An aging but still effective star player becomes available. Add the player's Hollywood aspirations into the mix and you seem to have a match made in heaven.
Daniel Snyder, do you take Jason Taylor to be your lawfully contracted defensive end?
The answer, apparently, is no. Cancel the caterers and see if you can get your deposit back from the florist.
It appears that the union between Taylor and the Miami Dolphins, his team since the beginning of his NFL career in 1997, is over. According to the team's head coach Tony Sparano, Taylor won't be attending OTA's, minicamp, or training camp.
That Taylor and the Fins are on the outs isn't breaking news. It's well known that they shopped him hard during the draft, including an offer to deal him to the Washington Redskins. At the time, they turned down Miami's request for a second-round pick for Taylor.
Indications are that the Skins' interest in Taylor remains dormant. They don't want to give up the high draft pick that Miami is looking for as compensation and they don't want to pay Taylor some $16 million over the next two seasons.
It's not that Taylor, 34, is done as an effective player. He had 11 sacks on a horrid team last year, following up a 13.5-sack effort that earned him NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2006.
But the age certainly is a factor. While he appears to be in excellent shape and he should be an effective player for several more years, his best years clearly are behind him.
And there are legitimate questions about whether or not Taylor will play beyond his current two-year contract. He enjoyed the Hollywood gig with the Dancing With the Stars thing and nobody would be surprised if he hung up his jersey with some good seasons as a player left in the tank in favor of an acting career.
The Redskins are trying to build through the draft. They aren't one player away from making the Super Bowl. It would be counterproductive for them to expend a high draft pick and a big chunk of cap space on an aging player.
The Redskins were saved from themselves in the week before the draft when the Bengals rejected their offer for Chad Johnson. They appear to be taking their fate into their own hands here by steadfastly resisting the temptation to go dancing with Jason Taylor.
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