Dolphins’ Evans to get marching orders?

By Adam Best  |   Monday, June 25, 2007  |  Comments( 23 )

Miami Dolphins
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As a former seventh-round draft pick, Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Fred Evans had to fight just to earn an NFL roster spot. Evans has even been fighting to be part of the Dolphins' 2007 DT rotation. Unfortunately, just when things were starting to look up for Evans, he may have fought himself right out of the league.

Evans is facing multiple charges -- battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing -- for his fight with police officers early Saturday in South Beach. Similar to how the police officers forced Evans out of that taxi, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will now force him out of football for at least a good portion of this season.

Goodell already suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for the entire '07 season. He also handed out half-season suspensions to Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry. All three players had legal troubles not too dissimilar to Evans', so there's a high probability that Evans will be suspended for at least eight games this year, if not all 16. Goodell doesn't do slaps on the wrists -- he cuts off hands, Middle East-style.

Even if Evans is eligible to return at some point this season, will he even be welcome? In the post-Ricky Williams (presumably) era of Dolphins football, first-year head coach Cam Cameron has made it clear that inappropriate off-the-field behavior will not be tolerated. Cameron, general manager Randy Mueller and owner Wayne Huizenga are all on the same page as far as troublemakers are concerned, and that's a good thing. In Goodell's NFL it is obvious that player misconduct is a thing of the past.

Cameron is smart enough to recognize that, and expect him to make an example out of Evans, who wasn't just in a fight, a la linebacker Joey Porter; he attacked two cops, and one of those cops was a woman. In addition to his outrageous salary, ex-Dolphins tight end Randy McMichael's release was probably at least partially thanks to his history of domestic violence. There's making mistakes and then there's beating women. Call me crazy, but Evans' woman-beating probably will be enough to convince Cameron & Co. to hand him his walking papers.

Another reason that Evans might be let go is because he's expendable. Before his arrest, he was behind both Keith Traylor and Vonnie Holliday on the depth chart, and battling young DT reserves Kevin Vickerson and Paul Soliai for playing time. Certainly, Evans is talented and has impressed the Dolphins' front office in the past. However, he's just not good enough to keep around after this incident, especially when cutting him will have limited consequences in terms of the salary cap.

When you're Joey Porter -- one of the better defenders in the league -- you can jump another NFL player in Sin City and get away with it. When you're Fred Evans -- a guy who barely saw the field in '06 -- you can't go Chuck Liddell on a lady cop in South Beach and keep your locker.

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