Miami Dolphins: Is David Garrard Better Fit Than Matt Moore?

NFL.com's Jeff Darlington has reported that Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne will undergo shoulder surgery, ending his season and kickstarting the tenure of Matt Moore as the Dolphins' starter, at least for now.

Miami is on their bye this week, which is of benefit to the team. It's no secret that they are actively searching for another quarterback, because they've held just two on their active roster going into the season. Now that one, Henne, is done for the year, they need to find a replacement quickly.

That replacement could also be brought in to start immediately, which benefits free agent quarterback David Garrard immensely. Garrard, cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars just days before the start of the regular season, has been looking for a new team for whom he can start, as well as a certain amount of guaranteed money.

This guaranteed money has proved to be the most difficult obstacle in his path to start for the Dolphins. Miami has already reached out to him, as well as to other available players Jake Delhomme, Trent Edwards and Brodie Croyle, with no success as of yet.

With the news that Henne is indeed done, Jason LaCanfora reports there is a strong chance that Miami could try again to grab either Garrard or Delhomme; however, of the two, Garrard is easily the better option.

In his 10 seasons active in the NFL, Delhomme has played just four 16-game seasons and, of those, never completed more than 60 percent of his passes. No matter the team, he's been a disappointment, most recently benched and released by the Cleveland Browns in 2010 after five games in which he threw just two touchdowns to his seven interceptions.

To bring in Delhomme to the 0-4 Dolphins wouldn't be an improvement over Matt Moore, who at least appeared competent in his fill-in role last week after Henne went down with injury.

Garrard, on the other hand, would be a good fit for the team, a better starter than Moore and the best chance for Miami to turn their season around and notch a few wins. In his nine years, injuries and Byron Leftwich have held him to only two 16-game seasons, but he's never thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in his career.

Plus, he can make plays with his legs, something that can't be said for Moore, Delhomme or even Henne (though he's had a few effective scrambles this season). Talks between the Dolphins and Garrard seemed to have broken down as of yesterday, with his agent saying in an email, "He would have loved to be a Dolphin, but things just didn't work out this time."

However, there is some traction to the idea this is just a ploy to get Garrard the kind of guaranteed money he's looking for. Garrard has already expressed he would only sign with a team if he could start, which would certainly be the case given Miami's situation. But the guaranteed money is what's holding back the deal.

The Dolphins would be well-served to pay Garrard what he's looking for. Instead, they have chosen to sign former New York Giants quarterback Sage Rosenfels. While the money he's getting will likely eat into whatever they'd be willing to pay Garrard, it doesn't mean that the starting job in Miami has been locked down.

There's little to no chance that Rosenfels will start for Miami, either in Week 6 or further down the line. The fact that they've realized they need to have more depth at the position is a good sign, but that they've done so by signing the relatively ineffective Rosenfels again shows how the Dolphins management doesn't have their priorities in order.

Better than adding Rosenfels would be to capitulate to Garrard's demand for guaranteed money as part of a one-year contract. The Dolphins need to win games; they aren't going to do that with Rosenfels under center, and it's hard to say that Moore will fare all that much better.

Garrard, however, can win games, and he can do so likely with little preparation. It was absurd that the Jaguars cut him in the first place, and it's even more strange that no team has been willing to bring him on board, especially with a number of teams struggling at the quarterback position.

He seemed to be the ideal choice as Henne's replacement, and yet, he remains in limbo while Rosenfels heads to Miami and the 0-4 Dolphins. The Dolphins need a starter, and that's not Moore and that's not Rosenfels, either.