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The Redskins acted swiftly and dramatically following the news that starting DE Phillip Daniels was out for the season, making a trade for Dolphins DE Jason Taylor. The Dolphins will get a second-round pick in the 2009 draft and a sixth-rounder in the '10 draft. Daniels suffered a serious knee injury on the first play of seven-on-seven drills of the opening day of training camp in Jim Zorn's debut as head coach. Daniels will be placed on injured reserve.
Taylor had been on the trade block for most of the offseason since new executive vice president of football operations Bill Parcells took issue with Taylor's appearance on "Dancing With the Stars," which Parcells deemed to be an example of a player putting his off-field career ahead of his team and his football career. Taylor missed the Dolphins' entire offseason program and failed to resolve his issues with Parcells in a meeting this offseason.
The PFW spin
The Redskins were one of the teams who looked the closest at adding Taylor once the Dolphins made him available before the draft. But they didn't make the move before because the price — a first-rounder at the time — was too high and the team felt good about its defensive ends. Daniels' injury and the Dolphins' willingness to take less made the Redskins a natural fit. After a relatively quiet offseason in terms of personnel, this is the kind of move that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has endorsed wholeheartedly since taking control of the team.
Adding Taylor should alleviate one big issue that many felt the Redskins had failed to address this offseason until now: improving the pass rush. Though Taylor has played primarily on the right side the past two seasons in Miami, he was moved around enough so that playing on the left side, opposite Andre Carter, shouldn't be a problem. Taylor also is a fine run defender, and he has shown a terrific skill for making plays while dropping into coverage. Defensive coordinator Greg Blache now has the option of dropping Taylor or Carter into coverage on zone pressures, as both are very athletic. But Taylor adds exceptional instincts, and his few seasons of playing linebacker make him far more agile and anticipatory than most down linemen.
Are the Redskins renting Taylor for one season? They say no. Redskins executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said the team is convinced that Taylor, who previously said he wanted to play one more season with a contender and then retire from football, will be around more than one year. His current deal has two years left on it, at a base salary of just over $8 million for this year, and probably won't be redone.
And are the Redskins contenders? They were a playoff team last season under Joe Gibbs in the very tough NFC East and return the bulk of the group. But there are several injury considerations, especially on defense. LB Rocky McIntosh is coming off torn ligaments in his knee, and CB Carlos Rogers almost certainly will miss the start of the season and could be out until October. The Redskins have strong defenders now on all three levels of the defense with the acquisition of Taylor, but the depth is a concern. Another key injury or two, and no matter what Taylor or anyone else does, this defense will be short-handed. All in all, it's a bold move by a team that has gained a reputation for making them.
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