By John Sarianides
The Miami Dolphins are holding their breathes that starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill doesn’t surgery on his partially torn ACL after going down awkwardly at practice yesterday.
Reports are suggesting Tannehill could be out either 6 to 8 weeks if he opts not to have surgery or have surgery and miss the entire 2017 season.
Tannehill is seeking a second and third opinion. Regardless of what the final outcome is, the Dolphins now have to turn to veteran back up Matt Moore to start the season.
If the Dolphins decide to bring in another quarterback to give them a security blanket, they could bring in one of these veteran signal callers.
1. Jay Cutler: Cutler is the obvious choice because of his relationship with head coach Adam Gase from their days in Chicago. Cutler has told people around him that he would step out of the broadcast booth and play again if the Dolphins called and offered him starter money. Highly unlikely but you never know.
2. Brock Osweiler: The Browns would love to trade Osweiler. Gase knows Osweiler from his time in Denver. If the Browns were willing to pay some of Osweiler’s salary, the two teams might be able to work out a deal. It is highly unlikely the Dolphins trade for a reclamation project like Osweiler. Moore is better than Osweiler right now.
3. Blaine Gabbert: Gabbert played well last night in the Hall of Fame Game. The Cardinals will more than likely carry three quarterbacks so it is highly unlikely they trade Gabbert unless the offer was too good to pass up.
4. A.J McCarron: I can’t see the Dolphins paying the steep price it would cost to acquire McCarron but if they could acquire him at a reasonable price, they would consider it.
5. Colin Kaepernick: The Dolphins would consider Kaepernick because he is a free agent and they could probably get him cheaper than any other quarterback on the market. Owner Stephen Ross is open minded so he would not oppose signing Kaepernick. The bigger issue is, would Miami embrace Kaepernick after his Fidel Castro comments last year.
6. Sean Mannion: The Rams back-up is in the running for the starting job but it is highly unlikely that he beats out 2016 first round pick Jared Goff. It is also highly unlikely that the Rams trade Mannion because they need a security blanket in the event that Goff struggles again. That being said, the Dolphins will do their due diligence and at least check in on Mannion.