Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins [Clayton: Pats offered more]

[bigfandan]

OK, I can understand why Patriot haters who visit this site think this is a blow to the Patriots. But for those of you who are actually fans, why in the heck do you want J Taylor. He's proved he doesn't have the motivation to win. He's earning a paycheck and being close to home is most important.

I never wanted him, nor do I want Peppers ($ too high). I honestly think the Pats will be just fine with players they have. I think you will see A Thomas playing inside in a rotation with Bruschi in certain situations. Coach B will have tons of formations and players available at his disposal.

I think P Woods is going to be very good and Crable is a stud in the waiting. Keep in mind Bruschi was a 2nd day pick as well and I'd say he worked out pretty well. A position is not a weakness if there isn't a 1st round pick playing.

Go Pats!

I don't think it's about where the players are drafted. The glaring hole here is, we have one very diminished Bruschi followed by a bunch of untested and unreliable kids that have not yet proven they are up to the task, or in most cases have proven not up to task (in the case of TBC, Woods, Redd, and Alexander) so far.

Let's not pretend they are later round draftees that can play, ala James Harrison.

 

[unoriginal]

They did" decide to draft..." or weren't you looking. BB et al, identified Crabel and were ready to draft ihim the second round, of the 2008 draft. They had called him and told him that he was going to be picked with their pick on the clock. Then San Diego called and traded for the second round pick for a second rounder this year and more last year.

Crabel was still there on their early third rounder and he was picked there. That is getting your cake and eating it too. Now they are already one season in, on the deverlopment of a "high draft pick OLB", as you wished.

I can't tell you how long I've been anticipating someone making this spelling mistake.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

I like how everyone's crapping all over Woods even though none of you have seen him start more than, what, 3-4 games? He was playing well enough before he got hurt last year, and he's been with the Pats long enough to know the defense inside out. Apparently the "cut Matt Cassel!" crowd has learned absolutely nothing from 2008.

I'm not sure what you mean by "well enough". To be more specific, do you mean "well enough" to be a consistent starter or a "well enough" to fill in on a short term basis? Your last point is a good point because I was one of those Cassel haters until he proved lots of people wrong. With that said, if BB wants to go with Woods as the starter than I would be okay with that, even though I'm not a fan of Woods. Also, I think it's only fair to judge him as a starter for a full year, not just a couple of games like he has done in the past. I understand its hard for any player to make a big impact we would all want in limited duty. Lastly, I hope Crable has a tremendous camp and makes the coaching staff find him a role on the field.

 

[Rob0729]

OK, I can understand why Patriot haters who visit this site think this is a blow to the Patriots. But for those of you who are actually fans, why in the heck do you want J Taylor. He's proved he doesn't have the motivation to win. He's earning a paycheck and being close to home is most important.

I never wanted him, nor do I want Peppers ($ too high). I honestly think the Pats will be just fine with players they have. I think you will see A Thomas playing inside in a rotation with Bruschi in certain situations. Coach B will have tons of formations and players available at his disposal.

I think P Woods is going to be very good and Crable is a stud in the waiting. Keep in mind Bruschi was a 2nd day pick as well and I'd say he worked out pretty well. A position is not a weakness if there isn't a 1st round pick playing.

Go Pats!

I don't think Taylor was the difference between winning the Super Bowl and not making the playoffs at all, but losing out on him does hurt. He would have been an upgrade to what the Pats had.

I think this "proven he odesn't have the motivation to win" crap is BS. The guy was the key cog for several dominant defenses in Miami. Just because he wasn't motivated one year for a team that was 1-15 and going through a rebuilding process that looked to be 2-3 out before they would be good again, doesn't mean he doesn't have a motivation to win.

If you want to damn him for that, you gotta damn Randy Moss for giving up during the season with the Raiders. Or do people forget how Moss publically announced he wasn't going to try because no one else did on the team. Or how he walked off the field with the game not over in Minnesota or how he walked to the bench after an INT by Culpepper when the ball was still alive. At least Taylor decided to be unfocused during the offseason. People seem to look past Moss' lack of desire to do whatever takes to win in the past and it hasn't hurt the Pats now.

