Matt Flynn Meeting With Dolphins
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Just a few days after being told by Peyton Manning, "thanks, but no thanks," the Miami Dolphins welcomed free agent quarterback Matt Flynn to the team's facility Saturday and hope to convince him to sign before he leaves Miami.
For the Dolphins, it's going to be either Flynn or possibly no new starter at quarterback. Flynn's stock rose after he put together a couple of stellar games as the backup to Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Dolphins hope that having Joe Philbin, the only offensive coordinator Flynn's ever had in the NFL, as the team's new head coach will give them a leg up in the team's pursuit of Flynn. League insiders have pegged the Dolphins as the team to beat for Flynn's services.
The former Green Bay Packers backup spent Thursday and Friday in Seattle where he was wined and dined by the Seahawks staff that includes members of the Green Bay Packers staff that selected Flynn in the seventh-round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Flynn wasn't expected to be nearly the quarterback he's become. He's got a championship pedigree dating back to his senior season at LSU where he led the Tigers to the BCS National Championship at the end of the 2007 season.
The Dolphins are reportedly hoping to settle the quarterback situation this weekend and if Flynn leaves without a deal, the position may not be addressed until the 2012 NFL Draft. Miami hopes the 26-year-old Flynn can at least be a game manager in the vein of Chad Pennington, if not better.
Flynn has started a total of two games during his time in Green Bay, but he made all he could out of those starts. Flynn threw for 731 yards and nine touchdowns in those two games.
For comparison, current Dolphins starting quarterback Matt Moore threw a total of 16 touchdowns in 12 starts in 2011.
If Flynn doesn't end up in a Dolphins uniform, the team will likely turn its attention to another quarterback already familiar to the current Fins staff. Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been rocketing up draft boards and will be the third quarterback taken in the 2012 draft.
Tannehill played under current Fins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman at Texas A&M for the last few years, so Sherman knows Tannehill better than any coach in the NFL. The only problem for the Dolphins is that Tannehill may not last until the eighth pick.
If a team like Cleveland decides to take a flier on Tannehill, it could put the Fins in a precarious position of having to either pay a huge bounty for Tannehill, or head into next season with Matt Moore as the team's starting quarterback again.
