Giants' Bradshaw interested in Dolphins

11:55 AM, July 18, 2011 ι By PAUL SCHWARTZ

Not long ago, Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw, set to become a free agent, switched agents, hiring Drew Rosenhaus. The timing was not coincidental.

Bradshaw in four years evolved from a little-known seventh-round draft pick hoping to stick on the roster to a bona fide starter coming off a career year.

And, yes, Bradshaw wants to be paid like a full-fledged NFL starting running back.

When the lockout ends and free agency starts, Bradshaw will be one of the most talented running backs on the market, and the Giants want him back. Rosenhaus has a strong history making deals with the Giants but also lands big deals for his clients, and he fired the first salvo as far as Bradshaw is concerned. Rosenhaus in a Sunday night interview with 7SportsXtra in Miami said Bradshaw is training in Miami and would have an interest in playing for the Dolphins if the feeling is mutual.

“If they are interested in Ahmad, we’re interested back,’’ Rosenhaus said.

Of course, this smacks of an agent drumming up interest in his client, which is what agents are supposed to do. But there’s no doubt Bradshaw will get more than a few nibbles in free agency. There are multiple reports that teams will have a three-day window to re-sign their own free agents, and if that is the case, the Giants will be wise to lock up Bradshaw before he hits the market. He’s coming off a career-best 1,235 rushing yards and supplanted Brandon Jacobs as the Giants starting running back.

Bradshaw’s production tailed off late in the season and he revealed after the season he needed surgery to flush out “a bunch of junk’’ from his left ankle.’’ Bradshaw has said he wants to remain with the Giants if he gets the deal he’s seeking.

If the Giants lose Bradshaw, they will have to look outside their roster to replace him. They have Jacobs and D.J. Ware under contract and selected Maryland’s Da’Rel Scott in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.

The Dolphins make sense for Bradshaw, seeking to upgrade a running game that fell on hard times in 2010. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are set to be unrestricted free agents. Bradshaw, also a threat as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, has the versatility Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano wants out of his backs.