IRELAND: Didn't feel like we needed a new starting quarterback

[MD]

If thats true...great. But based on recent history I expect to hear they don't have time develop a rookie and will settle for someone elses garbage.

If they make it through to next season then they have time to develop a youngster. Ireland realizes if he can upgrade the QB he will. If they are not here then whoever is will want their own QB.

 

[BlueFin]

you would think by now, whether you agree with it or not, that ireland/sparano decided to change the system and coach and look for supporting cast. but somehow common sense just went out the door when obama took over country. oops! sorry for getting political there but i just have this vision of people who claim henne sucks, also voted obama.

You couldn't be more wrong about the latter, although you can bet the threadstarter did. Which makes your theory probably correct in reverse......for the (pro organization/pro henne side)of this argument.

 

[BlueFin]

i thought we liked Ponder to a point and Dalton in the draft, and then was hearing whispers of liking Locker. I am pretty sure we were looking at QB's. Just not planning on giving away the farm to go up and get these 3 year developements for so much. Its really not that hard to see.

Yeah much better to waste the last 11 years not going after highly regarded college quarterbacks...that 2 or 3 years would kill us.

 

[BlueFin]

I clearly acknowledged that he considered drafting a quarterback in the draft. I agree that he admitted to this option, but never did say that he was drafting a quarterback to replace Henne in the starting lineup in 2011. It was always as a developmental project for the future.


You are right, Orton wanted starting money, the Dolphins were not convinced that he was a clear upgrade over Henne and balked at his asking price. Obviously in their mind Orton wasn't going to walk in as the starter. Also yes, I wanted Orton, I never changed my stance. I am just stating that the public perception that the Dolphins wanted to replace Henne as the starter is not quite true. They obviously wanted to push him and bolster depth, but the plan always seemed to be to have Henne under center when the season starts.

Show me one link or quote by Ireland that shows him saying he wanted to replace Henne. I think you will FAIL to find one. In fact I think you will find that he all along said the plan was to improve the team around Henne. They always wanted to upgrade the quarterback position, but never did they publicly say or suggest that wanted to absolutely replace Henne as the starter.

I know you can't be that naive Nubs, of course they wouldn't openly say it...how could they ever fall back on Henne if they failed to get anybody?

It is more than clear Ross tried to replace Sparano and failed, and that they tried to replace Henne and failed.

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

yawn....

 

[Spesh]

I clearly acknowledged that he considered drafting a quarterback in the draft. I agree that he admitted to this option, but never did say that he was drafting a quarterback to replace Henne in the starting lineup in 2011. It was always as a developmental project for the future.

You are right, Orton wanted starting money, the Dolphins were not convinced that he was a clear upgrade over Henne and balked at his asking price. Obviously in their mind Orton wasn't going to walk in as the starter. Also yes, I wanted Orton, I never changed my stance. I am just stating that the public perception that the Dolphins wanted to replace Henne as the starter is not quite true. They obviously wanted to push him and bolster depth, but the plan always seemed to be to have Henne under center when the season starts.

Show me one link or quote by Ireland that shows him saying he wanted to replace Henne. I think you will FAIL to find one. In fact I think you will find that he all along said the plan was to improve the team around Henne. They always wanted to upgrade the quarterback position, but never did they publicly say or suggest that wanted to absolutely replace Henne as the starter.

So trying to trade back into the second round was for "developmental project"? If he wanted a project, he could have drafted one late in the draft, as many other teams do. Then again, it wouldnt surprise me if they do consider burning multiple second round picks as "projects". Mallett wouldnt have been groomed for week 1, but by week 6 you can be sure he would be getting alot of attention. How do i know this? Sparano showed last year he has cold feet and will kneejerk to try and save his job.

Again, why even attempt to trade for Orton if you want him as a backup? There are more suitable players available for far less a price, not to mention all the bad publicity that comes with failing to trade.
They attempted to trade for him because they wanted him to replace Henne. To be fair to Orton, according to "sources" in the trade discussions, it had less to do with starter money and more a guarantee that he wont be replaced. Again, ill go with common sense and lean to that being true, as the man keeps being replaced by the likes of Rex Grossman, Tim Tebow, and Jay Cutler. Ill lean to that "source" being correct that the man is frustrated as heck.
Then again, your assertion seems to be that the media is 100% false all the time and the only people who know is our teams GM unless he speaks out publically with conflicting views then hes only right when he tries to save face and his job.

