So who's down there? Ferrote and Lemon? should get some starts...

Of course, they've also got Culpepper . . . 4 QBs for three spots. And they've now traded picks and/or players for 3 of those guys. Frerotte might not want to get too comfortable down there. I'm sure they'll keep him around until they see what they've got, but probably not much longer than that.

Was the 2nd round pick traded for Culpepper part of this just-concluded draft, or is it a pick from next year's draft? I'm having a brain fart, can't recall.

Can we call this a fumble by Millen? Why did he allow Harrington and his agent to seek a deal with another team? Why didn't Millen seek out a trading partner? Surely if was patient and played his cards right the Lions could have garnered at least a 3 or a 4 from the Browns, Bengals or Chiefs, no?

Having said that, can anyone deny that this is addition by subtraction for the Lions? Good riddance, ya squinty-eyed, piano-playing, turf divot-patting-down loser!

I don't think Frerotte was resigned in FA, he went off to St. Louis to follow Linehan.

IIRC, the QBs on the Dolphins roster at the moment are Daunte Culpepper, Cleo Lemon, Justin Holland and (now) Joey Harrington.

The pecking order, obviously, going Daunte, Harrington, and then Lemon and Holland fighting for the #3 spot.

Culpepper was got for a 2nd in the draft which just happened.

In other news, this is a good pickup for the 'Fins. Harrington's nothing really special, but he's got potential, a change of scene will likely help him, and he provides good insurance for little cost against Culpepper not being ready/getting injured again/actually not being very good.

Time to celebrate
Break out the strawberries

Bigtime fumble. Reportedly the Broncos offered a third before the draft. Allegedly, Harrington torpedoed the deal by telling the Broncos he wouldn't negotiate a contract with anybody but Miami. A similar situation occured with the Browns on draft day.

Re: 7. If Joey nixed the better offers in favor of the Dolphins, as I recall he had the contractual right to do, that can't be blamed on Millen exept for whatever part Millen had in that contract language.

Given Harrington's Y/A I wonder why Saban think's Joey fits into the Dolphins offense.

I'm still really interested in the rumors that Culpepper won't be able to play at all this upcoming season. Harrington as the starter would be an interesting situation. Miami has a very different feel of offense than Detroit did, and their D is far better; whoever QBs there will have much less pressure to just be forced to win games by themselves.

It was a dumb move by Millen to reveal the trade info before getting a deal, but I don't think anyone would have given a 4th round pick for Harrington.

Also, from Harrington's perspective it makes sense. What is he going to do in Denver? Plummer was good enough to start and Harrington isn't going to force them to change the offense to a more pocket passing friendly one, and Cutler is the future. Harrington wanted to go to a place where he could be the backup no matter what and reasonably be expected to get some starts due to injury/whatever. Denver certainly isn't that place. Cleveland, maybe, but I doubt it. They're big on Frye there.

I guess Saban figures that a QB with potential is better than having a broken QB.

"He also received a "favorable report" when examined recently by Dr. James Andrews. Running and throwing is very vague, but Culpepper sounds to be ahead of Carson Palmer in his recovery. Culpepper underwent surgery in November, but his availability for training camp is very questionable. (Sat. May 6, 2006)"

Thats the lastest info on Culpeppers rehab that I could
find. hope that helps.

The article was quoted from FOX Sports thru a SI link

I read somewhere, though typically I can't find a link, that a reporter was interpretting the current signs out of Miami as meaning that DC is recovering very well, and could actually be at 100% for at least part training camp.

Of course, with Saban in charge, who knows? He could be suited up and listed as the starter for the opener, and all we'd get out of Saban is "Relative to the position of quarterback health is a very important issue, and relative to our timetable we don't want to rush Daunte back before he's ready.."

Now we'll see if Joey really has anything. It's tough to say for sure he's a flop, after all, he's been playing for a complete joke of a franchise, one that'd make plenty of players look poor.

Remember, if Harrington leads the Fins to the playoffs (or leads them there til Pepper gets back), I called dibs on thumbing my nose at Ford. I'll take the abuse if he sucks too.

Or those trade rumors true? Thats the first time I heard them.

The Harrington era has come to an end. Who is next in line of "Mediocre QB Idol"

I should say, the first time I heard them with that high of a draft pick attached to them.

Maaaaaan, one can fall hard.

#7: A 3rd round pick for Harrington? I knew the Broncos were interested, but I hadn't heard that they were THAT interested. I do know that they would have handled the draft differently if they had gotten Harrington. I'm glad they didn't; I think Cutler fits the offense better and has more upside. Plus Harrington sounds a lot like a prima donna, going by interviews and other similar hearsay.

maybe Rob Parker says the Broncos offered a third for Harrington ( a guy who could be had for free in a month). I personally give Millen a recovered fumble for getting anything at all for a guy who'd have been pounding the pavement come June, available to any who wanted him. To spin this particular trade as another Millen negative is wrong.

