MIAMI, March 6 (UPI) -- All the speculation is swirling around Ricky
Williams, but the Miami Dolphins instead signed former 1,000-yard rusher Robert Edwards to a one-year contract, it was announced Wednesday.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Edwards, 27, rushed for 1,115 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie with the New England Patriots in 1998 but sustained a severe left knee dislocation in a flag football game during the week of the Pro Bowl in Hawaii and missed the next two seasons before being waived last August.
The Dolphins are interested in making a deal for Williams, who rushed for a career-high 1,245 yards and caught 60 passes for the New Orleans Saints last season.
Miami will likely not re-sign free agent running back Lamar Smith, who rushed for 968 yards but averaged just 3.1 yards per carry last season.
Edwards rushed for 1,955 yards and 27 touchdowns on 371 carries in two years at Georgia and was the 18th overall pick in the 1998 draft.
The only player in NFL history to score a touchdown in each of the first six games of a career, Edwards proved to be a worthy successor to the departed Curtis Martin in New England. But, the unfortunate injury following his rookie season forced Edwards to undergo two years of intense rehabilitation. Running
with a noticeable limp in training camp drills, Edwards was released by the Patriots last August.