I think in the 3-4 Taylor is still a good player. He would have helped the Pats with a hole in their defense. It isn't the end of the world, but it would have made the Pats' lives easier if he did come to the Pats.

As for Crable, what do you have to even say the guy is going to be a stud. Was it the fact that he was a healthy scratch from the active roster for the first eight games of the season until he was IRed with a mysterious injury? I still don't see where he will be a stud when Belichick didn't feel the guy was worth even being an special teams reserve last year. I hope the guy makes the final 53 man roster at this point nevermind being a stud.

I am a Patriots fan through and through, but I am not going to look at this with homer glasses. Crable has yet to show us anything that proves he is worth a roster spot other than being a third round pick. Woods is still an incomplete on what he can do as a starter. Taylor would have significantly upgraded the OLB position. I thought that Taylor could help this team when I thought it was a forgone conclusion that he would be here and I still think that now that he is now a Dolphin.

 

[Kontradiction]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

Well, this blows.

Indeed. Not only do we not have him, but the Dolphins now have Joey Porter AND Jason Taylor. Two thorns in Brady's side on one team.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

There are several very silly posters here that refuse to give up on Taylor and Peppers. These guys are not coming to New England!

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I can't tell you how long I've been anticipating someone making this spelling mistake.

crabel = vrable

 

[farn]

There are several very silly posters here that refuse to give up on Taylor and Peppers. These guys are not coming to New England!

Sammy... you pulling a Pitino here ? Go ahead, say it :
"Taylor and Peppers aren't walking through that door !"
I know you want to.

 

[Dagg]

This is incredibly poor logic. There's no reason to believe this year's pass rush will resemble last year's (lack thereof).

And if you're really banking on a guy who had 3.5 sacks last year to single-handedly provide a rush, well, you might want to give that one some more thought.

How is that incredibly poor logic, we are minus Vrabel (so what hes got nothing left and we added TBC) who sucked before he left. This is infact incredibly strong logic. You look at what you had last year see it hasnt really chnaged and your in the same boat again this year. The term is sound logic.

Taylor was hurt most of last year and Washington doesnt play from a sizeable lead like we do in 50% of our games. If vrabel got 12 in 07 that would be the leazst I would expect from Taylor if our offense is back on track.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I don't think Taylor was the difference between winning the Super Bowl and not making the playoffs at all, but losing out on him does hurt. He would have been an upgrade to what the Pats had.

I think this "proven he odesn't have the motivation to win" crap is BS. The guy was the key cog for several dominant defenses in Miami. Just because he wasn't motivated one year for a team that was 1-15 and going through a rebuilding process that looked to be 2-3 out before they would be good again, doesn't mean he doesn't have a motivation to win.

If you want to damn him for that, you gotta damn Randy Moss for giving up during the season with the Raiders. Or do people forget how Moss publically announced he wasn't going to try because no one else did on the team. Or how he walked off the field with the game not over in Minnesota or how he walked to the bench after an INT by Culpepper when the ball was still alive. At least Taylor decided to be unfocused during the offseason. People seem to look past Moss' lack of desire to do whatever takes to win in the past and it hasn't hurt the Pats now.

I think in the 3-4 Taylor is still a good player. He would have helped the Pats with a hole in their defense. It isn't the end of the world, but it would have made the Pats' lives easier if he did come to the Pats.

As for Crable, what do you have to even say the guy is going to be a stud. Was it the fact that he was a healthy scratch from the active roster for the first eight games of the season until he was IRed with a mysterious injury? I still don't see where he will be a stud when Belichick didn't feel the guy was worth even being an special teams reserve last year. I hope the guy makes the final 53 man roster at this point nevermind being a stud.

I am a Patriots fan through and through, but I am not going to look at this with homer glasses. Crable has yet to show us anything that proves he is worth a roster spot other than being a third round pick. Woods is still an incomplete on what he can do as a starter. Taylor would have significantly upgraded the OLB position. I thought that Taylor could help this team when I thought it was a forgone conclusion that he would be here and I still think that now that he is now a Dolphin.

You don't think we'd be damning Randy Moss if he'd re-signed with Oakland or Minnesota after being traded to us in 2007...because that would be the analogy...

 

[Rob0729]

You don't think we'd be damning Randy Moss if he'd re-signed with Oakland or Minnesota after being traded to us in 2007...because that would be the analogy...

