Tony Sparano is so far ahead of the league-mandated pace on trimming rosters that the team's final cuts loom as an unpleasant formality, nothing more. There still are a few positions up for grabs against the Saints, but if you have to get all the way down to third-string tight end to find a real battle, where's the fascination in that?
Here's the kick. Though it figures to be fairly boring, this prime-time exhibition, there probably is no greater rush of anticipation and genuine excitement that could wash over a franchise at this stage of the game.
The Dolphins, with a full 10 days to go before the regular-season opener at Atlanta, are pretty much locked in. They may not have the league's best talent at every position, but there's little dispute over who belongs where.
- Injuries have yet to impede progress. (Remember Yatil Green, the No. 1 draft pick who tore up the same knee two Miami training camps in a row?)
- Bitterness has been banished. (Jason Taylor is back, playing for much less and happy to be of greater use now that Matt Roth is hurt.)
- Confidence is high in the locker room and arrogance is low. (The Dolphins know they are defending division champions, but also understand that nobody outside the immediate family expects them to repeat.)
This is it, then, the glorious day of the no-drama Dolphins, a model of preparation so dogged and efficient that other organizations may study it for years to come. Watch the Dolphins and Saints if you wish. Game-day angst is strictly optional, and if that seems like something of a letdown, check around the rest of the NFL for a taste of the last-minute looniness you're missing.