This is a good move for both teams though I don't think it is such a good move for Harrington though. It is a good move for Detroit who at least get something for Joey. (Apparently Millen is smarter than Smith.) For Miami they get someone they can go with early in the season or longer if required. Culpepper's injury is such that he may be able to play but you shouldn't expect him to be terribly effective. Note that Carson injured his left knee and Culpepper injured his right knee, his plant foot. This rates to affect his mobility and throwing motion, I expect Culpepper's recovery to be more difficult of the two.
Harrington needs some time with a clipboard, playing in Detroit was a waste of time he needs to NOT play and learn the game at the NFL level.

Did the Broncos really offer a third round pick for Harrington? That's hard to believe. Maybe the conversation went something like this:

Shanahan: "You give us Harrington, and you can sign our third round pick from last year, Maurice Clarett."

Millen: "Clarett? That seems like fair value for Harrington. Let me think about it."

Two hours later, after Millen has spoken with Clarett's agent, Millen calls Shanahan.

Millen: "No deal. I don't have to trade you anything to sign Clarett - he's a free agent. I may be dumb, but I'm not that dumb."

Shanahan: "I thought you were."

Nice Mark.

I'm skeptical as well as a third, but that's a rumour I read, probably on Florio's site, for what that's worth. Very good chance it was only that. It's a very good bet, though, that it was higher that a sixth.

The reason you can fault Millen is that by allowing Joe to talk with Miami, Joe was allowed to hammer out a new contract and refuse to re-negotiate with Denver and Cleveland. Millen certainly underestimated other teams' interest in Merlot Joe.

Perhaps, MDS, but a QB with a large bonus due can really force a team's hand through his behavior. It just isn't a position where a malcontent can be tolerated, so unless a team wants to play a multi-million dollar game of chicken, the qb has a lot of leverage. Prior to the Culpepper trade I was advocating that Vikings management should stare down Culpepper, letting him know that he would either resurrect his career with the Vikings, or not at all, but I can certainly understand why Vikings' management, or Lions' management, would choose to avoid that recurring headache.

Because of the bonus the Lions owed Harrington they had no leverage. Everyone knew that they would cut him if they couldn't work out a trade. It's the same thing with McNair. Why would the Ravens give anything to the Titans when they know Tennessee cannot possibly pay him the $9 million owed? I cannot believe guys like Matt Millen and Floyd Reese are still employed after the way they handled these situations.

harrington demanded a trade and everyone knew it. the dolphins qbs are culpepper, harrington, lemon and brock "not long for this league" berlin

Holland is also on the team...and was very impressive in their minicamp. I like to keep tabs on CSU guys.

"Why would the Ravens give anything to the Titans when they know Tennessee cannot possibly pay him the $9 million owed?"

Two reasons for this, and trading for Harrington, come to mind. First, you have the advantage of getting your guy onto the team, into camp, learning the offense, and working with your strength/conditioning guys (you think they're a big priority for the old team's?) a month or two earlier. The old team isn't going to cut them until June 1 (for cap reasons, if multi-year left) or July 1 (if bonus due that day). Instead of waiting until then, you can bring them in by mid-May, or earlier in Culpepper's case. Isn't a low-round draft choice worth that if you think he's the guy you need?

Second, by trading for him instead of waiting for him to be cut, you eliminate any possible competition. Oh, sure, it looks like nobody else is interested in McNair. But how many people thought Denver was going to trade up for Cutler? How certain were the Eagles that they were the only team willing to pay that much for LeCharles Bentley? How incredibly stupid would the Ravens look if they decided to pocket that 5th rounder and wait, then the day McNair is cut Dallas swoops in and signs him?

Combine these two factors, and a low-round pick is worth it if you're sure he's the one you want.

I still think it's funny that all these QB trades to Miami come 2 years after A.J. Feeley, the man who was Harrington's college backup, was traded from Philly to Miami for a 2nd-round draft pick.

Thanks Wannestedt!

Can someone who's seen more Lions games than me explain what potential people still see in Harrington?

Every time I've seen him, I'd see an inaccurate QB who makes awful decisions on when and where to throw the ball. Sure, he wasn't the entire reason Detroit sucked, but he sure wasn't helping anything.

Beats me what people see in him. I think a lot of people are just enamored with the fact that he was the 3rd pick in the '02 draft and hence must have a lot of "upside", or else scouts were completely wrong about him -- which, considering how badly they missed on guys like Tim Couch, Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, David Klingler, et al., this is a distinct possibility.

I've seen a lot of Lions games, and the potential that I see for Harrington is to be better than he was in Detroit. Not great, but better. Good enough to be a solid back-up and possibly good enough to be a successful starter in the right system. I don't think his accuracy is bad but his decsion making can be. He will try and force some throws that just aren't there, especially when behind. His picks have come in bunches.

Harrington was right, IMO, to conclude he needed to escape Detroit (where he was unpopular with fans and teammates).

