While it’s not exactly the world’s best kept secret that there is tension between the Dolphins and Jason Taylor, the writing about him not being part of the team in 2008 seems even more evident after new coach Tony Sparano spoke out today during a voluntary team practice with just Taylor not there. The new coach stated that Taylor has indicated he won’t be at any of the OTA’s, or at training camp.

“I’m glad we know this. We’ve gotten the information, and that’s important,” Sparano said, adding he knows Taylor “is not going to be in any mini-camps, and I know that right now Jason is not going to be at training camp. That being said, we need to discuss the current players on our team right now that have been busting their butt for nine weeks here.”

The 33-year-old Taylor said he wants to stick around with the Fins, but it seems more and more that maybe the Fins don’t want him. It looks as if he will be shopped around again, like he was just before the draft when a deal was close to being reached with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Taylor finished second overall in the finals of “Dancing with the Stars,” that wrapped up last night in Los Angeles.

There has been talk that Taylor’s outside interests as well as not being at the recent OTA’s is more then enough for new VP Bill Parcells, GM Jeff Ireland and coach Sparano to show him the door. Now only time will tell if he gets shipped and where that might be.

The Dolphins signed free agent offensive lineman Steve McKinney on Monday.  The 10-year veteran suffered a torn ACL in September of last season while playing for the Houston Texans and was placed on injured reserve.  The 32-year-old McKinney has appeared in 143 games with 133 starts as a center, left guard and right guard for the Colts and Texans.  Meantime, the Dolphins also signed running backs Jalen Parmele and Lex Hilliard,  defensive end Lionel Dotson, and center Matt Spanos.

Dolphins running back Ricky Williams is not only going to be on the Fins roster in 2008, he’s also going to be back in the rotation at running back according to comments he claims he was told by new Dolphins VP Bill Parcells.  In today’s Florida Sun-Sentinel, Williams stated that he was shocked he was not released by the Fins and Parcells after he met up with the former Super Bowl winning coach.

“(Parcells) was describing the kind of player he wanted,” Williams said. “Honestly, I had doubts if I was going to be that type of player.”  It was during that talk that Parcells reportedly told Williams he would get carries along with Dolphins feature back Ronnie Brown.  “I was expecting him not to talk to me at all,” Williams said. “I was expecting to get a letter in the mail saying I was going to be a free agent.

“I like (Parcells) more than I thought I would,” added Williams. “He’s really different than I expected. It seems to me his greatest joy is developing true friendships with his players, being a mentor and trying to help people, not just in football but in life.”

Williams did try and make a comeback last season with Miami, and it lasted all of one game, as against Pittsburgh on a Monday night he tore a chest muscle and missed the rest of the season.  He will turn 31 next week, and this season is his final year of a deal that will pay him $730,000.  Will he have an impact on the Dolphins ground game this season?  That’s a great question that will be up for debate all the way into the season.

Picks: OT Jake Long, DE Phillip Merling, QB Chad Henne, DE Kendall Langford, G Shawn Murphy, RB Jalen Parmele, G Donald Thomas, RB Lex Hilliard, NT Lionel Dotson
Positives: Long, Henne and Langford
Negatives: Merling and Thomas
Bottom line: B+. Anybody who wants to understand the Bill Parcells blueprint should study this draft. Rebuild the lines first and get a drop-back quarterback. Long immediately steps into the left tackle spot while Merling and Langford give the team a much-needed infusion of talent on the defensive line. However, Merling is a bit of a reach because he doesn’t fit a 3-4 defense perfectly. The best move for the Dolphins was not overreacting to the hype regarding Henne after Baltimore made an early move to nab Joe Flacco. Instead of creating a run on quarterbacks, the Dolphins patiently waited for him at the end of the second round.