Jason Taylor Says He’s Talking To The Dolphins

Free-agent defensive end Jason Taylor, who presumably plans to weigh possible employment offers just long enough to avoid offseason practice, has been hinting about a desire to return to the Dolphins. Though former teammates Channing Crowder and Joey Porter have expressed a strong desire to bring J.T. back to Miami, the team’s interest has been on the tepid side. According to Taylor, however, the temperature is rising. Taylor tells Tim Graham of ESPN.com that the 2006 NFL defensive player of the year is talking with the Fins about a return. We’re not prepared to say we don’t believe Taylor. Wait, maybe we are. Given the manner in which Taylor forced his way out of town last year, due to his belief that a team that was 1-15 in 2007 simply wouldn’t be competitive, we can’t imagine V.P. of football operations Bill Parcells slaying the fatted calf for the prodigal dancer. “Hey, Jason,” Parcells might say, “you made your choice last year. I don’t want guys who only want to be here when things are good. I want guys who want to be here in the bad times, too.” (I guarantee you that a small percentage of the audience will believe Parcells actually said that, even though I am trying to emphasize via this parenthetical that Parcells didn’t actually say it.) One team Taylor isn’t interested in joining is the Jets. “I’ve had a lot of history saying bad things about Jets fans,” Taylor said. “The fireman hat guy [Fireman Ed] and all of the people in New York that are Jets fans are not the ones that are working on Wall Street. I’ve said all of those things. So I’ve got to leave it at that.” (If anyone out there understands that quote, would you be willing to enlighten the rest of us via a comment to this post?) Our guess is that Taylor would prefer to play for the Patriots, and that he’s flirting with both teams in order to maximize the value of his contract. If nothing else, feigning interest in returning to the Fins is great practice for his acting career. Then again, given that he seems to be destined for the Michael Irvin/Bill Romanowski “former football player” roles, it’s not as if Taylor needs much acting practice.