Dolphins’ Ronnie Brown eager to prove his value with free agency looming

When Dolphins training camp opens Friday, Ronnie Brown will embark on what he calls the most important season of his career. “Not only for the contract stuff,” he said, with unrestricted free agency looming next spring, “but also because this league is `What have you done for me lately?’ The best of me is yet to be seen. I don’t want to just fill a hole. I want to be an impact player. I have so much more to give as a player.” Though the Dolphins last year extended Ricky Williams’ contract through 2010, there has been no multiyear offer for Brown, who turns 29 in December and comes off a foot injury that sidelined him for the final seven games of 2009. “They’ve said, `We appreciate what you do for this team,’ but it’s not, `We want you here.’ None of that has been said,” said Brown, noting he would welcome an extension. Has that left him unsettled? “There’s a part of us that likes to feel wanted, that you’re a big part of something. But I’m not the only guy who has been in this situation.” — Miami Herald