TUNA FINAGLES THE ABILITY TO WALK AT ANY TIME

When Dolphins V.P. of football operations Bill Parcells leaked on December 28 (presumably via former ESPN colleague Chris Mortensen) that Parcells had a 30-day window within which to walk away with full pay once owner Wayne Huizenga transfers control of the team to Stephen Ross, it was obvious to us that Parcells was trying to take advantage of the contractual term he so shrewdly had included into his deal. And here’s what we surmised on January 6: "[W]e can’t imagine Parcells staying without a clause that allows him to walk away at any time, with a huge cash payment and the ability to work wherever he wants. With a contract that gives him the power to leave now and take the rest of his money, he holds all the cards. And he’ll stay under his terms, or he simply won’t stay.” As it turns out, Parcells parlayed his 30-day cash-and-carry clause into a provision that allows him, at any time over the life of the deal, to pick up and leave, with the full remaining amount of the contract in hand. According to (surprise, surprise) ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Parcells has the option to depart without any restrictions. And with pay. If he leaves, he’ll receive the balance of his original four-year, $12 million deal. (It has been erroneously reported in some circles, and we fear that we’ve repeated the mistake in some of our postings, that Parcells signed in early 2008 a four-year, $16 million contract.) Per Mort, the new provision was negotiated before Huizenga sold the team to Ross, who was aware of the change and didn’t object to it. How could he? If neither Huizenga nor Ross wanted to give Parcells the ability to leave whenever he wanted to leave with full pay, Parcells simply would have (and could have) left with full pay as soon as Huizenga handed the keys to Ross. Bottom line? It’s another case of Parcells showing that he’s a master of the football business, both when it comes to the football -- and when it comes to the business.