A report surfaced this after from CBS's sports Jason La Canfora that the Dolphins are highly unlikely to bring back running back Reggie Bush.

Reggie didn't quite come close to leading the league in rushing this year but has been a very respectable weapon in the Dolphins offense. He has missed his fare share of holes however has provided a lift to the Dolphins offense on many occasion. Reggie struggled with consistency however it appeared that later in the year this season the Dolphins coaching staff was finally starting to figure out how to properly utilize Reggie's skill set.

Despite Jeff Ireland's commitment to adding playmakers to the Dolphins roster it appears the Dolphins might let their best one walk this offseason.

Bush would hit a very thin free agent market for running backs where he would probably be most attractive options to teams. Along with Bush, Shonn Green, Peyton Hillis, Rashard Mendenhall and Cedrick Benson are the only two other somewhat viable options this offseason.

That being said I am not totally sold the Dolphins will let Reggie leave town so easily. Reggie loves Miami and should the market be somewhat soft, the Dolphins would bring him back at a cap friendly deal.

As scary as a thought as it may be Ireland and the Dolphins brass seem to have confidence in fumbling machine Daniel Thomas and unproven Lamar Miller. Both have struggled in pass protection and neither have shown any reason for confidence that they can be a formidable force in the back field.

RT @ArmandoSalguero Dolphins respect Bush's work ethic & production. But team thinks Lamar Miller, who's bigger & faster, could be better.

The Dolphins will undoubtedly look for 3rd down  / scat back should Reggie leave either through free agency or the draft.

Running back Eddie Lacy from Alabama looks like a stud in the making however his price tag of a 2nd or maybe even 1st round draft pick would be too much for the Dolphins who have other needs to address first.

Later round options however include Clemson's Andre Ellington who presents the speed Miami needs, Montee Ball  from Wisconsin, Florida's Mike Gillislee and Stanford's Stefan Taylor.

Reggie however will be hard to replace in the locker room as he has really stepped up in a leadership role in Miami. The market for Reggie will determine if he is back or not but I don't think there is any doubt that his time in Miami has been a success. 

Last night 3 of the classiest members of the Dolphins fanbase did an interesting and informative podcast on a variety of different Phins related topics.

Well @PhinsRock , @PhinNation ( manager of http://www.phinnation.com/ ) and myself might not actually be the classiest group of fans however be sure to give our Dolphins discussion a listen.

We spoke about a variety of Dolphins related topics. 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jp-correia/2013/01/28/miami-dolphins-talk 

One of the many questions that the Miami Dolphins front office is facing is whether or not to re-sign Jake Long.  In Madden terms, Jake Long is a “big mauler” or a stalwart left tackle.  The Dolphins have paid Jake Long well over 60 million since his rookie deal in 2008. Jake Long can pass block and run-block quite well...when healthy.

The pros for re-signing Jake Long start with four pro-bowl selections, his leadership on the offensive line, hard working in the offseason, and a protector of the Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

However, there is not much else to say that is positive.  After four seasons, Jake Long started to break down with leg injuries, sore shoulders, and now a triceps tear that is currently healing.  

His injuries have led to two consecutive late season appearances on the injured reserve. 

Even though Long has been missing, the Dolphins are 4-2 without Long and have shown resiliency in plugging in other linemen to get the job done. 

So as delicate and as puzzling the negotiation must be for the Dolphins front office, the biggest question remains: Is Jake Long elite?

Based on a blog post by Armando Salguero, only Jeff Ireland knows, but he is not saying.  In fact, Salguero compared Long to one former Jacksonville Jaguar Tony Boselli, who started to break down his 4^th season.  We all know that Boselli broke down to the point that he was practically handed to the Houston Texans for free in the expansion draft.

However, if Ireland isn’t saying that Jake Long is elite, then the negotiations can’t be leaning favorably for what the Dolphins want to pay Jake Long.  Two people believe that Jake Long is elite, his agent and Jake Long.

On one hand, Jake Long presents positive leadership on the offense as a whole.  Whether he is the cornerstone piece of the Miami Dolphins as Richmond Webb was during the Marino years, it remains to be seen what is future holds and if it is even synonymous with Canton, Ohio.  The biggest question now, is whether Long can stay healthy and be productive into the post season, which Miami hopes to be a part of in the future.

Going back to early September, the Dolphins showed how important Long is to the team.  However, during one of the first team practices, he goes down in a heap after getting his leg rolled on.  Then with kid gloves the Dolphins tend to him, speed up his recovery by blocking the media and rush him back onto the field, Long plays five days later in Houston with barely a limp.  However, Long played poorly in key games versus superior pass rushers.  When he got torn apart versus the Bills in Buffalo by Shawn Merriman, that was an alarming sign of a breakdown in technique and overall strength, something that Long got by with by expanding his massive frame. 

Everything about the plan of getting every ounce out of Long worked until the Dolphins discovered the flexibility of Jonathan Martin, moving him to his natural position of left tackle and filling in for Long admirably. 

So, while the Dolphins have many pressing needs on the offensive part of the ball, Jake Long does not appear to be a need, want, but merely a luxury that doesn't’t put points on the board or fans in the seats. 

Bottom line, the Dolphins can’t afford to pay Jake Long what he and his agent believes they are worth and pay for other key missing pieces.  It might be time to say adiós to Jake Long and re-allocate Dolphin Dollars to a different talent pool

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While the Dolphins players are off resting and relaxing, many questions have been posed about what steps the Dolphins offense will need to take to put more points on the scoreboard and win more games.

