I agree with Armando here, many factors including salary cap mean Garrard is the likely one to go: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...-m5-falcons-293-m6-rams-294-m7-ravensgia.html The article doesn't discuss the potential distraction that keeping a Garrard as the backup COULD pose. While Tannehill has clearly outperformed Matt Moore in the preseason and Moore has seemingly accepted his new backup role, Garrard was the starting quarterback prior to getting hurt. Philbin said yesterday during his press conference to announce Tannehill as the starter that once Garrard comes back healthy, "we'll see what happens." I'm a little surprised that the press didn't pick up on it. Sure, Philbin kept saying that nothing is for certain in this league. The Dolphins would be better off trading or waving (via injury settlement) Garrard. Erase all doubt that appears to be lingering. My opinion is that Philbin would be quicker to pull the plug on Tannehill (if he plays poorly) with Garrard on the bench than he would if Moore was the #2. Again, this is due to the fact that Tannehill beat out Moore for the starting job. He didn't exactly beat out a healthy Garrard. Anyway, obviously hoping it doesn't make a damn bit of difference and that Tannehill erases all doubt by himself. However, given that he's young and the offense isn't exactly loaded with play makers and the offensive line is struggling, I sense rough waters ahead for #17. Start the season 0 and 4, and have Garrard on the bench now healthy, the powers that be will want to see wins. And then potentially you stump the growth of our young quarterback by pulling him too early rather than giving him time (a couple more weeks) to play himself out of it.
Garrard has zero trade value. If a QB is traded, it will be Moore, and I think he'd have decent value to a handful of teams needing a viable backup. The Eagles and Broncos spring to mind.
I'd much rather have an ex-Pro Bowler sitting behind Ryan in the QB meetings than Matt Moore, but that's just me.
Problem is that same ex probowler simply turns to look at his kids and gets hurt. Literally. If I had an option I would keep Garrard to based on play. From what Ive seen in his play so far, Matt Moore doesn't fit the offense.
I don't think he is going to be cut...at least not immediately. I think they will give him a shot when he is healthy. At that point, if he loses the competition then he should be cut.
Given that Philbin couched Tannehill's starting announcement with a hint that he'll be reevaluated when Garrard returns, I'd be surprised if Garrard were traded or cut. Ireland is going to do what he wants to do with this roster, but I don't see him cutting the guy who led the QB competition and is superior to Matt Moore at the position.
It all depends on how you view this season. I personally think this season is a developmental year; new coach, new system, new QB etc... So personel decision should be made with an eye to the future. If Moore has decent trade value, you trade him and don't look back. There is no value in keeping Moore on the off chance that Tannehill goes down and Garrad isn't durable enough to fill in. What's the worst that can happen under that scenario? We start Devlin for a few games and get a higher draft pick?
I keep reading how some people don't think Moore is a fit for our current offense. So why would he be a fit for the Eagles offense?
If it's an either/or thing, not sure it is, between Garrard and Moore, then keeping Moore seems like a no brainer to me. If Tannehill gets hurt, it is pretty likely an indication that our pass blocking isn't holding up. Moore at least could come in and take a beating and not get hurt as likely as Garrard would. As for him not fitting in the offense, I watched the preseason games too, and he did some good things. Maybe he isn't a perfect fit, but to me, he is not totally trying to put a square peg in a round hole as for how he fits in the offense.
I would sit on him and see how the knee responds before I consider cutting him. I would also continue looking for suitors in a Matt Moore trade. Matt Moore continues throwing a bunch of interceptions and looking like he's just not a fit with this system and this cast. Honestly, he's making more money than Garrard, he's the one that should be jettisoned. Trade him away and keep Pat Devlin on roster. Trading away Matt Moore, then cutting Tony McDaniel, Nate Garner, Ryan Cook and Tyrone Culver...would save a total of $9 million on the cap which we then can roll forward to 2013.
I've always thought McDaniel to be a solid, somewhat versatile DT. No chance we can get anything for him?
Probably not, especially him nursing an injury right now. It's ok. We traded a 7th rounder for him. We got our use out of him.
Garrard has no trade value. Moore does. I don't think we can get get rid of both QB's. I expect Moore to be traded for WR or TE help for RT. I have a feeling Moore will try to force a trade after not being the starter. If Garrard's injury is that bad, he will be cut and another WC Qb will be needed.
