There’s an interesting item from Armando Salguero in his Miami Herald blog (i.e., the place where he posts all the crap that isn’t good enough for the fish wrap). 

The Miami Dolphins, per Salguero, locked in their draft board last week.  Thus, if they don’t trade out of the top spot in the draft, they know the name of the player whom they’ll pick, if they don’t trade down.

But that doesn’t mean that they’ll ultimately pick the person currently at the top of the board.  The next step for the Fins presumably will be to launch contract negotiations with the first two or three players on their board, in the hopes of working out in advance of the draft a contract with the man who’ll be the No. 1 overall selection.

In such circumstances, it’s possible that the Fins would move on to the player currently at No. 2 or No. 3, if that guy will take a deal that the team regards as sufficiently favorable.

Last year, the Oakland Raiders didn’t do that with quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and as a result didn’t sign him until September.  And there were strong rumors in April that the Raiders had made a lowball (as No. 1 overall picks go) for Brady Quinn.

In hindsight, accepting a lowball offer to be the No. 1 overall pick would have been a far more desirable outcome for Quinn, who plunged past No. 20 and will only play in 2008 if one or more pieces of Derek Anderson’s body parts tear, break, and/or shatter.