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Dolphins revisiting the idea of signing Taylor

Jason Taylor might wind up getting his wish of re-joining the Dolphins after all.

During a radio interview this morning on Miami’s 790 AM, Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano admitted the team was re-considering the possibility of bringing back free agent defensive end Jason Taylor, who is also on the Patriots radar.

”Yeah, we’re talking. When I say ‘we,’ it’s myself, Jeff (Ireland, GM), and Bill (Parcells, head of football operations) have talked about Jason and had several conversations about it,” Sparano said. “We’ll revisit it now that the draft is over and we’re getting ready to look down the road at OTAs here pretty soon, so we’ll revisit it again and see where we are.”

When asked if the Pat’s interest in the veteran free agent would influence Miami’s decision, Sparano answered, “It doesn’t affect us one way or another. I think that at the end of this process it’s going to be about – from our end – our interest in Jason and how we see him fitting into our plans. If at that point he ends up in another place, that’s nothing I can control.”

Previously, the Dolphins stance on Taylor was that his re-signing might stunt the growth of some of their younger players, particularly Matt Roth.

As long as Taylor doesn’t hold the Dolphins over the coals in terms of a contract (and why would he at this stage of his career?), signing him seems like a no-brainer. Teams are always in need of quality pass-rushers and Taylor could instill some leadership for a young Miami defense. The Dolphins could sign him to a one-year deal and if he’s ineffective, they can move on next year.

Quinn to be Browns starter in Week 1?

According to a report by Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brady Quinn is expected to beat out Derek Anderson this summer and emerge as the Browns’ starting quarterback for Week 1 next season.

I recently spoke with someone I will identify as a league source. This person does not work for an NFL team but works with NFL teams and has a prominent name.

I asked, “Whom do you think will wind up starting at quarterback for the Browns?”

Without hesitation, the answer was, “Brady Quinn.”

The person went on to say that the Browns had two “very subtantial” trade offers for Quinn — each involved a No. 1 draft pick — and declined to trade him.

The source would not speculate on whether a trade of Quinn might have been blocked by owner Randy Lerner. The source believes that there will be a true “open competition” between Quinn and Derek Anderson and that Quinn will prevail.

The source does not believe that newly acquired ex-Jet Brett Ratliff will be thrown into the open competition. The source’s take on Ratliff: “Eric Mangini likes having him around because he feels comfortable with him and he knows the offense.”

I don’t doubt that the Browns could be leaning towards Quinn, but you’re not going to hear Mangini say it. All coaches like to breed competition and Quinn won’t be handed the job, especially not with Anderson already being paid a $5 million roster bonus plus his $1.45 million base salary. Chances are the Browns are going to have both QBs on the roster next year and although Quinn might be the front-runner at this point, he’s going to have to earn the starting gig.

Danny Granger wins Most Improved Player

Danny Granger has been named the 2009 NBA Most Improved Player. Last month, I wrote the following in my “Predicting the 2009 NBA year-end awards” post.

Most Improved
This is always a tough one. Usually, it goes to a player that entered the league without a lot of pomp and circumstance (i.e. they were non-lottery picks) that makes the jump from role player or starter to star or superstar. The last eight winners are: Hedo Turkoglu (16th pick), Monta Ellis (40th), Boris Diaw (21st), Bobby Simmons (42nd), Zach Randolph (19th), Gilbert Arenas (31st), Jermaine O’Neal (17th) and Tracy McGrady (9th). A few of the names being bandied about are Devin Harris (5th), Danny Granger (17th), Kevin Durant (2nd), Nene (7th), Thaddeus Young (12th), Brandon Roy (6th) and Roger Mason (31st). Durant, Harris, Roy, Young and Nene all came into the league as lottery picks, a fact that works against them in this case. They’ve all made leaps this season, though I think everyone was expecting Durant, Harris, Roy and Young to make those jumps. Nene is more of a comeback player than an MIP. He’s been battling injuries his entire career, so the fact that he’s playing well while healthy is no surprise. The last few winners indicate that the MIP usually goes to a player who makes an unexpected leap, so I think it will go to Danny Granger, though his late season run in 2007-08 works against him. He averaged 22.4 points in March of ’08, and 24.8 ppg in April of ’08, so if you dig into the numbers a little, his play this season isn’t as big of a surprise. Still, I don’t think that he had the same expectations as Durant, Harris and Roy, so I think he’s our guy. Mason might be the darkhorse.
My choice: Granger
My prediction: Granger

Devin Harris finished a close second (364 to 339). The bottom line is that it’s tough to win the MIP if you were a former lottery pick; it hasn’t been done since T-Mac won it back in 2001.

Adam Carolla throws out first pitch at Dodgers game…and the second, and the third…

It never ceases to amaze me how bad celebrities are throwing out the first pitch at baseball games.

Case in point, Adam Carolla at a recent Dodgers game:

When told of Carolla’s performance during the first pitch ceremonies, Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre shrugged and said, “It couldn’t have been any worse than Juan Pierre’s throws home.”

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