PHILADELPHIA -- So it wasn't a smokescreen after all.

After weeks of speculation about the Miami Dolphins and their motives in respect to Michigan tackle Jake Long, the Fins inked Long to a five-year deal including $30 million guaranteed on Tuesday, assuring that he'll be the first pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Some pundits thought Miami was using Long as a pawn in order to get either Virginia pass rusher Chris Long or Ohio State hybrid end Vernon Gholston to sign for less money, but if that was the intent, it didn't work.

Ultimately, the Fins determined that Michigan's Long was the most signable player available to them at No. 1, even if they didn't necessarily feel that he was the best player in the draft.

Long accepted roughly $2 million less in guaranteed dollars than did Raiders top pick JaMarcus Russell last season, a development that has owners and GMs across the NFL grinning from ear to ear, while their nemeses in the agent shark tank and within the player's union must be cringing.

Escalating salaries for rookies have long represented the cost of doing business, but in this case, Miami changed the game in their negotiations with Long. Essentially, the game became "Deal Or No Deal."

Had Long taken a hard-line stance in negotiations, he would have risked tumbling down the top-five, where the money would have undoubtedly been less than what the Dolphins were offering.

Instead, the tackle wisely signed on the dotted line, thus filling a presumed hole for Miami on the left side and moving the draft spotlight from south Florida to St. Louis.