NFL Update
You’ve got to admire Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase. He’s playing with house money (a lot of it) and he’ll get away with it.
Would this have been Ryan Tannehill’s year to go over the top and make the Dolphins a legitimate competitor to division-rival New England? Not anymore, if ever. His knee injury and possible need for surgery torched that. If he could return at the start of 2018, he’d have missed 19 consecutive starts. Get ready to put that house on the market.
The price for Tannehill this year? A salary of $17.95 million. The price for his replacement, Jay Cutler? $10 million. That’s a lot of money for modest production.
Gase gets credit for Tannehill’s showing last year as the Dolphins made the playoffs for the first time since 2008. He also gets credit for Cutler’s time in Chicago, which helped steer the Dolphins into officially signing him Monday.
Cutler, known for a prickly personality and a dour demeanor, seemed charming enough while meeting the Miami media on Monday. This apparently bought him enormous good will (which will last until the first fumble). While the Era of Good Feeling persists, allow this cloud to rain on the parade.
You got a quarterback with three winning seasons in 11 years in the league, a quarterback with one playoff victory (admittedly one more than Tannehill). One Pro Bowl selection. Two-time NFL leader in interceptions thrown. Career passer rating: 85.7 (Tannehill is 86.5 – Matt Moore, now bumped as the likely starter again, has an 88.8 rating over his six years with the Dolphins).
Cutler is the fellow who as late as May was telling Chicago radio stations his retirement was permanent.
Gase gets the easy way out of an unfortunate situation. Nicely played, coach.
If the Cutler experiment flops, that’s Gase’s out for a poor season and he can say the return of Tannehill will eventually right the ship, buy him a year. If Cutler should somehow have the success that has historically eluded him, the Dolphins can stick with him for another year or two and look for their next QB while ditching Tannehill. And Gase will look like the quarterback whisperer.
Winners: Gase, Cutler. Loser: Tannehill. What a business.
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman
-
The Masters will host an unprecedented golf tournament 2020 is a year of firsts for all major sporting events,...
-
The NFL announces big plans for Super Bowl LV The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a majority of...
-
It’s officially football season The return of NFL football was celebrated at home with a majority of stadiums denying...
-
President Trump wants to throw the opening game pitch for the Yankees President Trump just pulled another media stunt...
-
The Washington Redskins will change team logo and name After many controversies and requests for a team name change,...
-
The Washington Redskins has reconsidered a name change multiple times while facing controversy and is officially reconsidering a name...
-
Williamson officially the youngest NBA2K cover athlete The ever-popular video game for sports fans and gamers is NBA2K and...
-
The Patriots welcome new quarterback The New England Patriots are welcoming their new quarterback, Cam Newton, in an incentive-laden,...
-
Golf event charity for coronavirus relief The coronavirus (COVID-19) is canceling and postponing sports events around the world, but...
-
The top first-round draft players Though the next season of the NFL is questionable due to social distancing ordered...
-
Eli Manning joins pro athletes and celebrities for COVID-19 benefit auction Football legend quarterback the New York Giants, Eli...
-
Wimbledon 2020 cancelled and organizers are looking forward to 2021 The oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament, Wimbledon, made history...