A source close to the situation insisted that the Miami Dolphins did in fact make an offer to Taylor after the 2009 season that even included an $850,000 raise that would have boosted his salary to more than $2 million per year.
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The Dolphins did this despite the notion they were thought to be disappointed with Taylor's play, which had him on the field for more than 800 plays, yet he accounted for fewer than 30 tackles.
Taylor, who had spent 12 of his 13 seasons with the Dolphins, agreed to a two-year contract with the New York Jets on Tuesday. League sources said Taylor could make as much as $3.75 million in the first year.
Because of the league's "Final Eight" restrictions, the Jets could pay Taylor only $1.75 million in base salary this season -- the amount unrestricted free-agent and former Jets kicker Jay Feely signed for with the Arizona Cardinals.
The second year has a $750,000 guarantee, a source told ESPN.com's John Clayton. The first year is guaranteed, so Taylor receives a $2.5 million guarantee in his deal. The deal could be worth a total of $13 million if he meets all of the incentives in the contract.
During a 30-minute news conference Tuesday night at his foundation's offices in Weston, Fla., Taylor said the Dolphins offered him an extension this past November, but withdrew the proposal before the season ended.
He said Miami made no offer since and gave him no reason for the lack of interest in a new deal. Taylor said he had a meeting scheduled last week with coach Tony Sparano, but the Dolphins canceled it.
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"If I was important enough that you wanted me in November, why wouldn't you want me now?" Taylor said Tuesday night. "If I was good enough then, I just don't understand why I wasn't good enough now. But that's their prerogative. They're allowed to make that decision. There is a business side to football, and if they feel that it's better for their team to not have me, that's fine. I have no problem with that. That's part of the game. Just let me know."
Still, the Dolphins were willing to bring him back and even asked Taylor to undergo shoulder surgery immediately after the season. Taylor declined the Dolphins' contract offer, and opted to have the shoulder surgery a month later.
The source claimed this put the Dolphins in a position in which they were unsure whether Taylor wanted to continue playing.
Miami then communicated to Taylor's camp that it would wait until after the draft to re-evaluate Taylor rejoining the team. But once the Jets made the contract offer to Taylor, the Dolphins reiterated to Taylor's camp that they were focused on the draft and would talk to him after the draft was completed.
Taylor, 35, signed with the Jets on Wednesday, a day before the draft.
"This is where I'm supposed to be right now," Taylor said Wednesday in New York. "I'm here for one reason, and I'm here to play football the best that I can and help this team win a Super Bowl. If that happens here, people in Hollywood spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to end a movie, or people try to figure out how to end a book. What better ending is it than to win the Super Bowl?
"To do it here, it would be pretty ironic, but it would be awesome."
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