The reports linking free-agent receiver Mike Wallace to the Dolphins continue to mount.
And that should make every Dolphins fan nervous.
The latest comes from Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post, who writes that it’s a “done deal.” But if we learned anything for the scrum of news that capped the end of the 2012 regular season, it’s that no deal is done until it’s, well, done.
From 95 percent to virtual certainty, multiple crystal-clear reports regarding coaching hires and player moves ended up being clearly incorrect.
In this case, it makes plenty of sense from a football, business, and political standpoint for the Dolphins to want Wallace. I’ve believed for weeks that it’s the most obvious free-agent move of them all. He’ll stretch the field, he’ll sell tickets, and he’ll buy votes in the upcoming stadium renovation referendum.
But we’ve seen it before with the Dolphins under owner Stephen Ross. Amid high expectations, they’re left standing at the altar as the bride climbs aboard a bus with Rain Man.
None of this means that some other team is destined to emerge from the weeds and snatch Wallace away from the Dolphins, either during the final hours of the legal tampering non-tampering period or after free agency begins. But as we inch toward another outcome that seems to be definite, let’s not forget that plenty of similarly definite situations have fallen apart.