Pennington to the Dolphins?

With Brett Favre landing in New York as the Jets new starting quarterback, someone had to go. That someone, as it turns out, was Chad Pennington. The Jets released Pennington Thursday, and it is rumored the Dolphins are interested in acquiring the former first round draft pick.

This, like every deal, has an upside and a downside. This is a case where the cons may in fact outweigh the pros. Pennington was the Jets first round draft pick, 18th overall, in the 2000 NFL Draft. He has played all 8 of his NFL seasons in New York.

Pennington does have more experience than anyone currently in camp with the Dolphins. He’s been to the playoffs three times and has a record of 2-3, more than can be said of any of the 3 quarterbacks currently on the Dolphins roster. Pennington would also provide a decent opportunity for Henne, and Beck for that matter, to learn from a veteran that has performed well at times. He would certainly be a better quarterback for the two youngsters to learn from than Josh McCown.

That being said, there are several downsides to bringing in Pennington. Chad has long struggled with throwing the deep ball, not just his accuracy but his ability to even get the ball deep. In his 8 years in the league, Pennington has played 1 full 16 game schedule and only played 3/4 of the 16 game schedule twice. Injury problems, particularly to his throwing shoulder, have occurred numerous times. Last season Pennington was benched half way through in favor of Kellen Clemens, and until Favre arrived was battling Clemens for the starting position this year for the Jets. Over his career, Pennington is 33-34 as a starter in the regular season with an 88.9 passer rating and 65.6 completion percentage.

In the end, the decision to bring Chad Pennington to the Dolphins would be a 50/50 call. There is a fair chance he could succeed in the short term, but in the long term a deal to make Pennington the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback would not be a successful one. If they brought him to Miami it should be with the knowledge that he’ll be shoved aside in 1-2 seasons in favor of Chad Henne.