First, last season, when the Dolphins hired Mike Sherman to be the offensive coordinator, news of the hiring sparked much optimism amongst Dolphins fans.  After all, Sherman worked as the head coach for Brett Favre and a dynamic passing offense, worked in Houston with Kubiak with newly acquired Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, and finally had a great rapport with Ryan Tannehill at Texas A&M.  Heck, Tannehill was probably the Dolphins choice because of Mike Sherman, being his former coach at Texas A&M.

 However, how did the Dolphins offense improve when after one year of having an offense that ranked 27^th in points, 27^th in yards, and 26^th in pass yards per game.  As a result, many Dolfans were calling for Sherman’s head and wanted to move on to another re-tread offensive coordinator in Norv Turner.  Many Dolfans uttered the name Dan Henning several times on twitter and wanted the Dolphins to do more than just ground and pound right into the opposing defenses, at least the Dolphins could find solace in their run game at 17^th averaging 112.6 yards per game.

The reality of the Dolphins offense is there were no offensive weapons to begin with (after making the Brandon Marshall trade) and calling plays became more of an adventure for Mike Sherman with the lack of pass catching and a running tight end, a lack of blocking upfront to spring Reggie Bush, and a lack of execution by third and fourth receivers who dropped, fumbled, or couldn’t out run sailing passes to help rookie QB Ryan Tannehill.  The personnel moves in the offseason did not mesh well with the offense that Joe Philbin and Mike Sherman were accustomed to running.

After looking at the season as a whole, Sherman’s best and worst job of play calling could be wrapped up into one game: Week 4 versus the Arizona Cardinals.  This is the game where the Dolphins played well enough to win and poorly enough to lose.  It was a tale of two halves.  After a very counter-productive first quarter by both the Cardinals and Dolphins, the Dolphins got on the board with a field goal.  Later after a 95 yard drive and a Jorvorskie Lane plunge into the end zone, the Dolphins made it 10-0.  This drive included 2 passes, one a 57 yard pass and another, a 19 yard pass in order to overcome a 14 yard loss on a sack.  This drive proved most impressive at the time by rookie QB Ryan Tannehill.  It was the quickest drive for a touchdown in that only 3:49 elapsed off the clock.  An eight play drive and a touchdown was music to the ears of all Dolfans watching. 

However, the second half, riding a 13-0 lead was a completely different story.  The offense seemed to go into a shell.  First the Dolphins opening drive of the 3^rd quarter led to a missed field goal after a 2:17 drive on a play call sequence of a pass for 6 yards, a run by Reggie Bush for 1 yard, a pass to Hartline for 30 yards, and run for negative yardage on 1^st down and then a couple of incomplete passes to Davone Bess.  The field goal resulted in a miss by Carpenter with Dolfans clamoring for better play calls and more #Fireland talk.  What was most un-nerving about this drive was the fact that the Dolphins had the Cardinals on the ropes.  Their defense was on the ropes and a 20-0 lead in the 3^rd quarter would have been close to smooth sailing to victory for Miami.

The next offensive drive brought about some puzzling play calls: starting at the Miami 16, on first down, Tannehill passed to Bess for 16 yards.  Then instead of maybe getting the receivers out wide and throwing the ball into the flat or even a screen pass with a furious pass rush by Arizona, the Dolphins chose run and Bush lost -5 yards.  Already in a game where Reggie Bush was hobbled by a knee strain, they ran him on first down, right at the defense.  By the time he bounced outside, the Cardinals had the edge and drove him back.  This was frustrating to say the least.  Even more frustrating was the next play call: pass to Bess that was almost an interception: 3 yards, then even after a huge pass interference call that was drawn by Brian Hartline, the Dolphins punted on this drive.  Total time of the drive was 3:05 and no points.  Lead 13-7. 

Fast forward to the end of the 4^th quarter and leading 13-7, Sherman calls Fake FB toss to Reggie Bush and Sam Acho happily meets him for a 9 yard loss.  Still leading at the end of 3 quarters 13-7, this element of trickery fooled every Dolfan, but not the Cardinals defense that pursued Bush with a fury.  On the next play, a pass on third down leading to another 9 yard loss and a blown drive with a chance to take some momentum into the third quarter. 

Despite what many consider to have been an overachieving season for the Miami Dolphins, a very pressing need emerged which caused concern amongst the fan base as the week's progressed. 

It's no secret that the biggest need that the team must address is at wide receiver. Impending free agent Brian Hartline had a breakout season in his fourth year in the league posting 1,083 yards however he only hauled in a single touchdown reception. Hartline is a reliable pass catcher and a player that many teams will covert but he  does not possess the skill set to be a No.1 receiver in the NFL. Davone Bess is also a solid option in the passing game however he is better suited as a slot reciever as opposed to one who can stretch the field. The position of third wide receiver on the team was an ongoing carousel with not one player showing the ability to make a significant impact. Analyzing the Dolphins current core of receivers, its clear that the team lacks a deep threat.

The Dolphins top priority this offseason will be to surround Ryan Tannehill with weapons and put him in a position to succeed in 2013. In order to accomplish this, the Dolphins front office must decide which route they will take in attempts to bring an elite wideout to South Beach.

This year's draft is filled with many good but not great wide reciever prospects with tremendous value to be had in the second round or later. With this in mind, the Dolphins would be wise to address some of their other needs via the draft and dedicate free agency to improving the passing game. Three of the game's premiere pass catchers could be on the move this offseason, here's a look at the players that will likely be pursued by the Miami Dolphins.