As roster cuts continue to come thru the pipeline, QB Matt Moore is a name that should be safe from cuts, but not safe in terms of a roster spot, at least not with Miami. GM Jeff Ireland managed to move a potential roster cut player in OL Ryan Cook to Dallas for a 7th round draft pick in 2013 and the thinking may be that Ireland is not yet finished.
MDD Staff Writer: Chad Pullen
Moore certainly impressed some people with his 6-3 finish as a starter after the Dolphins started the year 0-7. He’s not quite qualified to lead a team to the playoffs or beyond, but capable backup he can do pretty well. For that, there will be at least some market value. The trick is, will Ireland be able to land yet another draft pick or will teams simply wait him out and see if he chooses to cut Moore. As of now, the Dolphins have four quarterbacks on the roster and that is simply overkill. With the team as thin as it is at receiver and cornerback, keeping four QB’s is overly pointless.
A move has to be made. With project QB Pat Devlin showing remarkable progress and at least looking like a useful backup to Ryan Tannehill, it makes Moore that much more expendable. If Miami could move him, it saves them a cut at another position as well as adding yet another draft pick for next season.
Currently the Dolphins sit at ten draft picks with an extra second rounder from Indy in the Vontae Davis deal, an extra third rounder in the Brandon Marshall deal, an extra sixth in the Davis deal (conditionally) and an extra seventh rounder in the Cook deal last night. Miami has already traded away their own sixth rounder to move up to draft Lamar Miller in last April’s draft. If Ireland could land an extra pick for Moore, he would sit at eleven picks to either stash til next year, or give him further trade chips to acquire other players at positions of need.
Arizona seems a likely spot for Moore to land simply because he could actually compete for the job there, while other teams would include places with solid quarterbacks already in place with Moore serving as injury protection only. Places like San Diego, Green Bay, and Atlanta where they have solid players at the position but could have some use for a solid backup that would not drain away their season like what happened in Chicago last year after Jay Cutler went down.
As a very very long shot, the Jets are a team that should be beating down the Dolphins door, their two quarterbacks couldn’t combine to form a solid player at the position, Moore would actually be the best QB on that roster. It is unlikely however that the Dolphins and Jets would talk much or make a trade. The hilarity of dealing with Rex Ryan and Tony Sparano would certainly be a highlight on Hard Knocks however. And seeing Tim Tebow third on a depth chart behind Mark Sanchez and Matt Moore would be almost too good to be true for not Jet fans across the land.
