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This certainly seems ambitious, but Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland is new to the job and he probably wants to impress his boss, Bill Parcells: Ireland wants to sign the team's final three 2008 draft picks by July 1.

Actually, it's imminently doable -- the first-overall selection, Jake Long, was signed before the draft, and only second-rounders Phillip Merling and Chad Henne, and third-rounder Kendall Langford are currently without contracts. Add in the fact that Henne plans to show up for training camp (something about wanting to win a starting job). Whatever, Ireland doesn't seem too concerned:

He believes that just because Merling was 32nd and in years past that would've been the last pick of the first round but not this year because the Patriots forfeited their pick due to Spygate that won't have a bearing on getting him locked up. It doesn't hurt that Merling's agent is Jimmy Sexton, who happens to be the agent for coach Tony Sparano and team czar Bill Parcells. Come to think of it, he was the Nicktator's agent, too.

(Ah, yes, no post-apocalyptic Dolphins post would be complete without a mention of Nick Saban.)

Ireland is also familiar with Henne's agent, which should only help facilitate the process. Ideally, Miami would have everybody in training camp from Day 1, but even if it doesn't happen, the 2008 team is already more cohesive than last year's version. Now if this Dolphins team can just find a way to win more than one game.