Parker and Harris are the kinds of first round draft picks that you are ten times better off trading out of that slot rather than drafting them. There were second round and later round players with much more upside than either of them -- that IF you are going to take three years developing, you could have signed to a four year contract, developed them for two years, and had two plus years return at a ceiling way higher than your first round quasi-deadweights.
Anytime you draft first round and take three years to develop talent on a three year contract, getting minimal return during those three years, and then once they slightly play decent, it's time for them (3 years later) to sign a contract that's above what they ever earned as a Dolphin. You continually overpay for underplay: either you break the bank for marginal playmakers or you become a farm team for the rest of the league, continually wasting roster spots on players that are built in to give lesser returns than value given -- both in draft picks and money.
This happens to lesser degree to overdrafted players down the board... such as spending three draft picks for a marginal WR like Carroo that no one was high on, other than Tannenbaum. Now, to justify that pick, you have to keep him on the roster for three years -- with zero contributions and a Cro-Magnon grasp of the playbook, and a talent, skill ceiling that could cramp a midget.
Good teams figure this out.
But those who are hoping (again) for a breakout season from Parker will probably be disappointed twice: once, when his breakout is less than a legit 1 WR, and twice, when the team has to overpay to keep him, or watch him go to another team and play slightly higher than he did as a Phin, simply because Miami took three long years to develop him without ever having a 1 WR return on a 1st round draft pick. Wash, rinse, and repeat for Harris -- a first round draft pick that is easily outplayed by a lower-level FA signing, and who is low-ceiling physical upside, with real limitations, etc.
LD
p.s. Just to be clear, I think that Parker is GOOD ENOUGH for a decent year, given the upgrades across the board in Miami's receivers. He's good enough to do enough that Miami needs to win. But will he ever achieve for Miami the promise of a game-breaking first round talent, who forces double teams and raises the play of everyone around him because he can't be shut down and consistently plays high level? Not holding my breath.
