The Miami Dolphins auditioned three players with Canadian Football League experience today, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation.
They worked out former East Carolina defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell, former Indiana running back Marcus Thigpen and former North Carolina Central offensive guard Jovan Olafioye.
Excuse me? Thigpen isn't a free agent until Feb. 2013, and I thought the "option year" was changed to be an option only for the team, not the player. So why would the Dolphins even be looking at him at this time? Or has the agreement between the CFL and NFL been torn up?
Here’s a list of potential Tiger-Cat FAs come Februrary:
BARRENECHEA, Agustin FB 6.02 235 Calgary Free Agent
BROWN, Isaac LB 5.11 223 Central Michigan Free Agent
CARTER, Matt WR 6.01 6.01 Acadia Free Agent
HICKMAN, Justin DE 6.02 265 UCLA Free Agent
JIMENEZ, Jason OT 6.07 320 Southern Mississippi Free Agent
KIRK, Matt DL 6.04 265 Queen’s Free Agent
MCINTYRE, Garrett DE 6.03 270 Fresno State New York (NFL)
MEDLOCK, Justin K 6.00 208 UCLA Free Agent
ROTTIER, Simeon OL 6.06 295 Alberta Free Agent
SHIVERS, Jason DB 6.01 191 Arizona State Free Agent
While this sucks for us, it's a great opportunity for him, so I wish him luck.
What are the chances that if he doesn't make the Dolphins, he would know soon enough to be able to attend our training camp? Or are we pretty much guaranteed he won't be here until at least mid-season?
This is not the end of the world and in fact might benefit us if he returns back to the Cats. He might be down there just keeping in football ready shape and maybe picking up a couple of pointers here and there from some of the NFL guys.
8) Are you serious ?? The Dolphins are working Thigpen out to see if he shows enough to warrant signing him to a
contract !!!
He is not down there to keep in shape or pick up pointers, here and there !!
Thigpen is down there for one specific reason.....to try and get a contract offer.
Well duh! Obviously. What American player wouldn’t want to sign on with an NFL team for American dollars? What I’m saying is that it’s a win win situation for him. Either he gets signed which might be a longshot or he comes back to the Cats with a little bit wider perspective and insight into the game of football while staying in good shape.
It’s a tryout, he’s going to catch passes from a random quarterback and field a few punts and kicks. He’s not going to learn anything, nor is this one tryout going to “keep him in shape”.
No, I mean some of these signings only last a few weeks. In 2009 Thiggy was with The Eagles, Broncos and finally the Roughriders. Three teams in one year before he finally caught on with us in 2010. He probably impressed the Dolphins with his speed so they might keep him around as a kick returner but the competition is pretty tough down there. I would really like to see what he could do here in Hamilton with Burris feeding him the ball and an OC that knows how to utilize his talents. We did not see all of his potential under the Marcel / Glenn system. The thing about these NFL tryouts is sometimes we lose guys like Garret Mcintyre but other players have gone down there like Knowlton and Bo Smith and we end up getting them right back. So who knows how it will play out?
Even if Thiggy doesn't make the Dolphins, he won't be here until Labour Day. They signed him to see what he could do in exhibition games, which start in mid-August.