Actually the analogy would be that Randy forced the trade to Green Bay over New England in 2007. Taylor never traded to the Patriots nor ever played for them. I would think of Taylor slightly differently if he came to play with the Pats one year and then went back to Miami.

I do think if Moss went somewhere else instead of New England in 2007, many people on this board who praise him now would have trashed him for his attitude. That is a fact of life of sports message boards. People forgive past sins of stars of their team and damn players from other teams for doing the same thing.

 

[italian pat patriot]

not so surprised about his decision: i thought that he was going to re-sign with Miami

 

[TruthSeeker]

i know i dont spell very good but i think your the only one that has that big of a problem reading my post

I admit that I skipped to the next post before finishing the first line...

 

[TruthSeeker]

Disappointing but my opinion of Taylor has now slightly changed, he now looks like a player that would run home to his mummy if something was wrong instead of man up.

I'm just not a fan of players that have all the talent in the world but no ambition. Taylor signing with the Phins is proof he isn't ambitious and just doesn't want to move.

I, on the other hand, can admire a player who follows his heart instead of his love of money. One who is committed to an organization even if there is some personal sacrifice.

To each his own.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't think Taylor was the difference between winning the Super Bowl and not making the playoffs at all, but losing out on him does hurt. He would have been an upgrade to what the Pats had.

I think this "proven he odesn't have the motivation to win" crap is BS. The guy was the key cog for several dominant defenses in Miami. Just because he wasn't motivated one year for a team that was 1-15 and going through a rebuilding process that looked to be 2-3 out before they would be good again, doesn't mean he doesn't have a motivation to win.

If you want to damn him for that, you gotta damn Randy Moss for giving up during the season with the Raiders. Or do people forget how Moss publically announced he wasn't going to try because no one else did on the team. Or how he walked off the field with the game not over in Minnesota or how he walked to the bench after an INT by Culpepper when the ball was still alive. At least Taylor decided to be unfocused during the offseason. People seem to look past Moss' lack of desire to do whatever takes to win in the past and it hasn't hurt the Pats now.

I think in the 3-4 Taylor is still a good player. He would have helped the Pats with a hole in their defense. It isn't the end of the world, but it would have made the Pats' lives easier if he did come to the Pats.

As for Crable, what do you have to even say the guy is going to be a stud. Was it the fact that he was a healthy scratch from the active roster for the first eight games of the season until he was IRed with a mysterious injury? I still don't see where he will be a stud when Belichick didn't feel the guy was worth even being an special teams reserve last year. I hope the guy makes the final 53 man roster at this point nevermind being a stud.

I am a Patriots fan through and through, but I am not going to look at this with homer glasses. Crable has yet to show us anything that proves he is worth a roster spot other than being a third round pick. Woods is still an incomplete on what he can do as a starter. Taylor would have significantly upgraded the OLB position. I thought that Taylor could help this team when I thought it was a forgone conclusion that he would be here and I still think that now that he is now a Dolphin.

I'm happy we did not get Taylor. I've said it all along. If we signed him, I'd be saying I don't like the move.
I do not think Taylor is a team player. I think he expects special treatment, and does not have the commitment to team first that I feel dominates the collective mentality of the Patriots. (not to say every player has that mentality or one bad apples spoils the bunch) I think Taylor's ME attitude also shows up on the field. My opinion is that Taylor consistently abandons fundamental play in order to try to make the big play (such as ignoring run responsibilities to get a better passrushing jump in case it might be a pass, because sacks=glory).
I have ALWAYS felt that the most overrated and least useful players in the NFL are the 'best player on an underachieving team', especially a team that underachieves for a long period of time. Taylor fits that mold.
Someone posted a while back, that we should sign Taylor for leadership. My response was we don't need him coming here and doing the kind of leading that has produced the results his teams have had. Thats pretty much the way I feel about Taylor, he is undisciplined in his play, which helps him creates glory stats that he wouldn't reach without sacrificing part of his responsibilities to the defensive scheme for his own personal reasons, and has been a bad teammate. A guy with those characteristics, in his prime, can be useful, but a guy with those characteristics, at a point where he is winding down his career and CLEARLY thinks the rules should be different for him, will detract from this team.

