Parcells discounts talk of Taylor's departure, expects Pro Bowler to return

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Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Bill Parcells told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Sunday that defensive end Jason Taylor will be playing for Miami in 2008 unless he chooses to retire.

Yahoo Sports reported Saturday night that Taylor, an 11-year veteran who has played all of his 172 career games for the Dolphins, would be parting ways with Miami this offseason before the NFL draft this April.

"This latest report is just another example of journalistic irresponsibility," Parcells told Mortensen.

Taylor, a six-time Pro Bowler who was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, had 11 sacks last season for the woeful Dolphins. In 2007, Miami suffered through a 1-15 season then they hired Parcells to run their football operations in December.

"I have no idea where that [story] started, how it started," Taylor told ESPN's Kenny Mayne in the March 24 issue of ESPN The Magazine. "People are looking for stories but I'm the wrong person to ask because Bill and [Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland] call the shots there and neither have spoken to me.

"I'm under contract, so until I am told otherwise I am a member of the Dolphins. The thing is, I haven't talked to anybody. Everyone is talking to everybody else about me but no one is talking to me."

When asked about Parcells' take on his future, Taylor said he couldn't predict his future.

"We all know there are no guarantees in this business, so you kind of take it a day at a time," Taylor told Mayne. "It's the beginning of March and football season is a long way away. A lot can happen between now and then.

Taylor recently was selected to be a participant this spring in ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" -- the NFL's first active player to join the show's celebrity cast. Jerry Rice was the first former NFL player to be a contestant and former Cowboy Emmitt Smith followed Rice.

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN.

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