Late signing

Miami Dolphins training camp has opened. So where is the team's #1 pick?

The Miami Dolphins opened rookie training camp today with first-round pick Ted Ginn Jr. the only rookie not under contract after the team signed two more draft picks on Monday, including quarterback John Beck.

But a deal with Ginn, the No. 9 selection in April, likely is on the horizon. If Ginn signs before the full squad opens training camp Saturday, owner Wayne Huizenga's vow at last spring's owner's meetings to bench rookie holdouts will become a moot point.

The team's past two first-round picks, running back Ronnie Brown in 2005 and defensive back Jason Allen in 2006, missed valuable time in training camp - and it showed.

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A former general manager said Huizenga still might want to soften his stance with rookies.

Talks with Ginn reportedly are progressing, although Ginn's agent, Neil Cornrich, has not returned messages.

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Only four first-round picks have signed contracts - No. 15 pick Lawrence Timmons of Pittsburgh, No. 28 Joe Staley of San Francisco, No. 30 Craig Davis of San Diego and No. 31 Greg Olsen of Chicago.

Signing Ginn before the weekend is not imperative, Herock said. He said holdouts are much more detrimental to quarterbacks, offensive linemen and safety because of the amount of technical information needed to play the position.



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Allen, the No. 16 pick in 2006, held out 10 days last season and never was a factor at safety last season. Brown held out three weeks after Miami selected him No. 2 in 2005 and had an up-and-down rookie season.

Allen has all the makings of a draft bust. The Dolphins secondary was a mess last year, and Allen even with his late start barely played. Brown can still be a good running back, but at the same time looks overpriced in retrospect. I don't know if Ronnie will ever produce enough to justify his being a #2 pick.

As to Ginn, Cameron is confident about his signing soon. However this Palm Beach Post article seems to throw cold water on the notion.

The clients of Cleveland-based agent Neil Cornrich have a history of signing late and thus missing portions of training camp.

Ginn, a receiver and kick returner, missed the first two days of workouts for rookies. But coach Cam Cameron said this week that he expects Ginn, the No. 9 pick from Ohio State, to be in camp Friday when the full squad reports.

That would be an exception for one of Cornrich's players.

"When Neil Cornrich is the agent, you always have a holdout," a source who has negotiated many NFL contracts said Wednesday. "He's had a lot." A 2005 study in the Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal showed five of six first-round draft picks (83 percent) represented by Cornrich in the previous decade did not report to camp on time.

So Miami could be in for another long-term holdout. When you combine this with Ginn's questionable skills(He appears to have overcome his ankle injury), you wonder if the Dolphins are in for another high draft pick letdown. Something this team can ill afford.

Was the person who said history always repeats itself a Miami Dolphin fan?

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