I accept that a lot of that is my opinion of Taylor, and is not fact, but that is my opinion. I cannot defend opinion, and certainly some responses may produce a different version of his character. Thats fine, I've made my judgment of his character based on my beliefs. Feel free to disagree, this is how I see it.

 

[Ring 6]

I, on the other hand, can admire a player who follows his heart instead of his love of money. One who is committed to an organization even if there is some personal sacrifice.

To each his own.

Problem is there are many potential motivations for his decision that conflict with each other, and we will never really know what his true motivation was.
For every honorable motive you could offer a dishonorable alternative that is equally as cogent and vice-versa.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Actually the analogy would be that Randy forced the trade to Green Bay over New England in 2007. Taylor never traded to the Patriots nor ever played for them. I would think of Taylor slightly differently if he came to play with the Pats one year and then went back to Miami.

I do think if Moss went somewhere else instead of New England in 2007, many people on this board who praise him now would have trashed him for his attitude. That is a fact of life of sports message boards. People forgive past sins of stars of their team and damn players from other teams for doing the same thing.

You don't get it. He asked out of Miami because they traded his brother in law and were starting over with Tuna and he wanted no part of a rebuild with 2-3 years left in his career. Then, when set free just a year later, he re-signed with Miami in the midst of a rebuild... Which would have been like Randy asking to re-up with either Oakland or Minny, two teams he engineered his way out of, after playing anywhere else for one year and finally becoming a FA in control of his own destiny...AND GOING BACK TO THE PLACE HE WANTED OUT OF...

Jason sounds like a guy who either doesn't really know what he wants (or knows full well what the wife wants) or one who decided it's better marketing at this stage of your career to play for a team who knew and loved you when... Then when the HOF comes calling everyone can forget the lost year in DC and just focus on the fairytale of the great Dolhin defender who never got a ring but was loyal to the end...

 

[cmasspatsfan]

You don't get it. He asked out of Miami because they traded his brother in law and were starting over with Tuna and he wanted no part of a rebuild with 2-3 years left in his career. Then, when set free just a year later, he re-signed with Miami in the midst of a rebuild... Which would have been like Randy asking to re-up with either Oakland or Minny, two teams he engineered his way out of, after playing anywhere else for one year and finally becoming a FA in control of his own destiny...AND GOING BACK TO THE PLACE HE WANTED OUT OF...

Not quite the same, Miami got a lot better quick while the Oakland is still run by a buffoon.
I think if Miami was 4-12 or 5-11 last year he would have come here, JMO.

 

[Ring 6]

You don't get it. He asked out of Miami because they traded his brother in law and were starting over with Tuna and he wanted no part of a rebuild with 2-3 years left in his career. Then, when set free just a year later, he re-signed with Miami in the midst of a rebuild... Which would have been like Randy asking to re-up with either Oakland or Minny, two teams he engineered his way out of, after playing anywhere else for one year and finally becoming a FA in control of his own destiny...AND GOING BACK TO THE PLACE HE WANTED OUT OF...

Jason sounds like a guy who either doesn't really know what he wants (or knows full well what the wife wants) or one who decided it's better marketing at this stage of your career to play for a team who knew and loved you when... Then when the HOF comes calling everyone can forget the lost year in DC and just focus on the fairytale of the great Dolhin defender who never got a ring but was loyal to the end...

You are dead on. He did ENGINEER his way out. He refused to show up and demanded a trade.
He clearly sent the message that his teammates were a bunch of losers, and he abandoned them.

WITH TAYLOR they went 1-15, and he said he wanted out because he was too good to be part of the rebuild. The went 11-5 WITHOUT him, and now he wants to come back, and I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT HE WILL TRY TO ACT LIKE HE IS A LEADER AND THE FACE OF THE FRANCHISE.
Taylor is a ME guy who tries to act like he is a team guy to build his image, and those kind of guys disgust me.

 

[flasox27]

The Pats may get the last laugh on JT. He apparently has no guarantees from the fish that he will make the team. He will be competing with Porter for the same position since neither of the them can play the strong side. and he is the least expensive to cut. If the Pats trade for Burgess or have one of their young players step up, JT would have no place to go.