Dolphan B
Dolphan B
I am uncertain why people think that Ireland crashed and burned in QB free agency.
Only Manning had the track record as a franchise QB and Miami reportedly was willing to sell the farm for him. Manning made the choice for Denver and probably did so from the beginning when he started out his tour in Dove Valley. Not landing Manning is no more of an indictment of Miami than it is of Arizona, San Fran or Tennessee.
The Flynn case is more interesting. Most fans assumed that Philbin wanted Flynn and were intoxicated by Flynn's performance in the Detroit game. However, Philbin never indicated that he thought Flynn was a franchise QB and the Miami contract offer reflected that. Flynn took more money in Seattle. If Philbin thought that Flynn was a franchise QB, Miami would have offered more money and signed him. Instead, they shifted immediately to Smith. Time will tell whether Philbin is correct, but he definitely knows Flynn the best and was not willing to gamble his HC job on him.
Smith is not a franchise QB, but he would have been an upgrade over Moore. However, Smith was most likely only going to Miami if San Fran dumped him for Manning. Miami reportedly offered him a better contract than San Fran, but San Fran is home and currently a better team than Miami.
There are no other potential upgrades over Moore in FA. Moore was a top ten QB in the second half of last season, so this is no surprise. People need to keep in mind that Miami always had Moore as a fallback option in this process and was hardly as desperate as some in the media have spun.
Miami ended up signing Gerrard. Gerrard is a quality veteran who can push Moore for whom Miami did not commit any guaranteed money.
Miami can and very likely will draft a QB.
Ireland's only decision which is debatable concerns declining to go with Flynn and I am almost certain that Philbin was likely in on and agreed with that decision.
In short, it's time to chill, folks.
Only Manning had the track record as a franchise QB and Miami reportedly was willing to sell the farm for him. Manning made the choice for Denver and probably did so from the beginning when he started out his tour in Dove Valley. Not landing Manning is no more of an indictment of Miami than it is of Arizona, San Fran or Tennessee.
The Flynn case is more interesting. Most fans assumed that Philbin wanted Flynn and were intoxicated by Flynn's performance in the Detroit game. However, Philbin never indicated that he thought Flynn was a franchise QB and the Miami contract offer reflected that. Flynn took more money in Seattle. If Philbin thought that Flynn was a franchise QB, Miami would have offered more money and signed him. Instead, they shifted immediately to Smith. Time will tell whether Philbin is correct, but he definitely knows Flynn the best and was not willing to gamble his HC job on him.
Smith is not a franchise QB, but he would have been an upgrade over Moore. However, Smith was most likely only going to Miami if San Fran dumped him for Manning. Miami reportedly offered him a better contract than San Fran, but San Fran is home and currently a better team than Miami.
There are no other potential upgrades over Moore in FA. Moore was a top ten QB in the second half of last season, so this is no surprise. People need to keep in mind that Miami always had Moore as a fallback option in this process and was hardly as desperate as some in the media have spun.
Miami ended up signing Gerrard. Gerrard is a quality veteran who can push Moore for whom Miami did not commit any guaranteed money.
Miami can and very likely will draft a QB.
Ireland's only decision which is debatable concerns declining to go with Flynn and I am almost certain that Philbin was likely in on and agreed with that decision.
In short, it's time to chill, folks.
