With so many needs the Dolphins have a lot of options of what to do with their first and second round draft picks in this years NFL draft. While most experts will tell you that it is always important to draft the best player available over need, the Dolphins will most likely be put in the position to fit both.

The Dolphins greatest needs is the same need they have had for the past decade and that’s to find their new franchise QB. With Luck and Griffin both set to be off the board at 8, the Dolphins most likely will have Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill and OK State QB Brandon Weeden to choose between. That being said it isn’t even a lock that Tannehill will be on the board at 8 as the Browns are also speculated to have interest.

Jeff Ireland and Coach Philbin recently visited Ryan at his pro day however it isn’t 100% known whether the Dolphins truly are that high on Tannehill. Two other big needs for the Dolphins are to find a pass rusher after failing to land one in free agency, and wide receiver after trading Brandon Marshall.

There is no shortage of either in the draft however it is essential the Dolphins find the right player and not have another draft day miss. Justin Blackmon (most likely to be off the board) is the number 1 WR in this year’s draft, with Michael Floyd and Kendall Wright right behind him.

All 3 WR’s are set to be top 20 picks with other talents like Stephen Hill, Rueben Randal, Alshon Jeffery, Mohamed Sanu going in the late 1st or early second.

Colby Fleener and Dwanye Allen are also options for the Dolphins, both are play making TE’s that should go late first or the 2nd round. While I believe the Dolphins NEED to find their guy at QB, if it’s not Tannehill or Weeden, I say PASS. The big guy Osweiler who the Dolphins also visited is not the solution and would just be another John Beck, Chad Henne solution.

It would be very nice if the Dolphins can leave the draft with Tannehill and one of these young play makers so that he has someone to throw the ball too.

On the other side of the ball while I believe it very important to find a pass rusher to go on the opposite side of Wake, I believe the priority of this team should 100% be placed on the offence. That being said a pass rusher still most likely will be given heavy attention.

Quinton Coples, Ingram, Upshaw, Perry, are all names that could be connected to the Dolphins in the first round, with more likely second round options Vinny Curry, Chandler Jones, and Andre Branch could be the solution for the Dolphins.

This draft has a lot of depth, and if the Dolphins can trade down and get good value back, I think it is definitely something that would be worth their while.

My heart tells me Ryan Tannehill and Vinny Curry, and maybe a trade getting them a WR late or mid 2nd however my brain tells me that Tannehill will be a Brown, leaving the untrustworthy Jeff Ireland having to re-shift his draft board.



Dolfan’s what needs are you hoping will be filled in this years draft?

Follow me @PhinsDaniel !  

Right before word was approaching the cell phone of FOX Sports' Jay Glazer that the Dolphins had signed David Garrard, the Dolphins terminated the contract of Yeremiah Bell.

Bell was named Co-Captain of the defense and was the longest tenured Dolphin prior to the retirement of Jason Taylor in January.  Bell was selected in the 6th round out of Eastern Kentucky by then coach Dave Wannstedt.

Bell finished with 107 tackles and can best be remembered for his ferocious and often violent hits as a safety.

The Dolphins claim to have cut over 6 million in salary with savings of 4.3 million dollars on this year's salary cap.

The Dolphins have yet to disclose the release of Yeremiah Bell, but the timing is impeccable given the demand for a safety in the NFL has dried up in the past week. 

It is possible, that Bell, who is 34 years old can still play at a high level and may play one more time at Sun Life Stadium for a competitor in the AFC.

As a fan, I am puzzled by why the Dolphins keep getting rid of good guys.  Bell was an all around good guys and mentored young players on the defense.

Jared Odrick tweet today:

"Sad to see YB go, he was a mentor to me and a lot of us. One person I def confided in my rookie season. Great player & person."

During the dreaded 2011 season, Bell, became the spokesperson and locker room presence when the excrement was hitting the fan on the way to 0-7 and the Suck for Luck campaign was in full force. 

