Dolphins general manager knows as well as anyone that the Dolphins need help at receiver. As he said in “Hard Knocks,” the Dolphins have a lot of “4′s, 5′s and 6′s,” but need “1′s, 2′s and 3′s.”
Their quest for better receivers starts today, as the Dolphins will be working out 10-year veteran Donte Stallworth today, a source told the Post. Stallworth, 32, had 22 catches for 309 yards and two touchdowns last year for the Redskins, and was recently cut by the Patriots after spending training camp in New England.
Stallworth has played for six teams since being drafted by the Saints in the first round of the 2002 draft, with 320 career catches for 4,774 yards and 34 touchdowns. He was also convicted of DUI Manslaughter in 2009 after killing a pedestrian in Miami Beach, earning 30 days in jail, 1,000 hours of community service, eight years probation and a lifetime suspension of his Florida driver’s license. After returning to the NFL in 2010, the Ravens voted him their Ed Block Courage Award winner for coming back from his legal situation and from a broken foot suffered in training camp.
But Stallworth is not the only player trying out for the Dolphins today. They are expected to work out several receivers, and throwing to them will be former Bears quarterback Matt Blanchard, who is trying out for the Dolphins today, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Blanchard is a former Division III quarterback at UW-Whitewater, and was waived by the Bears last week. It is possible that Blanchard is simply working as a camp arm today during receiver tryouts, as the Dolphins already have Ryan Tannehill, Matt Moore and a much-improved Pat Devlin on the roster.
Veteran David Garrard is also still with the Dolphins, but his chances of making the roster don’t look good following knee surgery three weeks ago. Garrard on Sunday that he couldn’t jog or put any real pressure on his knee, but Garrard said Thursday on Twitter that he was “feeling pretty good!” after a workout on Thursday that included field work and throwing.
A source said Garrard was rolling out and throwing on the run, and although he’s certainly not close to being 100 percent, he is definitely looking and feeling better than he did just four days ago. Garrard had the arthroscopic surgery on Aug. 11 and the initial timetable for his return was three-to-four weeks.
Working against him, though, is a hard deadline — roster cuts are due by 9 p.m. Friday. If the Dolphins keep him on the roster for Week 1, they will be guaranteeing his entire $2.25 million salary for the season. Otherwise they can reach an injury settlement with Garrard and make him a free agent.
