The Miami Dolphins did the unthinkable and found a new home for Jay Cutler. The former Chicago Bears quarterback retired at the end of last season, but apparently, his retirement was short-lived. In Miami, Cutler will reunite with Adam Gase who was his offensive coordinator with the Bears back in 2015.
Cutler signed a one-year deal with Miami and will replace Ryan Tannehill as the starting quarterback. Tannehill suffered an injury during camp, and reports have indicated he has a partial tear on his ACL. In other words, he is going to be out for an extended period of time.
Cutler should be fine starting in Miami. Let’s be honest: everybody was shocked when he decided to retire. He definitively has a few more years of football left in him. But was he the best option available on the market for Miami? That’s a different topic.
Here are three quarterbacks that Miami should have looked at before signing Cutler:
Colin Kaepernick
Yes, that’s fairly obvious. EVERY team that has a quarterback controversy should take a look at Kaepernick. And the thought process should be quite simple. If one removes his political persona, Kaepernick belongs in the NFL. Or are you going to tell me that there are 32 or even 64 quarterbacks better than him? Short answer: there aren’t.
Kaepernick played at a relatively high level with the San Francisco 49ers last season, tossing for 2,241 yards with 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions. And if that wasn’t enough, he added 468 rushing yards with two scores. So yes, he can still play. And if he did that with the 49ers, chances are he would’ve put better numbers with better talent around him. And no one can deny the Dolphins are a better team than San Francisco.
Age wasn’t a reason either. Kaep is only 29 years old, so he is in his prime years. At the very least he can help a football team and would have been quite an upgrade over Matt Moore. But he remains jobless, which is quite puzzling honestly.
Robert Griffin III
Robert Griffin III is another player Miami could have easily considered. He hasn’t been the same since his rookie year in Washington and was less-than-effective last season with the Cleveland Browns. RGIII has had multiple tryouts this offseason and hasn’t been able to land a job yet. But Miami would’ve been a good destination for him.
Though he’s not the mobile quarterback he once was, there is no doubt Griffin can still run. And he would’ve formed a great tandem with Jay Ajayi in Miami’s backfield. At the very least it sounds intriguing, but hiring RGIII comes with a risk as well. Who says he can get through a full season without any injury? After all, Miami needs a durable player – otherwise, they would have stayed with Moore.
Injuries certainly complicated his case. But at least he was active and ready to take a chance. Now we will have to wait for another QB opening to come up to see whether RGIII can make a comeback to the league once again.
Christian Ponder
Okay, this one might be a reach. But why shouldn’t have Miami at least kick the tires on Ponder? Sure, he hasn’t ´played a snap in quite a while, and the last time he did he was nothing short of atrocious. But there is no question he deserves at least another shot to make it even as a backup. If Blaine Gabbert still has a job, why shouldn’t Ponder have one as well?
Ponder spent last season with the 49ers, but there are reasons to believe he has something left in him. He is 29 years old and hasn’t had injury problems throughout his career. Sure, he hasn’t lived up to the expectations of a former 12th overall pick. But maybe he would’ve taken advantage of the chance. Worst case scenario? He would have been Moore 2.0, and Miami would have kept their options open.