I believe Garrard's cap # is close to Moore's. I'm not sure what Matt was paid above his usual salary for last year as his two year contract had verbage that could elevate his 2 yr $5m contract to 2 yr $7.5m if he met certain criteria. Regardless, if both players are on the 53 for the first regular season game, their salaries are guaranteed. If we are as close to the cap as Armando says, there is no way we keep both. Would also be kinda nice to extend Jake Long this year but we could save $ against the cap by extending him if they do it right... but i digress
If they give Jake Long an extension, don't expect much cap relief. His cap figure is $12.8 million and that figure is a good approximation of what will likely be his yearly average salary in his new contract. Dolphins save $3.03 mil if they trade Matt Moore. They save $2.35 mil if they cut David Garrard. The extra $675,000 and whatever our compensation for Moore is, to me that makes it more worth it to do the former than the latter.
The right thing to do is trade Moore, release Garrard, and save $5M+. Devlin is more capable than all of the quarterbacks at winning games if Tannehill goes down.
Garrard is making more money than Moore. I don't think Moore is a good fit for this offense either but "continues throwing a bunch of interceptions" is a stretch I think. I ultimately think Moore gets traded or released but I doubt it's for the reasons you state.
I could ask you the same thing, considering you think Devlin is our best option for #2 QB this season.
I'm a very big Devlin supporter... but really? You think he gives us a better shot at winning than Garrard? A QB who has been to the pro bowl and shown he can be a winner. I don't understand that. I do think Devlin deserves the 3rd roster spot, however.
Absolutely! Have you watched preseasson games or scrimmage? (have you seen him in college? do you know who he is as a football player?) We know about Garrard, he has only been to the playoffs as a wild card 2 times out of 9 seasons, then was cut for a rookie.
See i think differently. If Philbin is ready to go with RT now, he isnt going to be pulling the plug on him. He is going to let him take his lumps. If not, he would just go with Matt Moore until Garrard returns. The dolphins would be foolish as an organization to pull the same bull**** with RT that they did with Chad Henne(regardless of how bad/good henne was). Confidence is lost and gained in the trenches and when you work with QB's the fragility of their confidence hangs in the balance.
Yes. I've seen him this preseason and he has played very well. I'm not discounting that. I'm also taking into account the fact that he has been playing against the 3rd team and players that will likely be the first ones cut. I also have seen Devlin play in person several times while he was at Delaware. I'm very familiar with his play. Again, I like him a lot as a QB, but I would be much more comfortable if Garrard stepped in should something happen to Tanny. I fully expect Pat to be our #2 next year. Also I believe Garrard was cut mainly for cap reasons. I believe he was owed a large sum of money that year.
Oh come on, don't be THAT guy. I'm not saying Devlin isn't improved, but to say he's worth more as a backup than Moore AND Garrard is kind of absurd.
IMO it makes much more sense to trade Moore assuming that Garrard's knee heals. Not only does it save more money and net something in return (Garrard has no trade value), but I would also guess that Garrard is more willing to accept the back-up role. Moore is saying the right things I'm sure, but he still has a chance to be a starter somewhere or at least figure out if he can be a starter. He's still young enough that that is probably his goal. IMO it would be best both for Miami and Moore for Moore to be traded.
To add, IMO from watching Hard Knocks I got a sense that Garrard is a better veteran presence/tutor than Moore.
Perhaps the interest in Tarvaris Jackson is to get him in trade to be the backup, for a whole lot less than we could trade Moore for. We get Jackson for let's say a 5th, trade Moore for a 3rd, and still have a backup to Tannehill, and one who's better suited to the system.
IMO, it would be best for Miami to have the best possible option all things considered as our #2, just in case we need to use him extensively. Henne had been an iron man til he got hurt and was lost for the season. I trust Moore to hold up physically much better than Garrard. He has been a backup before. He knows the score. Even if according to some he does not perfectly fit this offense, he has shown in preseason games he can still move the ball.
I would go with Garrard and Devlin as the back-ups. Devlin while far from a great or even good player at this level is a nice fit for this offense and should be able to execute things well. Kind of like all those QBs in Philly who performed well b/c they were good fits (think AJ Feely). I also think that keeping Moore when it's obvious he doesn't fit and that he's not in the team's future is a disservice to him.
I wonder what you picture people are going to think when reading a post like that. Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
Caution: perhaps the interest in Tarvaris Jackson is a fiction work of a man that wanted to get talked about on twitter.