I think the best plan would be for Parcels and Ireland to talk him into retiring as a player when his contract runs out and bring him on as an assistant or QB coach. I firmly believe this is something he would excel at.

 

To do that, they would need to extend his contract at some point. I don't see Chad Pennington retiring at 34 years old barring a career ending injury. (knocking on wood)

 

He has said in the past he is not worried about the contract, and he has also said he loves living in Florida after all the years up north in the cold.

 

That's possible, but who knows how he feels about it.
With as many injuries he has had, especially with his throwing arm, I'm sure he feels older than 34.
You know he loves to play, but maybe the idea of coaching and still being a part of this game he loves would be more appealing than getting beat up every Sunday.

 

Chad Pennington is a competitor. He's healthier now than he has been in years. I'm sure the thought of coaching might be appealing to him, but not at age 34. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Also, the fact that he doesn't have a lot of arm strength and has relied on intelligence for much of his career could extend his shelf life, IMO.

 

I do not disagree with you at all about his competitiveness, and most likely you are correct. I'm simply offering an alternative that I think is a distinct possibility, even if it may happen later rather than sooner. Also, it is still possible to be competitive as a coach, so I don't see that as that big of a jump.

 

I agree with you that it's definitely something that could be in Chad's future. I would love to see Chad Pennington in some sort of coaching role on Miami's sidelines. Unofficially, he's already doing a lot of coaching on those sidelines! :up:

 

I think a lot would depend on how confident the staff is in CH or even JB becoming a solid starter and how being bumped down to backup would sit with CP. If the staff feels CH or JB are the real deal and should be the QB going forward after this up coming season and CP does not want to hold the clipboard then he is not going to sign an extension. I would wait until after next season to talk extension. I think the FO is playing this one right.

 

Chad Pennington was, without question, one of the top ten quarterbacks in the NFL last year. He is not young, but I do not see his production dropping off in the next 2-3 years. In fact, if as per Bill Parcells, we get more "exploisive" on offense, his production will only improve.

EXTEND THE MAN'S CONTRACT.

 

As great as Pennington was last season -- and he was great -- I doubt he will get a quick extension. The Dolphins have to take a look at Chad Henne at some point. Pennington will go into the 2009 season as the starter. If he does well, Henne probably won't get a chance to start or play. In other words, Bill Parcells probably will delay a decision about the quarterback until the regular season. Maybe that's not fair to Pennington, but that's the tough business world of the NFL. Pennington did earn an extension, but he also had to appreciate the opportunity Parcells gave him. Pennington was able to re-establish himself as a quarterback who can take a team to the playoffs. He was also able to enjoy the satisfaction of knocking the Jets out of playoff contention. Ultimately, the finances will take care of themselves.

This is what Clayton thinks.

 

I want Pennington to start this year and then i think it will be time to see what Henne has. I can't see them sitting henne for over 3 years. Pennington I would love to have back and signed but outside of a deep playoff run the following year I think we need to get Henne in there, with Pennington as a backup.

Nothing against pennington at all, i think he could be really good for the next 3-5 years but a youthful franchise qb in waiting will need to be tested soon than later.

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pennington ends up with an extension. But it won't happen right now. For now we have players who are on the verge of free agency to worry about. We also have to look at adding other FA to round out our team. Then the draft.
With that said I would bet there is some concern with Pennington's injury history, as well.

 

If Pennington continues to be productive, I can't see them benching him in favor of Henne. That would be stupid. Think about it: What if Pennington stays healthy and productive for all of 2009? You gonna drop him for Henne?

 

Agreed. I think a pretty simple and effective formula for Pennington would be it's his job to lose. If he keeps playing at a high level, no reason to rush Henne in.

 

Mark my words....this is not gonna turn out pretty and it wont be anyones fault..

Chad is not the kind of guy that is gonna play one more year for us and then become one of our coaches...thats a pipe dream...

We all want for him to play this coming year and then henne take over the following. i highly doubt he will want to retire after next year so we can go with henne....

were gonna be faced with a tough decision ya'll....cause if penny plays lights out this year the henne is gonna start to get real restless.

Were facing a big dilemma with henny and penny if penny plays well this year. were gonna have to choose at some point and someone is gonna get hurt.

Imo..iam not losing Henne no matter what.

 

I think Henne will be our QB in 2010. I appreciate what Chad has done, but he will be in his mid-30's soon and for every Warner and Elway who can play at a high level, most really fall off.

 

I think it'll all work out just fine, brother.
I can see Pennington starting next year. Maybe, possibly even making it through the year without a major injury. But at some point; if not this coming season, then in '10 he is going to get injured. Henne will step in and that'll be it. End of story. Probably similar to the Bledsoe and Brady situation.
Once Henne steps in he'll be there permanently - provided he plays well, anyway.

 

Why would you say that? I don't want Henne to take over any more than I want Pennington to play. I want to win, and we can all agree on that. If Pennington is playing at a top-10 QB level, I want him to play in 2009 and 2010 and even beyond. I don't care about Chad Henne. I care about the Dolphins.

I understand that it would be nice if we had a younger QB, but there's no reason why Pennington cannot play at an extremely high level for another 3-4 years.

Just gimme a QB who will help us win games.

 

It could really be an issue, but history tells us that probably won't happen. The odds of Penny playing lights out again this season is very low. With a rebuilt OL that as of now is unproven (simply because they haven't played together any due to injuries), he's unlikely to stay healthy and we'll see Henne anyways. Additionally, with this regime, I also doubt that they will let this fester in the locker room to become a distraction...

 

With Pennington's style of play he could play well into his 40s.

I say lets make him an offer to be the fins QB for the rest of his career IF he plays well this season.

 

Thats not the mentality i have when assessing the team...iam always looking towards the future and what my eyes tell me... I understand your point about wins and i agree to some extent , however, Iam not 100 percent sold on Chad P being able to get the job done from a physical standpoint, so it is only natural for me to project, and protect the resource that is chad henne.

 

That's cool. We all have our own goals with the team. That's why I had to call you out when you stated that we all want Henne to take over.

I don't care if Bea Arthur is our QB. Can she win games?

Seriously though. If you were a Arizona Cardinals fan, you would have been clamoring for Matt Leinart over Kurt Warner. And you woulda been wrong.

 

no...thats not the case...To me kurt warner is a GREAT qb, and i would'nt want anything to do with anyone else if i had kurt warner. so your analogy about leinart is wrong.

Its a specific situation, of course i WANT pennington to be good enough to keep the job, i love the guy and how he leads the team. that does'nt mean that i stop evaluating my own players and what i think is best for my team and expressing that on this board.







..

 

I would never imply or state that you should refrain from expressing your opinion. I like your posts.

 

i know you didnt brother. I like yours too.