Jason Taylor Dances His Way to the Washington Redskins

The Dolphins have traded Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins for a second-round draft pick in 2009 and a sixth-round pick in 2010. 

With the trade, the Dolphins are able to move a disgruntled player out of their locker room and the Redskins are able to replace Phillip Daniels, who they’ve lost for the season, with one of the best defensive players in the NFL.

Here are a couple of quick thoughts on the move:

1) Is this really all they could get?

There will be a ton of fans angry that their team wouldn’t give up a second- and a sixth-round pick for Taylor. 

He’s a Pro Bowler, a playmaker, and one of the most consistent pass-rushing threats in the NFL.

Since 2002, Jason Taylor has totaled 18.5, 13, 9.5, 12, 13.5, and 11 sacks.  He’s also forced 33 fumbles, had four interceptions, scored three touchdowns, and maybe more importantly, played in all 16 games in each of those seasons.

2) The Dolphins needed to trade Taylor. 

They aren’t going to compete this year, and probably not next year, either.  Jason Taylor has two or three years left.  The timelines don’t match.

If you’re the Dolphins and you know you’re not going to be able to surround him with enough talent to win, you HAVE to move Taylor and get what you can for him.

3) The Redskins are immediately better; the question is how much better.

I’m not sure this move puts the Redskins up into Cowboys/Giants territory, but it certainly gives a defense that had trouble getting to opposing quarterbacks last season a shot in the arm.

Taylor will get sacks.  Taylor will force fumbles.  Taylor will make plays.

In a relatively wide-open NFC, that could be enough to put Washington over the top.

4) Nobody's happier than Tom Brady.

Speaking as a Patriots fan, I couldn’t be happier to see Jason Taylor out of the division.  He has been tormenting Tom Brady since Brady came into the league.

Remember, the Patriots went through a stretch where their offense could do absolutely nothing against the Dolphins.  A huge reason for that was Jason Taylor, who may have single-handedly taken a few years off of Tom Brady’s career. 

I’m happy for him that he has a chance to end his career with a potential playoff team, and I’m happy for me that he won’t be able to torment my Patriots twice a season anymore.

All in all, a decent move for the Dolphins (you have to wonder if they could have gotten more) and a tremendous move for the Redskins.

The NFC East just got a little more interesting…

Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail]. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.