Pennington-less 0-3 Dolphins Make Trade For Kansas City QB Tyler Thigpen

Following an 11-win season in 2009 and making the playoffs, only to have an early exit in round-one, the Dolphins 2009 season is off to a bad start and things just got worse.

After losing to the Chargers Sunday, the Dolphins are currently 0-3 and last in their respected division. But the biggest loss of all Sunday was starting quarterback Chad Pennington. Pennington went down early in the third quarter with an apparent shoulder injury after a tackle by Chargers linebacker Kevin Burnett.

The Miami Herald and ESPN have already reported he is out for the season, and his career is in possible jeopardy. This will be his third shoulder injury that has required shoulder surgery since 2005.

Pennington started all 16 games for the Dolphins in 2009. He passed for a total of 3,653 yards, 19 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and had a completion percentage of 67.4. Pennington will be surely missed.

After Pennington left the game, the Dolphins' 2008 second-round draft pick, Chad Henne, was called upon to take his place. Henne went on to pass for 92 yards and threw one interception, which was returned for a touchdown. 

With Pennington officially out for the season and Henne being an unproven quarterback in his short NFL career, the Dolphins aren't taking any chances.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on their website Tuesday that the Dolphins traded an undisclosed draft pick to acquire Chiefs' quarterback Tyler Thigpen. 

Due to injuries on the Chiefs, then back-up quarterback Thigpen was given the opportunity to start 11 games in 2008. In his brief career as a starter, he passed for 2,608 yards, 18 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and had a completion percentage of 54.8.

Although Thigpen was promising at times, he was also proved to be inconsistent at others. Thigpen's inconsistency can be accounted to playing in only 16 NFL games over a three-year career.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Dolphin fans, but acquiring Thigpen was a huge move to strengthen a depleted quarterback rotation and an attempt to replace proven winner Chad Pennington.