Re: 24/25

The Lions could have tried to bluff keeping Harrington or even played hardball and kept (and paid) him. I don't think the former approach would have fooled anyone because the latter approach would have been obviously counter-productive. While the Lions may not technically need the cap space, having it available for guys like Backus and other guys the want to extend makes a whole lot more sense than wasting it on Joey.

I'm no fan of Millen but I'm not sure he could have done any better on this one. Perhaps, if he hadn't allowed Harrington to explore trades on his own, he might have been able to work out a better deal with Denver or Cleveland. But I suspect Harrington would have become 'aware' of Miami's interest anyway and scuttled those as well, if he thought his best interests would be to play in Miami.

Every once in a while you'd see a beautiful deep ball from Harrington with sweet touch and it gave you the impression that you just a glimpse of his potential. But then the rest of the time he was doing his Crazy Legs routine, running around and improvising after waiting 2 seconds, then going for a long wind up (this drove Mariucci crazy that he'd carry the ball low and wind up to throw from that low position) to make a terrible off-balance pass. I used to say it was like he was trying to come up with a gutsy Favre-like play, only no one respected his guts and he didn't have the arm to take those kinds of shots. It was either that or the incredibly quick dump-off throw, also Morningwheg's and Mariucci's fault. This is the one that drove all the fans crazy.

I do wonder if the the right coach can reign in his improvisation, and give him a game plan he can be successful with - like Shannahan has done for Plummer in Denver, by the way. Harrington does have a "love me because I'm cute" problem, but he has been a good soldier who has tried to do as he was told on the field. I think he could be successful with a with a coaching staff that has tempered expectations of him and who don't have the burden of having to try to prove he was worth a #3 pick.

Basically, I agree with what was stated about him in the college-to-pro QB projection article than ran here on FO a while back.

No question. His idea was to implode a .500 team to rebuild it into a "championship" caliber team. Only he never knew how to do that and gets paid $5M a year to try to find out.

At this point I assume Millen being the biggest problem (symptomatic of the Fords being the constant underlying problem) goes without saying. It shouldn't have to get any worse than people chanting "Fire Millen" at girls' basketball games like was happening at the end of last season. That the Fords don't do anything about this, or that the Detroit papers aren't more blatant about it is a big mystery.

Again:

The".500" team wasn't going anywhere but down. Millen simply sped up the dispersal process. This wasn't Millen's failing. Failing to put together a competitive team from it's ashes, and two bad coaching hires (only one of which was regarded as suspect at the time) are Millen's fault. The Moeller team was finished, regardless of who the successor was.

Harrington made a bad career decision. Once Culpepper comes back healthy, his butt will be planted firmly on the bench for the duration of his contract. Going to Kansas City, where he could have sat and waited out a near-retirement Trent Green, then have a better than even chance of winning a starting job, would have been much better for him. And the Chiefs were more than mildly interested. You could argue, though that if he was going to sit on a bench, the scenery is much nicer in Miami than Kansas City.

Harrington is no better than a solid career backup at this point. The investment to tear him down and build his psyche back up to match his physical tools coming out of college would require too much effort for too little return. Still, he can throw a pretty mean check down pass.

The Detroit papers are plenty blatant about it. The Fords don't care. The sheep that fork over ticket money don't care. It's futile wasting your bandwidth, fandom, and energy at this point. Millen's predecessor lasted 14 years and never accomplished anything other than speeding the best runner in the history of the game into an early retirement.

I just heard a rumor of a trade - the Knicks and the Lions are trading GM's - Millen for Thomas. They will compete to see who can be the biggest joke in two sports.

#32 - So why does Harrington get a second chance but not Couch? I though Couch looked better while on an equally bad team.

#35 - Thanks for the explanation. Plummer should be a career backup too if you ask me.

#38 - Echoing #40's confusion, do you really think Millen is a good GM, or a bad-to-mediocre GM who isn't the entire problem? I'd split the blame equally between the Fords for hiring him and Millen for being so awful at his job.

#41:
Answer to #1-because Harrington is not coming off a torn rotator cuff...and no one in the NFL is playing Hal Mumme's offense.

and about Millen and his ability...
Really Droughns and Hartings? No Chris Claiborne? Nothing about Todd Lyght, Kurt Schultz, Johnnie Morton, Gemaine Crowell, James Stewart, Stephen Boyd, Mike Compton, Terry Fair, Bryant Westbrook, David Sloan..lord knows who else...the team was old, really old and slow.

And I agree with #38, Millen did the right thing by blowing the team up..he just had no idea to rebuild it afterwards..

Re: 41/42

Couch (I'd agree he showed at least as much as Harrington)has gotten a number of looks since leaving Cleveland. The only reasonable conclusion I can reach for him not sticking somewhere is that he's never recovered from his arm problems. Too bad, like Harrington I felt he could have some success with the right coaching and decent talent around him.

Interesting two-part exit interview with Harrington by Mitch Albom over at the Free Press. He may not have won, but he left with class.
Part 1
Part 2

I'm disapointed, I hoped the "alchemist" would start a backfield featuring Joey and Ron...