I’ve made no secret of the fact that I believe offensive linemen shouldn’t be taken at the top of the draft. Even the best ones like Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden, in my mind, aren’t worthy of such lofty status. My feeling is that solid offensive linemen can be found much later, and even if a Pace or Ogden is much better than say Matt Light (a second-round choice), how much better does that make your team? My theory could be 100 percent wrong (most of them are) but that’s how I feel.

However, that has nothing to do with my disagreement on Miami’s decision to take Jake Long. If he’s the guy they targeted, and, as Peter King pointed out recently, they intend to use a heavy does of the running game behind him this season, then I feel the pick is fine for them. But I was under the impression that part of the reason for their early negotiating was to save money, and if that’s the case they failed.

Adam Schefter reports Long’s deal to be for five years, $57.5 million with $30 million guaranteed. That’s slightly less than DeMarcus Russell got as last year’s No. 1 pick, but Russell’s deal was for six years. Obviously Long wanted five years as a compromise for taking less money, but his money is right in line with Russell’s in terms of annual average. So the Dolphins saved minimal money (about $2 million in guarantees) and they got one less year out of the player.

So what happened to Miami’s bargain?