Dolphins weighing quarterback options

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INDIANAPOLIS - One of the most intriguing NFL offseasons is going to unfold in South Florida over the next few months. The Dolphins -- after three sub .500 seasons -- need to make headway in the AFC East. And they don't have a quarterback in place to do it. Enter Peyton? That's what the team's owner, Stephen Ross, reportedly wants. And the fans too as this billboard shows. Enter Matt Flynn? New head coach Joe Philbin has been with the career-long backup in Green Bay and knows better than anyone the potential of the promising free agent.

Enter Ryan Tannehill? The Texas A&M product is viewed as a possible first-rounder and he worked under Mike Sherman at A&M, the Dolphins new offensive coordinator. Miami may be - and has been - a quarterback away from success. Asked Thursday morning about his options in general at the position, Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland gave a little insight. "I don't think it has to be a long-term solution (at quarterback)," Ireland said, cracking the door to the likelihood of Manning if he is releasedby the Colts. "I think it can be a short-term solution. Obviously, you'd like a long-term solution but you can try to get both. You can certainly try to getboth in that regard. You gotta help this football team win today and build for the future." The fact for Ireland is that he really does need to win sooner rather than later. He's gotten a tremendous amount of rope in Miami. And, while he acknowledged that Thursday, he also went into CYA mode a little bit. "I'm not naive to the fact we've been 7-9, 7-9, 6-10 the past three years and we gotta keep building the process," said Ireland. "When we started building the process four years ago, that was a rebuilding process and we're gonna try to continue to build. Some of our players are getting more established and they've got some years on them so we have to do a pretty good job this year of either retaining some of those guys or replacing some of those guys."The simple truth is, the Dolphins have a good roster that Ireland built. They have more talent than their record has shown. Jettisoning Tony Sparano and hiring Philbin to replace him may have bought everyonesome time but - if Miami doesn't start making good on Ross' investment, the luck of the Ireland may run out.

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