NFL Notebook: Signing Taylor a Miami victory NFL Notebook: Signing Taylor a Miami victory
It would seem the biggest winner in Jason Taylor's decision this week to return to Miami was the Dolphins.
Even though Taylor got what he wanted -- the chance to play again closer to his Miami home -- he still had to say no to $8.5 million in salary he would have earned had he stayed in Washington. Instead, he'll make $1.1 million in pay with the chance to make another $400,000 in incentives.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins get Taylor back to pair with Joey Porter and still get the second-round pick they received from the Redskins when they traded him to Washington last offseason.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder even flew to South Florida and met with Taylor at Joe's Stone Crab to try to convince the player to stay with the Redskins.
It didn't work.
"Look, if Jason was going to play it was going to be with Miami," agent Gary Wichard said. "That's how he wanted it."
Bill Parcells has to be smiling. He not only got Taylor, who played at Woodland Hills High School, and the draft pick, but he prevented New England -- which also was in the discussion -- from getting the 2006 NFL defensive player of the year. Patriots owner Robert Kraft actively and openly recruited Taylor. Bill Belichick called Wichard and also tried to get Taylor's signature on a contract that included many more digits than the one he signed with Miami.
But Taylor wanted to go home. He may not be the player he was in 2006, but Parcells, who studied every snap Taylor took in 2008, believes Taylor still has value.
Bills
Fullback Corey McIntyre was arrested in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on accusations he fondled himself outside a woman's home. The incident allegedly happened about two months ago, but McIntyre, 29, was arrested Thursday and charged with exposing sexual organs. A spokesperson for the Port St. Lucie Police says a woman claimed the player knocked on her window during the act, then fled. Police later spotted him on a bicycle.
Cowboys
For the second year in a row, quarterback Tony Romo fell short this week in his attempt to advance to sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open.
Romo did not give himself a chance to go deep in qualifying, shooting an 80 at the local level. He shot 44 on the back nine, with five bogeys and a triple-bogey on No. 16 sacking his scorecard at Dallas National Golf Club. He shot even par on the front nine in the rain.
Bengals
The star-crossed Bengals are about to become HBO's latest stars. The cable channel and NFL Films chose one of the league's least-successful teams of the past 18 years for its next "Hard Knocks" training camp series. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys were the ones followed through training camp.
HBO started the program in 2001 with the Baltimore Ravens. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore then, so he's familiar with how it works. Still, television executives had to do some arm-twisting to get the team to go along.
The Bengals have only one winning record since 1991, when owner Mike Brown took over. One intriguing subplot will be how Brown, who shies away from cameras, comes across in the episodes.
Brown didn't attend a news conference about the show.
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