"Like a broken couple awaiting a divorce to be finalized, the union between linebacker Joey Porter and the Dolphins still exists as far as the rules are concerned. Just don't expect to see any cuddling on Valentine's Day.

Both sides must wait three more weeks before they can officially be done with each other -- despite the Dolphins' failed efforts Friday to release Porter from his contract. There's still no question about this much: The relationship is over.

Much like his tenure in Miami, Porter's exit has been a dramatic one, which has now been prolonged even more because of a salary-cap oversight by the Dolphins.

On Friday at 3:49 p.m., Miami issued a statement announcing its decision to release Porter. Two hours and 43 minutes later, the team was forced to provide yet another statement about the situation.

``The release of Joey Porter was determined to be an invalid termination,'' the statement read. ``Therefore at this time, Porter reverts back to the Miami Dolphins roster.''

The reason for the retraction stemmed from a complex issue involving the team's salary cap. Take a deep breathe for this one: Because Porter's release would have caused his cap hit of $4.8 million to be accelerated, the Dolphins would have been nearly $600,000 above the current salary cap."