Marty Booker a Dolphin

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After twice extending the negotiating deadline, the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears late Saturday night completed a blockbuster deal involving Pro Bowl players who will fill glaring deficiencies for the two franchises.




The Bears received holdout defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, the 2003 AFC leader in sacks and a three-year veteran who had declined to accept the qualifying offer Miami had made him as a restricted free agent, boycotting all of the club's offseason workouts. Miami landed two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Marty Booker and also gets a third-round pick in the 2005 draft.


The teams had reached a conditional trade agreement earlier in the day, but completion of the deal hinged on the Bears' ability to sign Ogunleye to a contract by a 7 p.m. deadline. That deadline was first extended to 8:30 p.m., and then beyond, as agent Drew Rosenhaus and Chicago officials frantically negotiated.


In the end, the Bears accomplished in one day what Miami could not in nearly seven months this offseason, agreeing with Ogunleye to a six-year contract worth about $34 million, with signing bonuses essentially worth $15 million.


Ogunleye will get an initial signing bonus of $10 million and then a $5 million roster bonus next spring. He will earn salaries of $455,000 (2004), $545,000 (2005), $4 million (2006), $3.9 million (2007), $4.7 million (2008) and $4.8 million (2009). In his first three seasons with the Bears, he will receive a monstrous $20 million.


One of the league's premier dealmakers, Rosenhaus told ESPN.com as the first deadline approached that he was "very pessimistic" an agreement could be reached. But he and the Bears chipped away throughout the evening and finally reached a deal.


It is believed the Bears initially offered about $4 million in bonuses, but having negotiated the eight-year, $66 million that unrestricted free agent Jevon Kearse signed with Philadelphia this spring, which included a $16 million signing bonus, Rosenhaus had a demonstrated knowledge of the market at the position.


The Dolphins made Ogunleye the high-level qualifying offer for a restricted free agent in the offseason. When he declined to sign that $1.824 million offer, the team, as was its prerogative according to the collective bargaining agreement, reduced the offer to just $455,000 in mid-April. Ogunleye had a base salary of $375,000 in '03.


Ogunleye, 26, became a starter in 2002 and has 24½ sacks the last two seasons, with a conference-best 15 sacks in 2003. The former Indiana star, originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2000, has 39 appearances, 32 starts, 137 tackles, 25 sacks, five forced fumbles and three recoveries in three seasons.


The day after the abrupt retirement of tailback Ricky Williams, ESPN.com reported the Dolphins would likely use Ogunleye as trade bait to upgrade their offense. Miami officials denied that was the case and consistently insisted they would not trade the prized defensive end.


The Dolphins are breaking up one of the NFL's best outside rush tandems. Right end Jason Taylor will have a new partner in 2004. It is expected that veterans Jay Williams, David Bowens and Otis Grigsby will vie for Ogunleye's starting spot.


Booker, 28, is an accomplished receiver, the kind of player the Dolphins have been seeking for much of this week as a replacement for David Boston, who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago. Miami is attempting to compensate offensively for the loss of Boston and the unexpected retirement of Williams.


General manager Rick Spielman had spoken to several teams about the availability of wide receivers and talked with Cleveland officials about a possible trade that would net the Dolphins fourth-year tailback James Jackson, who is buried on the Browns' depth chart. League sources said Saturday night that Spielman could send the draft pick gained in the Ogunleye trade to Cleveland for Jackson.


Booker had a combined 197 catches in 2001-2002, and went over the 1,000-yard mark each of those seasons, earning Pro Bowl honors both years. His receptions fell to 52 in '03, when he was limited by an ankle injury to 13 appearances, but the former Northeast Louisiana star is still regarded leaguewide as a quality playmaker.


While he doesn't have Boston's speed, the technically proficient Booker is an excellent replacement. In five seasons, he has 315 receptions for 3,684 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has five seasons remaining on his current contract at base salaries of $2.7 million (for 2004), $2.9 million (2005), $3 million (2006), $3.1 million (2007) and $4.3 million (2008).


By sacrificing Booker, the Bears give up arguably their top offensive player, but they had to pay a steep price to pry Ogunleye away from Miami. Chicago will now rely on young wide receivers such as David Terrell, Justin Gage, Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian.


Ogunleye should add explosiveness to a pass rush that generated a league-worst 18 sacks in 2003. The Bears got just 7½ sacks from Alex Brown and Michael Haynes, the two ends projected as starters before the acquisition of Ogunleye.


Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.