Originally posted by WisconsinFan
ESPN Insider:
The Miami Dolphins have made an offer to free-agent safety Sammy Knight, but it's not close to the kind of money he'd like to receive. The Dolphins want to sign him to a deal worth closer to the league minimum ($530,000), but Knight just opted out of a contract in New Orleans that would have paid him about $1.9 million this season.
"Obviously, we're talking about a football player who was a starter last year who opted out of a big contract," Wannstedt told the Miami Herald. "We would like to have him on this team, but we have to do something we can afford. Right now, we're not there on either end."
The Dolphins have strong interest in Knight to compete for playing time at free safety or strong safety against Brock Marion and Arturo Freeman. The Green Bay Packers are interested in Knight as well, though they aren't believed to have offered much more than Miami. But if Knight is forced to sign a below-market deal, he'll want to do it for a team that will give him a chance to start.
In Green Bay, he would likely have the starting job handed to him. He would start in place of strong safety Marques Anderson, whose play regressed in the last two months of last season.
Anderson's backup is Antuan Edwards, and while he is talented, his injury history makes him a question mark. Plus, Anderson is currently sidelined with a pulled hamstring, and while there is a chance that he could be ready for the June minicamp, there's no guarantee. Add to that the fact the Packers didn't draft a safety, and you have a perfect situation for Knight.
Gary Uberstine, Knight's agent, didn't discuss his client's contract talks in detail, but he did say that his client is going to be patient.
"He wants to get to the right team in the right situation, so he's not going to panic and rush through this, and at this point, with similar contract offers, it looks like the right team is Green Bay. " Ubestine told the Herald.
