Dolphins tackle Vernon Carey to play season without new contract

DAVIE - Lifelong South Florida resident Vernon Carey is proud to admit he has always been a Dolphins fan. But that doesn't mean the Dolphins' starting tackle plans to end his career with his hometown team.

Unlike most NFL players entering the final year of their contacts, Carey plans to play out this season without pushing the organization for a new contract.

Even though there's plenty of salary-cap space to get a deal done, the Dolphins have not approached Carey or his agent about renegotiating his contract. And that doesn't bother the former first-round pick one bit.

In fact, the 27-year-old from the University of Miami seems intrigued about the prospects of hitting the open market in 2009.

"It doesn't matter," Carey said when asked about pursuing a new deal. "That's not important to me right now. What's important to me is winning. I want to be part of a winning team. Winning!

"Of course I'd love to stay here. I'm from Miami and love the Dolphins. I admit I think about it, but I don't like to think about [my contract] because I can't control it. That's out of my hands. It's in [managements] hands. All I want to do is win."

Carey is scheduled to make a little more than $2.5 million this season in the final year of the five-year contract he signed in 2004.

Offensive tackles are the fourth highest paid position in the NFL behind quarterbacks, defensive ends and cornerback, but most of that money goes to left tackles because they protect a quarterback's blindside. Right tackles like Carey, who did start all of last season on the left side before getting displaced by Jake Long, are paid slightly less.

The Dolphins have little depth at tackle behind Carey and Long - the first pick of the 2007 draft - after cutting second-year player Julius Wilson and rookie free agent Dan Gore because they failed their conditioning re-check last Friday.

Ikechuku Ndukwe, a guard who spent a portion of last season on the Dolphins practice squad, and Daren Heerspink, an undrafted rookie free agent, are serving as the lone backup tackles. The Dolphins front office will likely address their tackle shortage by signing a few veterans once teams trim down their training camp rosters.

(sun-sentinel.com)