". Mondo tweeted "To be clear, Dolphins tell me they are not shopping/trading any of three players mentioned in today's CBS report. No equivocation.". Additionally it was reported that Joran, having also heard the rumors was directly assured by the club on Friday that he was not in fact being "shopped". La Confora followed up those claims and following what seemed to be quite a bit of backlash from the Dolphins fans faithful, with the very Omar like tweet of "Just to reiterate, Dion Jordan absolutely was made available to NFL teams by the Dolphins. Um, and why would they ever "confirm" it. Please".
Of course the backlash that Jason La Canfora felt and apparently reacted to yesterday is a direct result of past reporting on the Dolphins that has either proven to be not so close to the truth or flat out false. Most famously was the claim last off season that Jake Long was re-signing with the Miami Dolphins only to have the news break later that same day that he had instead signed with the St. Louis Rams. The facts are that if Jordan is traded his salary cap hit for 2014 of $4,675,552 would swell to $10,006,254 or an increase of $5,330,732. Despite the Dolphins currently being in good shape cap space wise, with some serious needs that need to be addressed in free agency, this would seem to be a very unsound financial move on the Dolphins part. This alone makes it less likely that moving Jordan is something that they would entertain.
No one this time of year knows for sure who's telling the truth and who is sending out false information but it might be wise from a mental well being standpoint to always take any report of a rumor or from unnamed "sources" with a grain of salt. Some false reporting is intentional and some of it is just a reporter trying to break a story even when not sure one exists or as some fans call it "Throwing things against the wall and waiting to see what sticks!". We live in a world now where media is more driven by site "hits" and visits then if the story is 100% accurate. With that in mind I of course hope this story gets plenty of hits and visits!