Dolphins Notes: 4/2

All of this is day old news, but I didn’t have time to get around to it yesterday. Nonetheless, some interesting material to discuss.

Marino wants Dolphins to trade 3rd-round pick for Palmer
The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reported on Thursday that Dan Marino offered his two cents into the Dolphins’ quarterback search. Marino was supportive of Chad Henne, saying “he has what it takes to be a starter. He had an off year last year. I’m pulling for the kid.” However, Marino would like to see the Dolphins trade for disgruntled Cincinnati Bengal Carson Palmer, rather than go the route of using a high draft choice on a rookie. “I’ve always liked Carson,” Marino said. “For a third-rounder, I would do it.”

Even if the Dolphins would prefer adding a proven veteran like Palmer, acquiring him wouldn’t be as easy. First off, the Bengals have gone on record saying they aren’t trading Palmer, leading many to believe he will be forced to retire. Now, it does make sense to play hard ball. That will only force teams who are interested in trading for him to pony up more compensation to get the Bengals to give in. And the Dolphins are probably going to have to give up more than a third-round pick. The Bengals will probably ask for a first as negotiations begin, but I’m sure the Dolphins could eventually land him for a second.

But not so fast. The Dolphins don’t currently own a second-round pick and we must remember that trading players for draft picks won’t be allowed until a new collective bargaining agreement is in place. Nobody expects a new deal to be reached in time for the draft. So if the Dolphins want Palmer, they are going to have to wait until the lockout is over and they are more than likely going to have to trade away one of their 2012 draft selections. If they convicted that’s the direction they want to go, though, they must pass on the opportunity to bring in a promising rookie for the possibility of bringing in Palmer.

Dolphins featured on ESPN’s “On the Clock”
The Dolphins were under the spotlight on Sports Center’s “On the Clock” series, which previews the draft team by team. Although, Mel Kiper was in favor of the Dolphins addressing the running back position with Mark Ingram and even threw guard/center Mike Pouncey’s name out there as a possible solution to the Dolphins’ interior O-line woes, a lot of the talk was about the quarterback situation.

“Chad Henne was wildly inconsistent at Michigan,” Mel Kiper said. “That’s why I had some questions about him, coming out. We see that in Miami. There are games where he looks like he could be the guy and other games you scratch your head, saying ‘Why did that throw go where it did?’ The inaccuracy of Chad Henne and the inconsistency of Chad Henne is the reason right now they don’t know where they’re going at quarterback.”

Trent Dilfer, on the other hand, wasn’t as critical of Henne. “When I study him on tape, there is improvement,” Dilfer said. “You see improvement in his ability to change speeds on the ball, make some throws he hasn’t been able to make earlier in his career. “And I think after 27 starts, it’s not a big enough body of work to come up with a definitive judgment on Chad Henne. I think the franchise would take a giant step backwards if they started over and went and got another rookie. Unless it’s an established, veteran, free-agent quarterback, I think Chad Henne is the answer for the Dolphins this year.”