Nick Saban stated that he wouldnt leave the Dolphins for Alabama. Whoops! Sometimes people in charge of making decisions tell the press one thing while planning on doing something else. In February Ireland refused to publically commit to Henne and did say he was looking into the quarterback position. Whenever the topic of Henne came up, Ireland would only state that Henne was our quarterback "right now" and that he was a player on our team. Example:

“For right now our starter is Chad Henne,” Ireland said of the quarterback this regime selected in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft, and has started for the majority of the past two seasons. “Obviously he’s a player on our football team. We don’t have a lot of depth right now.”

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sport...land-chad-hennes-the-quarterback-for-now.html

Now that he failed to replace Henne despite multiple attempts, suddenly Henne is his guy. Funny how that works out.

 

[Spiff]

If he had all this confidence in Henne why even try and make a trade? If the sole purpose was to create a competative atmosphere for Henne, why try and trade for a 23 year old prospect or a 28 year old in the prime of his career?

Hasselbeck was available, as was Kerry Collins before he decided to retire. Both are older pro's who are on their last legs but would have been able to step in if Henne were to falter or get injured. McNabb was another older vet that could have been had for far less then Orton or Mallett. All 3 are examples of available players that could have pushed Henne but had very little chance of replacing him(save for Hasselbeck, who probably would have).

At the end of the day Ireland tried to trade for those players. And when attempting to make those trades, he certainly wasn't doing it for back up players. He needed someone who could come in and beat out Henne. When you are talking about second and third round picks for a young prospect and a player in his prime, its NOT to acquire them so they could lose the starting job.

I think in this situation Ireland can't bring in a seasoned vet like Hasselbeck or Collins because in case he beats out Henne, Henne will be gone next year. There's no way, Henne would stay after being benched so often by this regime. And then Kerry Collins retires. Whoops, we have no QB left that is capable of starting in this league. Now what?

 

[greasyObnoxious]

I think in this situation Ireland can't bring in a seasoned vet like Hasselbeck or Collins because in case he beats out Henne, Henne will be gone next year. There's no way, Henne would stay after being benched so often by this regime. And then Kerry Collins retires. Whoops, we have no QB left that is capable of starting in this league. Now what?

then, we would finally be forced to address the issue instead of weaseling around it

 

[phintim]

Ireland himself stated that they tried to trade up for Mallet. Should we assume he was lying?

As well, the trade fell apart with Orton because he wanted long term security. Miami wouldnt give him the money he asked for but they were still working on ways around it when Denver pulled him off the trade market because he killed it in practice. Had Tebow spent less time golfing and hobnobbing with celebrities and practiced, the Orton trade might still be in consideration. And undoubtable the homers on this forum would be talking about how great it is. Weren't you yourself posting about how we should trade for Orton?

Ireland attempted to replace Henne multiple times this offseason. He publically talked about it. His actions and the actions reported by the media support that. I see no reason to suggest Ireland is lying about attempting to acquire new talent. I do see a reason for Ireland to try and put a positive spin on screwing the pooch: he wants to try and give Henne the best chance to play well......now that his job depends on Henne playing well.

Nobody really has any idea how bad Ireland wanted to replace Henne. If Ireland was convinced that Mallet or Orton was the answer to replace Henne he would have taken Mallet in the first round or negotiated a little longer and harder with Denver for Orton. That is a fact we know because in both cases publicly Ireland attempted to bring in Orton but not as the replacement outright or he would have given the Broncs what they wanted and the same with Mallett he was willing and attempting to trade up into the bottom of the 2nd or top of the 3rd for Mallett but he really probably ran out of amunition outside of giving away next years number 1 pick which would have been a high price at the time. Other rumours include that Ponder indicated they were going to pick him at #15 instead of Pouncy and that they were hoping Luck would fall that far.
The last 2 options mentioned were just rumors while the first 2 statements were true known facts. Which points that Ireland was true to his word and wanted competition for Henne but Ireland was not abandoning Henne as the starter for the Phins this year. If Ireland had taken Mallet in the frist round or paid the price Orton or Denver had demanded that along with benching Henne last year would have accomplished two things. Henne would have been done in Miami even as a backup and Ireland would have been lying.
You can accuse Ireland of bad judgement or whatever but so far he has backed up what he has been saying.

