we gave a 6th to them because we dumped feeley who we would ahve cut anyway. It was basically a 6th for lemon.
courtesy of PFT
The media initially was confused by reports regarding the trade of quarterback A.J. Feeley to the Chargers for third-stringer Cleo Lemon.
Surely, as some members of the media concluded, the Dolphins weren't sending Feeley and a sixth-round pick to San Diego for a guy who was an undrafted free agent. Surely, it was the other way around.
Wrong.
Word is that the Dolphins regard Lemon as the guy who can take over the starting job in 2006 -- and hold it indefinitely into the future. The Fins, we hear, had been scouting Lemon for months. They regard the deal as a steal.
And they should. They gave up a six and a guy whom they would have dumped after the 2005 season anyway, especially since his salary is poised to make a significant jump upward in 2006.
In San Diego, the decision to squeeze Lemon out didn't go over well. A league source tells us that multiple members of the organization were "livid" about the trade.
Then again, Lemon was unlikely to take the field in San Diego any time soon, since the Chargers have Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. Given that Feeley's salary will spike in 2006, our guess is that the team is still toying with the possibility of keeping both Brees and Rivers beyond this season -- and that they regard Feeley's cup of coffee as a chance to determine whether he can be the backup to the one who stays, if the other one goes.