Dolphins To Place Ryan Tannehill On IR
The Dolphins placed sixth-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill on IR Friday night. He will undergo season-ending ACL surgery, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports, emphasizing there is “no chance” the 29-year-old passer returns this season.
Injured last week during practice, Tannehill will now undergo the surgery the Dolphins debated late last season. He opted to traverse a non-surgical course, but this latest setback will send Tannehill to the operating table.
Salguero reports Tannehill made this decision tonight after speaking to Adam Gase. Tannehill again considered other, less invasive treatment options but will undergo surgery next week. Salguero notes he is expected to be ready for training camp next summer. The precise type of surgery isn’t yet known, but Salguero reports this operation will definitely be a reconstructive procedure.
The Dolphins — and their bid to make a second straight playoff appearance for the first time since the 2000-01 seasons — are now in Jay Cutler‘s hands. The 34-year-old passer signed a $10MM deal which is fully guaranteed, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter), coming out of retirement in this emergency circumstance.
Tannehill completed a career-high 67 percent of his passes in Gase’s system last season, and although his season was cut short after 13 games, the former first-round pick piloted the Fins to an 8-5 record while healthy. Matt Moore guided the Dolphins into the playoffs before the Steelers ousted them in Round 1.
Tannehill will turn 30 next July. He’s under contract through 2020, although no money is guaranteed in 2019 or ’20.
Dolphins’ Raekwon McMillan Tears ACL
The Dolphins believe that linebacker Raekwon McMillan has torn the ACL in his right knee, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald tweets. MRI results on Friday morning confirmed the injury. 
[RELATED: Latest On Potential Jarvis Landry Extension]
The Dolphins had big hopes for McMillan after he topped 100 tackles in each of his last two seasons. After Koa Misi landed on IR, Miami planned to use McMillan as its starting middle linebacker with Lawrence Timmons and Kiko Alonso at the outside spots.
Of course, the full-on ACL tear automatically rules out McMillan for the entire season. If that’s the case, the Dolphins can be expected to look into signing a free agent linebacker or two.
Notable inside linebackers on the market include Perry Riley, Rey Maualuga, and Daryl Washington. Meanwhile, Arthur Brown and O’Brien Schofield are among the 4-3 outside linebackers without teams. If the Dolphins aren’t crazy about the current crop of options, they could wait until the 53-man deadline approaches to see who else may come available.
Latest On Potential Jarvis Landry Extension
- The Dolphins and contract-year wide receiver Jarvis Landry still haven’t engaged in serious extension negotiations, and there’s a good chance he won’t get a new deal this year, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. By signing Jay Cutler, the Dolphins subtracted $10MM in carryover money from next year’s cap. That figure could increase to $13MM if Cutler hits his incentives this season. Cutler’s presence will make it more difficult for the Dolphins to lock up Landry, then, as will the fact that the wideout is under investigation for battery. Landry’s off-field situation doesn’t faze the Dolphins, suggests Salguero, though he nonetheless points out that it would be wiser to extend the slot target if and when he’s cleared of wrongdoing.