 

[malzacher]

Ireland said from day one, going back to January that the plan was to improve the team around Henne, and he and Tony echoed that plan in March. He never promised a replacement or said they were considering it, what he is saying now is what he has been saying all along.

Thank you!!! Henne is their guy and you have to see what you have in him. They are giving him his last shot with more weapons and a new offense. If he fails, then you start the search in the draft and which this draft is deep at qb. I also don't get why everyone thinks this regime is gone after this year. Look at how they turned this team around from a talent standpoint and you can't discredit that. I personally think Henne will be fine.

 

[Spesh]

I think in this situation Ireland can't bring in a seasoned vet like Hasselbeck or Collins because in case he beats out Henne, Henne will be gone next year. There's no way, Henne would stay after being benched so often by this regime. And then Kerry Collins retires. Whoops, we have no QB left that is capable of starting in this league. Now what?

If they were looking into next offseason and beyond, they would have drafted a quarterback. Foresight concerning the quarterback position has never been a strong suit for over a decade and this regime is no different. They wanted a band-aid in order to try and save their jobs. Many on this board seem to find it reassuring, i find their self-serving single mindedness infurating.

And its amusing, one minute people on here are insisting that they were merely trying to bring in a vet for competition. Now, your suggesting that they didnt bring in a vet because he might have won the starting job. What do you think competition is? It cant be a competition if one side has no chance to win.
At the end of the day, they were trying to replace Henne and it blew up in their face. This is merely Ireland trying to reassure Henne, after throwing him under the bus, so that Henne is as comfortable as possible and therefore saves Irelands job.

 

[Spesh]

Nobody really has any idea how bad Ireland wanted to replace Henne. If Ireland was convinced that Mallet or Orton was the answer to replace Henne he would have taken Mallet in the first round or negotiated a little longer and harder with Denver for Orton. That is a fact we know because in both cases publicly Ireland attempted to bring in Orton but not as the replacement outright or he would have given the Broncs what they wanted and the same with Mallett he was willing and attempting to trade up into the bottom of the 2nd or top of the 3rd for Mallett but he really probably ran out of amunition outside of giving away next years number 1 pick which would have been a high price at the time. Other rumours include that Ponder indicated they were going to pick him at #15 instead of Pouncy and that they were hoping Luck would fall that far.
The last 2 options mentioned were just rumors while the first 2 statements were true known facts. Which points that Ireland was true to his word and wanted competition for Henne but Ireland was not abandoning Henne as the starter for the Phins this year. If Ireland had taken Mallet in the frist round or paid the price Orton or Denver had demanded that along with benching Henne last year would have accomplished two things. Henne would have been done in Miami even as a backup and Ireland would have been lying.
You can accuse Ireland of bad judgement or whatever but so far he has backed up what he has been saying.

As many on here keep pointing out, they do not have time to develop Mallett. They were not trying to do what was best for Miami but instead they tried to do what was best for them. They needed an immediate fix, because in all likelihood they will not be around long enough to see Mallett develop. Many are confortable with this, i find it sickening.
As for Orton, they did negotiate for as long as they could, until Denver pulled Orton off the trading block. Incidentally, this happened around the time team practices began. That was not a coincidence.

Again, Ireland admitted to trying to trade back into the second or third round, and its widely reported that Miami was trying to trade for Orton with a third or fourth round pick. That high of draft picks are not used on backups, period.
As far as Irelands reputation is concerned, all is forgiven if we win. In order to win you have to land a franchise quarterback. If it came between going back on his word(which he wouldnt really have, as he didnt commit to Henne until after the draft) and securing the quarterback position for the next 15 years(and probably keeping his job), which do you think he would have chosen?

 

[Perfect72]

So, what happens if the Dolphins go 10-6, but don't make the playoffs for some tie-breaking reason?
Should there be regime change?

 

[metalman32060]

Ok, you buy the propaganda, I don't

You probably believe Ross didn't try to replace Sparano either? Please........................................

Only thing I believe is that yourself and several others on this site have an agenda, Henne will never be good enough till we win a Super Bowl and even then some here will be still find something to ***** about. Henne has shown some improvement in this new offense, give it at least a few games into the regular season

 

[twg76]

Ireland said from day one, going back to January that the plan was to improve the team around Henne, and he and Tony echoed that plan in March. He never promised a replacement or said they were considering it, what he is saying now is what he has been saying all along.

Actions speak louder than words. They wanted to replace Henne, but never found a deal that felt better than just letting Henne get his last chance.