June 3, 2008

Mission accomplished: Bill Parcells was hired to gut the moribund franchise and rebuild it from the ground up, and Step One is officially done. Gone are aging and injury-prone vets such as Trent Green, Zach Thomas and L.J. Shelton, while in come promising young players such as Jake Long, Ernest Wilford and Randy Starks. But the most important addition is new head coach Tony Sparano, an O-line guru who will instill discipline in an organization that lost its path during the one-year Cam Cameron calamity.

Unfinished business: For as many new faces as there are, holes abound at nearly every position. On offense, there remains a dearth of capable pass catchers to snag the balls of whoever wins the QB derby, and OG concerns temper the enthusiasm created by a solid OT pair. The defense is in worse shape, as an overhaul of the frontseven personnel is needed in order to run the team’s preferred 3-4 scheme. On top of everything, the cold war being waged between Parcells and the team’s only legitimate star, Jason Taylor, casts an ominous shadow over the entire organization.