Does Jason Taylor Have Much Left?

Well, the biggest fish in the defensive end pool will be swimming at Landshark Stadium in 2009.

Jason Taylor will rejoin the Miami Dolphins.

But is Taylor interested in working to return to the level of play we're accustomed to seeing from him?

The reason he's "re-signing" with Miami is because he didn't want to commit to the Dolphins offseason training program in 2008, preferring instead to Dance With the Stars in L.A. So the Dolphins traded him to Washington for a second-rounder last July and he was only able to start eight games and contribute 3.5 sacks. A nasty calf injury ruined his season.

When Washington wanted to renegotiate Taylor's deal and include a requirement of attending 25 offseason workouts, Taylor said no thanks and was released on March 2.

Taylor, who turns 35 on September 1, has every right in the world to choose family over football, which is what he said he was doing with the Redskins. But even a player as well-conditioned and talented as Taylor has to work exceptionally hard at his advanced football age to ward off injury and to be relevant.

Signing a one-year deal for a relative pittance amounts to an announcement by Taylor that Miami best not expect his best effort imaginable. Don't expect him to roll back the clock and have 15 sacks. But one thing Taylor's signing does do for Miami that's very important is this. It keeps him out of New England. He had value there because, as an additional part on a team that is more talented than the Dolphins, Taylor could have been a part-time weapon of third-down destruction.

So the win for Miami is whatever Taylor brings them and whatever his loss means to the Patriots. New England could use a linebacker who can bring pressure off the edge in their 3-4, especially since Mike Vrabel was dealt to Kansas City. Perhaps they feel the player that can do that is already on their roster and now gets his chance. Perhaps they were banking on Taylor.