Dolphins

Former Dolphins HC Joe Philbin Wanted To Move On From Ryan Tannehill & Draft Derek Carr

January 10, 2016

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports that former Dolphins HC Joe Philbin never felt fully comfortable with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Because of this, owner Stephen Ross elected to fire GM Jeff Ireland, but Ross wanted to also fire OC Mike Sherman. Philbin, who was reportedly trying to save Sherman’s job, blamed the problems of the Dolphins offense on the players in general and Tannehill in particular.

It went even further, as Philbin reportedly wanted to replace Tannehill as the team’s quarterback and even pushed for Miami to select a quarterback in the first-round of the 2014 draft.

According to Salguero, Philbin wanted the Dolphins to draft Derek Carr in the first round instead of OT Ja’Waun James.

That was the season in which Philbin refused to declare Tannehill the team’s starter after he struggled during the season. Beyond that, Philbin reportedly resented the fact that Dan Marino got close to Tannehill because he wanted only OC Bill Lazor and QBs coach Zac Taylor in Tannehill’s ear.

The Dolphins wound up firing Philbin mid-season and have recently hired Adam Gase as their new head coach. Salguero mentions that one reason that Miami elected to go with Gase was because they wanted a head coach who was completely in the Tannehill’s corner.

Gase eluded to as much during his introductory press conference.

“I think he needs a guy that’s going to have his back; that he feels comfortable with right out the gate,” Gase said. “And I’m going to be working directly with him. And then I am going to hire guys on the offensive staff to also help him develop. I feel like when we do put a staff together we are all going to be able to help him get a little bit better.”

Tannehill, 27, signed a six-year, $95.272 million contract that includes $45 million guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of $745,000 and another $9.34 million in 2016.

In 2015, Tannehill had appeared in 16 games and thrown for 4,210 yards while completing 62 percent of his passes to go along with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 25 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.