The Miami Dolphins are in a position to potentially compete during the 2017 NFL season, but with news that Ryan Tannehill could miss the entire season with a knee injury that optimism could fade in a hurry. After reportedly flirting with the idea of adding Colin Kaepernick, the Dolphins are reportedly "close" to bringing Jay Cutler out of retirement:
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald previously reported that Miami had already reached out to quarterback turned broadcaster Jay Cutler about their potentially vacant quarterback spot.
Coach Adam Gase has been in contact with Cutler personally the past two days as the two men have worked on rekindling a relationship that helped Cutler throw 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2015 when he was the starting QB for Chicago and Gase was the offensive coordinator.
If Tannehill is unavailable, the Dolphins would be left with only Matt Moore as a legitimate option on the roster. That explains the potential interest in Cutler, and apparent interest prior in Kaepernick:
With Cutler, the Dolphins would be throwing a figurative "Hail Mary" in that he has essentially retired to join a broadcast booth at FOX Sports. Still, it wouldn't be crazy to argue that Cutler is among the top options "available" on the market and the interest makes sense from that standpoint. The relationship between Gase and Cutler matters, but in the end this decision will come down to many factors with one being Cutler's current job away from the field.
Here's the play Tannehill was injured on last year:
Tannehill was wearing a knee brace on his left leg, the same leg he suffered a sprained ACL and MCL last season.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Dolphins are "concerned" about Tannehill's injury:
Tannehill is a five-year veteran, starting 77 games while throwing for more than 18,000 yards, 66 touchdowns and 80 interceptions.
