Audibly Offensive

(AP Photo)

The sounds you hear coming from South Beach are those of an inevitable failure. The only surprise is that we’re hearing them this soon.

In a surprising turn of events, the Miami Dolphins sent the franchises’ best player packing, trading defensive end and former Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins for a second-round pick next year and a sixth rounder in 2010.

Obviously, new VP of Operations Bill Parcells wants to run this team his way – with an iron fist – and his first act was to get rid of a player he felt would be a distraction.

Come on. Throughout his entire career, Jason Taylor has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in the game, despite being on a perennial piss poor team whose offense couldn’t score points on Prairie View A&M.

Taylor got dealt because he sees the end of the line coming for his career, not because of the nagging injuries or wear and tear of professional football, but glitz and glamor of Hollywood’s potential bright lights.

Taylor sees himself as an investment for the future, but wants one fighting chance at a Super Bowl title to pad his Hall of Fame worthy credentials.

The move to Washington isn’t the equivalent of a nuclear explosion in professional football, but it damn sure makes Washington a better team in an already loaded division.

Taylor didn’t need to make the move to the nation’s capital. The Redskins had to make this move to avoid getting overshadowed by the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants – teams that are already looking to make a huge push for the playoffs.

Make all the Dancing with the Stars jokes you want, Jason Taylor is still one of the best defensive ends in the game. He’s going to get his sacks. He’s going to cause a multitude of problems for quarterbacks in the NFC East (especially with the retched offensive lines some of those teams have).

While we’re on the subject of trades, the defending Super Bowl champs just dealt away what could always be a vital piece of their offense, sending tight end Jeremy Shockey to New Orleans for draft picks.

Before I go on about how this benefits the Giants more than it does the Saints, someone answer this question for me…

How can a team just give away a player like Taylor or Shockey? I know Shockey’s been unhappy in New York for a few seasons and that every season we’ve gotten closer to seeing him get dealt, but this is sad.

Shockey and Taylor both got sent to another team for virtually nothing. Maybe gas money and a few bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Shockey being dealt is a good thing for Big Blue. Think about it.

The Giants made the Super Bowl and won it while the former Pro Bowl tight end was nursing injuries while most of the football world thought that Big Blue couldn’t do anything without him.

Most of the baseball world didn’t think Boston could do anything without Nomar, but look what happened after he was traded in 2004.

The winner of the two teams with new players is Washington. Taylor’s a standup guy and a leader. Having him as one of your pass rushers makes the Redskins a more dangerous team.

-Patrick Swafford / pat@audiblyoffensive.com