Reggie Bush, Kyle Orton to Miami as Dolphins regime down in flames

Reggie Bush is on his way to becoming a member of the Miami Dolphins, and Kyle Orton may be the one handing the ball to him as the current Dolphin regime appears intent on mortgaging the team’s future even as the team is not in a position to compete this season. General manager Jeff Ireland and head coach Tony Sparano have a year left on their jobs if they’re lucky (owner Stephen Ross tried to replace the latter earlier this year with Jim Harbaugh and failed), after both were hired by former Dolphin VP Bill Parcells and have since proceeded to tread water for three years. Now that they’re desperate to keep their jobs, they’re looking to trade away future draft picks which by all rights belong to whoever replaces them after they’ve been fired at season’s end. But like every regime which knows the end is likely near, the Hail Mary moves have begun.

After passing up on star quarterback Matt Ryan and taking a since-busted Chad Henne instead, the Dolphins regime ignored the need for a first round quarterback in this year’s draft because rookie quarterbacks don’t always develop in their first year and this regime only has one year to prove itself. So instead Ireland and Sparano are looking to give away future draft picks for journeyman QB Kyle Orton, along with giving him a fat new contract against the salary cap. In other words, whoever is running the Dolphins in 2012 will still have to pay Orton whether they keep him or not, along with the lost draft picks.

And then there’s the Reggie Bush move, as first reported by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports News. The Dolphins already have Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, one of the better (if aging) running back tandems in the league. But they’re both free agents, and so instead of re-signing one or both of them, the Fins are giving away future draft picks to obtain Bush despite the fact that he’s got a history of injuries more troublesome than that of Brown. Nevermind that “Ronnie and Ricky” are arguably the only thing that’s right about the Dolphins offense, and that whoever carries the ball in Miami will be stuck behind a broken offensive line which Ireland has been steadily making worse over the past couple seasons with his constant roster flux. And of course whoever takes over after Ireland is dismissed will also have to deal with Reggie’s contract.

You can’t blame the current Dolphins regime for shredding the franchise’s future in a desperate attempt to save their own jobs which won’t work; you’d do the same in their position. But the Dolphins owner, by allowing these pre-fired employees to continue running things for another year, has likely set his franchise back another five years in the process.