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Friday, December 28, 2007
DAVIE - If anyone is interested in the No. 1 draft pick, Bill Parcells is listening.
He realizes that one player probably won't resurrect the Dolphins, who are 1-14 entering their final weekend.
But Parcells, who the team introduced Thursday as executive vice president of football operations, knows the top pick can be tough to unload.
"Any team that has won one game, or hopefully two games this year, needs a volume of players," Parcells said. "But getting someone to beinterested in that No. 1 pick is not as simple as just saying, 'OK, we're going to trade the pick.'
"First, you need to have someone who wants it ... I would consider anything."
Parcells finds himself in a powerful position that also can be a precarious one.
He could keep the No. 1 pick, hoping to jump-start a long-term rebuilding project. Or he could trade it and stockpile picks for the Dolphins, who have fourselections among the first 64 in the April 26-27 draft.
Parcells has had the No. 1 pick on two other occasions.
While head coach of New England, he helped select quarterback Drew Bledsoe with the top pick in 1993. Four seasons later, Bledsoe led the Patriots to theSuper Bowl.
In 1997 with the New York Jets, Parcells traded down twice to No. 8. He selected linebacker James Farrior and also picked up several more picks. But Farriordidn't reach his potential until he went to Pittsburgh in 2003. Most of the Jets' other selections that came from the trades didn't pan out,either.
The St. Louis Rams wound up with the No. 1 pick in '97 and selected left tackle Orlando Pace, a six-time All-Pro.
Still, Parcells seems to be leery of keeping the top selection because of the large contract the player demands and the history of busts. Pick someone likePace, Peyton Manning or Bruce Smith and get a franchise cornerstone. End up with players such as Aundray Bruce, Ki-Jana Carter or Tim Couch, and theorganization might not recover for a long time.
"If you make a pick at that spot and you're wrong, it's economically a very bad thing for quite a while," Parcells said.
When the time comes to make a decision, Parcells said he would have a clear plan.
Chris Grier, the Dolphins' director of college scouting the past eight seasons, worked for Parcells with the Patriots for three seasons (1994-96).Grier's father, Bobby, is the former vice president of player personnel in New England and a friend of Parcells'.
"Chris has kind of an idea of what's coming here," Parcells said.
Parcells will teach the rest of the Miami personnel staff to focus on three priorities: 1. A player's character and mental makeup; 2. Whether he fitsParcells' expectations for the position he plays; 3. Skill level.
"I try not to make too many exceptions," Parcells said.
Between now and April, Parcells said he would spend a lot of time evaluating players. To end up on his draft board won't be easy.
"Our draft board will not have a lot of names of players on it," Parcells said. "We're going to try to make our scouts be decisive andcommitted to people rather than just being able to pile guys into a category."
CP1708 is sitting somewhere looking like:
We just had this discussion not two weeks ago. It makes the most sense for the Dolphins to do this... and we KNOW Jerry Jones would love to trade for him. Ifthey ended up with Dallas 2 first rounders, that would give them *5* picks out of the first 64.
DAVIE - If anyone is interested in the No. 1 draft pick, Bill Parcells is listening.
He realizes that one player probably won't resurrect the Dolphins, who are 1-14 entering their final weekend.
But Parcells, who the team introduced Thursday as executive vice president of football operations, knows the top pick can be tough to unload.
"Any team that has won one game, or hopefully two games this year, needs a volume of players," Parcells said. "But getting someone to beinterested in that No. 1 pick is not as simple as just saying, 'OK, we're going to trade the pick.'
"First, you need to have someone who wants it ... I would consider anything."
Parcells finds himself in a powerful position that also can be a precarious one.
He could keep the No. 1 pick, hoping to jump-start a long-term rebuilding project. Or he could trade it and stockpile picks for the Dolphins, who have fourselections among the first 64 in the April 26-27 draft.
Parcells has had the No. 1 pick on two other occasions.
While head coach of New England, he helped select quarterback Drew Bledsoe with the top pick in 1993. Four seasons later, Bledsoe led the Patriots to theSuper Bowl.
In 1997 with the New York Jets, Parcells traded down twice to No. 8. He selected linebacker James Farrior and also picked up several more picks. But Farriordidn't reach his potential until he went to Pittsburgh in 2003. Most of the Jets' other selections that came from the trades didn't pan out,either.
The St. Louis Rams wound up with the No. 1 pick in '97 and selected left tackle Orlando Pace, a six-time All-Pro.
Still, Parcells seems to be leery of keeping the top selection because of the large contract the player demands and the history of busts. Pick someone likePace, Peyton Manning or Bruce Smith and get a franchise cornerstone. End up with players such as Aundray Bruce, Ki-Jana Carter or Tim Couch, and theorganization might not recover for a long time.
"If you make a pick at that spot and you're wrong, it's economically a very bad thing for quite a while," Parcells said.
When the time comes to make a decision, Parcells said he would have a clear plan.
Chris Grier, the Dolphins' director of college scouting the past eight seasons, worked for Parcells with the Patriots for three seasons (1994-96).Grier's father, Bobby, is the former vice president of player personnel in New England and a friend of Parcells'.
"Chris has kind of an idea of what's coming here," Parcells said.
Parcells will teach the rest of the Miami personnel staff to focus on three priorities: 1. A player's character and mental makeup; 2. Whether he fitsParcells' expectations for the position he plays; 3. Skill level.
"I try not to make too many exceptions," Parcells said.
Between now and April, Parcells said he would spend a lot of time evaluating players. To end up on his draft board won't be easy.
"Our draft board will not have a lot of names of players on it," Parcells said. "We're going to try to make our scouts be decisive andcommitted to people rather than just being able to pile guys into a category."
CP1708 is sitting somewhere looking like:
We just had this discussion not two weeks ago. It makes the most sense for the Dolphins to do this... and we KNOW Jerry Jones would love to trade for him. Ifthey ended up with Dallas 2 first rounders, that would give them *5* picks out of the first 64.