Latest On Jarvis Landry
- This week, the girlfriend of Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry issued a statement regarding the allegations that were raised against him earlier this year (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). “In March of 2017 the father of my child and I had a vocal disagreement that resulted in someone calling 911. I, myself did not call the police. When the police arrived they determined that there was no cause for any arrests nor was there any concern for my physical well-being. There were no arrests made, there were no criminal charges, I was not in any way physically harmed Yes, we are going through a civil family court case and emotions are high, but I would like to make it very clear that Jarvis would never, ever do anything to harm me or anyone else. Jarvis and I are happily raising our beautiful daughter and I would like to make a plea to the media that they refrain from spreading this completely false story.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/17
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Waived/injured: TE Keith Towbridge
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Alton Howard
- Waived: K Andy Phillips
Houston Texans
- Waived: TE Zach Conque
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Maurice Swain
- Waived: LB Reshard Cliett
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: TE Mike Estes, WR Cameron Posey
- Waived/injured: TE Asante Cleveland
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived/injured: WR Bradley Marquez
Miami Dolphins
- Waived: DE Arthur Miley
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: TE Jake McGee
- Waived/injured: TE Scott Orndoff
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: T Darrell Brown
- Waived: S Jordan Simone
Washington Redskins
- Signed: S Tim Scott
- Waived: S Josh Evans, S Earl Wolff
- Waived from IR: DB Lou Young
Dolphins Notes: Cutler, RG3, Ponder
If Jay Cutler didn’t return to the NFL in order to sign with the Dolphins, Miami would have considered Robert Griffin III and Christian Ponder, reports Peter King of TheMMQB.com. Of course, RG3 and Ponder were far from the only options on the table for the Dolphins, as Colin Kaepernick, Tim Tebow, Kyle Orton, Brock Osweiler, Blaine Gabbert, and Teddy Bridgewater were all at least discussed internally. Griffin has been linked to the Seahawks, Chargers, and Ravens this offseason, while Seattle was also interested in Ponder at one point. At least one league executive believes the Dolphins had better options available under center, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
- Cutler will essentially earn $10MM in guaranteed money under the terms of his Dolphins contract, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). As previously reported, Cutler will take home a $5MM base salary and a $5MM roster bonus, but that bonus is due this August 9 (this Wednesday). Additionally, Cutler can earn another $3MM in incentives: $1MM if he plays 75% of Miami’s offensive snaps and the club is in the top-10 in touchdowns; $1MM if he plays 75% of snaps and the Dolphins earn a postseason berth; and another $1MM if he plays 75% of snaps and Miami wins a playoff game.
- “No concerns” were raised about Cutler’s shoulder in his pre-signing physical, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). For what it’s worth, Cutler says he was cleared in March. Meanwhile, Dolphins head coach Adam Gase says the Dolphins have a “plan” for how they’ll manage Cutler’s preseason repetitions. “We’re going to have to be smart with that because I’m sure (Cutler) wasn’t out in the backyard throwing 100 balls a day,” Gase said, per Pelissero (Twitter link).
Jay Cutler To Sign With Dolphins
Jay Cutler has come out of retirement to sign a one-year deal with the Dolphins, the team announced on Monday. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Schefter tweets that Cutler will earn $10MM, plus incentives, in 2017, and Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweets that the incentives could raise the total value of the contract to $13MM.
Cutler’s base salary will be $5MM, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports. With incumbent Fins backup Matt Moore making $1.75MM in base salary, this suggests Adam Gase expects his former pupil to become the starter and also suggests that Ryan Tannehill will miss an extended period of time.
Salguero reports Tannehill, again, has a partially torn ACL. The sixth-year passer suffered the same injury late in the 2016 regular season. It’s uncertain if the Dolphins’ franchise passer will undergo surgery this time to repair the damage or opt for more non-surgical treatment, but he will be out for a while.
Tannehill, 29, spent the past several days consulting with experts about continuing to delay a surgery instead of going under the knife and ending his season, per Salguero. The Miami-embedded reporter adds Tannehill is likely to need surgery, because Cutler didn’t want to step into a situation where Tannehill would come back this season. As of now, Tannehill is almost certain to miss the season, with Salguero tweeting the start of the 2018 campaign is in question.
In Cutler, Dolphins managed to sign a quarterback who possesses high-end physical tools (even if other aspects of Cutler’s game have been scrutinized) and knowledge of Gase’s system. The 34-year-old, who retired from football in May after receiving limited interest as a free agent, has a good relationship with Gase from their time in Chicago in 2015. Then the Bears’ offensive coordinator, Gase helped Cutler to one of his best seasons, in which he completed 64.4 percent of passes, averaged 7.58 yards per attempt and threw 21 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions.