No matter the situation, Yeremiah Bell backed up his teammates when Brandon Marshall had an altercation with Vontae Davis or when the Dolphins left all of their wins on the road in 2010 while going 1-7 at home. 

All Yeremiah Bell did was play hard for the aqua and orange.  He gave it his all.

I know that some fans see this as a blessing in disguise, but Bell is a classic Ronnie Lott type of safety where he does just enough to get to the ball and make the receiver or tight end pay for coming into his zone.

Let's not forget Bell on a Corner/Saftey blitz package who has 11 career sacks.  In total, Bell has amassed 562 tackles, and 435 solo tackles in his career.

The market does not have a lot of safeties like Bell.  The draft does and the Dolphins have signed Richard Marshall, a faster and younger Safety.  It is possible that the Dolphins made one move early to foreshadow the move they would make today.  In addition, Reshad Jones and Jimmy Wilson could compete for a safety spot on the Dolphins defense.

The Dolphins retained Soliai, but did not keep Bell or Langford.

The off season has just begun, but the Jeff Ireland churning machine is already fired up.  

So the Miami Dolphins finally address the QB position by signing former Jags QB David Garrard ,the Dolphins add depth but are still in search for a franchise QB after the signing.

While Garrard had success in Jacksonville, his career has declined and is up there in age. Garrard is also coming off an injury and most likely was brought in to compete with Matt Moore this off-season.

This is another move that the Dolphins fan base wont be pleased about as it appears that the Dolphins are once again settling at the QB position.

The Dolphins chose to sign a stop gap QB but hopefully will still address the position in the 1^st round of this year’s draft. Fans already seem on board for the #BlowforBarkley train early this year.

In other Dolphins news, the team has decided to let of vet Yeremiah Bell saving 4.5 million dollars in cap space. Bell has been a leader on and off the field for this team however his age, declining cover skills, and cap hit made him expendable this season. Of course Ireland did not give Bell the common courtesy of joining the free agent market until a full week had passed, another typical classless Jeff Ireland move.

Well there you have it folks David Garrard comes to the rescue, we will see if he can even beat out Matt Moore this off season, I doubt it. That being said, better than Tebow.

Here are a couple of reaction tweets to the Garrard signing.

Orlando Alzugaray ‏ @BigOShow

David Gerrard a Dolphin, WHAT A JOKE!

Marc Kohn ‏ @KohneysKorner

I am speechless...what an utter embarrassment

Jesse Agler ‏ @finsjesse

The Garrard move is about adding depth. Need 80 players on roster for training camp. Have to figure his play will determine his role.

Jim Trotter ‏ @SI_JimTrotter

according to jay glazer, david garrard says he is now a dolphin. another sign miami will go qb in the draft.

Jason Cole ‏ @JasonColeYahoo

Dolphins QB search goes from Manning to Flynn to Smith and ends with Garrard. Season tix sales must be booming.

Have to say I think the Dolphins fans deserved a little better.

Terrence Howard once sang “It’s hard out here for a pimp “ , well it’s much harder to be a Dolphins fan with Jeff Ireland calling the shots.

Whether it’s your friends on face book, Yahoo writers, Peter King, Mike Freeman it seems everyone is taking their best shot at Jeff Ireland and the Dolphins organization.

SI’s Peter King said “In the history of NFL general managers, Ireland is on the coldest streak ever. “

Other forms of the media have taken their shots and it appears for the second off season in a row the Dolphins are the laughing stock of the NFL. There is apparently a movement on twitter going on right now to schedule a protest in front of the Dolphins facility at 1pm tomorrow to voice the frustration of the fan base.

To make matters worse, due to the domino of Peyton Manning landing in Denver there are rumors out there that Tim Tebow might be considered by the Dolphins brass.

While it is a difficult time to be a dolphins fan with everyone laughing at us at the moment, I plead fans to stay the course. Joe Philbin just took over and there is reason for belief in a new system and product on the field.

