2012 NFL Draft: Should the Miami Dolphins Trade Up To Get Andrew Luck?

The Miami Dolphins have been playing excellent football as of late and look like a team on a mission. What is that mission? Is it trying to keep their coach, Tony Sparano, around for next year? Is it trying to ruin other team's chances of making the playoffs? Maybe they are just a group of determined football players with a must-win attitude who absolutely hate losing.

Yea, I'll go with the latter.

Matt Moore has been playing excellent for the Dolphins and has guided them to four wins against the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills and most recently, the Oakland Raiders. He has been consistent and hasn't lost the game with turnovers or bad decisions. He is a quality quarterback, but he is by no means a franchise quarterback.

There has been some speculation that Andrew Luck will not play for the Indianapolis Colts if they are to keep Peyton Manning for a few more years. There are people that feel that sitting behind Peyton Manning is probably the best thing for any quarterback.

But then again, Andrew Luck is not any quarterback. He's supposed to be a franchise's saviour. He's supposed to be the Alpha and the Omega. He's supposed to be a combination of Superman, Batman and some nerdy superhero. So why don't the Colts draft Luck and trade Peyton Manning?

Because that would be the most disgraceful thing anyone's ever done in the history of sports. I respect Bill Polian and I doubt he will give up on Peyton after everything he has done for the franchise.

The Indianapolis Colts can't mess this up because it would send their franchise back for years. We have seen what Peyton Manning does for this team and once he retires, they are going to be grasping for some air. If Luck refuses to play for the Colts, what will they do? They can pull an "Eli" and trade with another team that drafts Matt Barkley or Robert Griffin III. Maybe they'll be looking for a buyer that gives them exactly what they want.

That's where the Dolphins come in.

As of now, Miami holds the ninth pick in the draft. They are behind Washington, who most likely will take a quarterback, and Cleveland, who I'm not so sure about. The other teams are not quarterback hungry. The Rams have Sam Bradford, and the Eagles will be sticking with Michael Vick. The Vikings, Jaguars and Panthers drafted a quarterback last year and will not draft one in the first round this year. Behind the Dolphins, the Chiefs and Seahawks are the only two teams that will likely look at a quarterback in the first round.

So should the Miami Dolphins give up this year's draft, and possibly next year's draft for Andrew Luck?

It's definitely tempting, but no.

The Dolphins are most likely guaranteed Barkley or Griffin after the Redskins pick. Either one of these players has a great deal of potential that can help them become franchise quarterbacks. Miami has some other holes that it needs to fix and won't be able to if they try to trade for Luck. The Colts are going to try to get as much as they can for him. That includes multiple first and second-round picks which the Dolphins can't afford to give up. Luck is by all means a special talent, but Barkley and Griffin are more than capable of leading a franchise.

The Dolphins have to let things play out for the rest of the season. They can't get greedy in trying to get Andrew Luck and forget about all the other holes, like right tackle. We all remember what happened with the Saints when they gave up their first round picks for the next 20 years for a chance to draft Ricky Williams. We certainly don't want that to happen in Miami.

If the Colts are desperate to get rid of the pick on draft day, they might reduce the price and the Dolphins can try to work around that. However, we have seen many quarterbacks not live up to expectations. With the Dolphins having a shot at other very good quarterbacks without having to give up draft picks, it is unnecessary to break the vault just to be caught walking out the door.

The Miami Dolphins are probably going to look into the opportunity of somehow getting Andrew Luck, and they should, but for the right price. Warren Buffet once said, "Price is what you pay, value is what you get." The Dolphins can either pay a lot for Luck and hope he has value in the future, or stay put and get the same value without paying for it.