This saga went in a different direction than an ESPN report indicated it probably would on Saturday. Cutler will pivot away from the FOX job he secured earlier this year. And, after piloting some lower-profile Bears teams during his final few seasons in the Windy City, the former first-round pick will become a key component in the AFC playoff race.
The closest Cutler came to a post-Chicago landing spot was with the Jets, who had some interest but did not want to pay franchise-passer money and opted for ex-Cutler teammate Josh McCown instead. Now, Cutler will be thrown onto a playoff-contending outfit. And the skill-position cadre of Jay Ajayi, Julius Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker stands to double as one of the best in Cutler’s now-12-season career.
Cutler has one Pro Bowl to his credit, with the 2008 Broncos, and has guided a team to one playoff berth (2010 Bears). His salary will place him in a barely explored middle ground between backup quarterbacks and franchise starters. Cutler’s $10MM in 2017 places him 22nd among quarterbacks, in between the previous gulf that existed between Mike Glennon and Tyrod Taylor in this hierarchy.
Tannehill will earn $20.3MM in 2017, making the Dolphins more committed to two passers financially than any NFL team.
Sam Robinson contributed to this report.
Dolphins Considered Teddy Bridgewater
Before the Dolphins brought Jay Cutler out of retirement, they considered a number of other quarterbacks. In addition to Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton, Miami also internally discussed Teddy Bridgewater of the Vikings, Brock Osweiler of the Browns, and Cardinals QB Blaine Gabbert. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Sign Jay Cutler]
As far as we know the Dolphins didn’t get far enough to reach out to the Vikings about a potential Bridgewater trade and that makes sense considering his murky medical situation. Bridgewater is currently on the PUP list and no one knows what his status will be to start the season. It’s possible that Bridgewater’s gruesome knee injury from 2016 will keep him off the field until 2018. Even then, no one knows what kind of player he will be once he’s ready to return.
Osweiler was mentioned early on as a possibility when Ryan Tannehill suffered his knee injury, but the Browns rejected at least one trade offer for him this offseason and they’re leaning towards starting him in Week 1. The Browns may reconsider that position if the right offer comes their way, but the Dolphins are no longer a potential suitor after landing Cutler.
Dolphins’ Jarvis Landry Accused Of Battery
On Monday morning, Dolphins coach Adam Gase confirmed to reporters that wide receiver Jarvis Landry is under investigation for battery. The news was first broken by Andy Slater of WINZ.
The incident in question took place earlier this year with the mother of Landry’s child, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) hears. Police were called to the scene, but ultimately local authorities chose not to prosecute Landry. The wide receiver cooperated with police and also provided the Dolphins with information, Rapoport hears.
The news comes at a particularly poor time for Landry since he has been pushing the team for a contract extension. The Dolphins have yet to make an offer to him (or even indicate that an offer is on the way), but Gase insists that is unrelated to any unresolved legal issue.
Of course, Landry can still face league discipline even though he will not face legal consequences for the alleged incident.
Dolphins To Place Ted Larsen On IR
Ted Larsen‘s torn biceps will require a stay on injured reserve, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald tweets. The hope is that the Dolphins can bring him after Week 8, the earliest point at which players can return from IR. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Sign Jay Cutler]
Larsen was expected to serve as one of the Dolphins’ starting guards in Week 1. Although he wasn’t stellar last year, he was the team’s best option next to Kraig Urbik. Miami will now have to consider backups like Jermon Bushrod and fifth round pick Issac Asiata. The Dolphins may also want to look at free agent options, like the newly available Orlando Franklin. Of course, after his stay with the Saints was terminated in less than a week, the Dolphins would want to take a good look at his knee injury.
Last year, players were permitted to only bring one player back from injured reserve during the season. This year, teams will be allowed to designate two players for return from IR. Teams do not have to declare their one IR-DTR player in advance, meaning that the Dolphins can monitor Larsen’s situation and bring him back when he is fully healthy. Conversely, the Dolphins reserve the right to change course and use their two IR-DTR spots on other players.