Good teams build through the draft, Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill are not short term solutions and could very well turn into franchise QB’s. The off season is not over. There is still some hope, even if very little the Dolphins organization can set things straight.

While I won’t compliment anyone because personally frustration is running high for me as well it is no time to give up on our Phins.

No matter 1-15 or 15-1, stay loyal ! I know it's tough, and I know Ireland and Ross don't make it easy on us but always have faith ! Phins Up ! Dolphins fans for life.

Ps : Fire Ireland !

As the world of the Dolphins turns, or the soap opera that we constantly watch at about noon daily that is Ross and Ireland; Miami Dolphins fans have been greeted with a couple of rude and yet surprising messages.

The juggernaut of them all was when we as Dolfans, who are hooked into the Sun-Sentinel's Dolphins news text message service were greeted with this message:

Miami Dolphins to meet with free agent Alex Smith today in Davie. 

The next message that hit us about over 1 hour ago by ESPN's Adam Schefter:

Matt Flynn has agreed with the Seattle Seahawks to a deal for 3 years at $26 million and $10 million guaranteed!

Whoa!

This was not what was expected by the media or the fans of Miami.  The national media delivered hit after hit that I am not sure I should mention on this family viewed website, but some of it got even worse.

One twitter follower tweeted (who will remain nameless for his safety):

"I think I am going to be a Jets Fan."

As bad as all of this sounds, the Dolphins who are already left with limited free agent options at QB, have David Garrard visiting tomorrow for a workout and physical.

What's going on in Davie is appalling, but in reality is it that unexpected?

First, the Dolphins are a flagship franchise who's motto this off season was to get a QB.  They jumped in the Manning chase, but only after getting some help from Jason Taylor and Dan Marino to get Peyton Manning to agree to a meeting.  The media from Chris Mortensen of ESPN to Armando Salguero painted it as a sure thing that Miami was in on Peyton.  If that were truly the case, he would have visited Miami.  He did not.

Second, the Dolphins could not get Manning so they went after Flynn after publicly and privately saying they wanted Manning.  Plan A didn't work so now on to plan B.

Let's consider for a moment that the Dolphins have a rookie head coach running a system that features elements of the West Coast offense.  Be prepared to judge, but keeping Brandon Marshall base on his past history with inexperienced QBs would have poisoned the waters in Davie and eventually the team.  Not a good situation for either party involved.  The incident in NYC made it easier for the Dolphins to justify the trade of Marshall to Chicago, but they had planned to trade Marshall since the combine.

Consequently, going after the QB in reality, while important became a secondary necessity because without Marshall, a QB such as Manning or
Flynn would not thrive with a pass catcher who doesn't play a team game.  Not to mention a headache that Philbin would not want to have during the season once Brandon could lose it and curse out his team after beginning 1-5.  

So, now the search turns to QB.  Flynn is in Seattle and will get a chance to start.  He's the highest paid QB, but a lot of his contract includes incentives that if he starts are achievable.  

Miami is looking at Alex Smith as a potential competition with Matt Moore.  Matt Moore right now is the starter and when the team gets competition for Moore, we will all see the plan unfold. 

In addition, the Dolphins have Garrard in town tomorrow for a workout and maybe a possible deal with the thought of backup.

Ireland and Ross deserve blame sure.  They do right now.  However, Ireland can erase or save face if he follows through on his promise to get the Dolphins a QB.  Whether it's now with Smith or other potential QBs that will be available from the Manning Mystery Free Agency tour or the draft.

Remember Dolfans, getting Weeden, Tannehill, or Nick Foles, is essentially the same as getting Flynn or having Pat Devlin start.

No matter what, the draft is where you should judge Ireland, because his move for Marshall was draft related as was he and Ross passing on a back up QB in Matt Flynn.    

Dolphins have a couple of more critical holes to fill, but let's judge the finished product in August and continue cheering on the aqua and orange because no matter what, we cannot stop watching the soap opera that continues weekly.