FanHouse Josh McCown

Kurt Warner is a wily veteran who rediscovered his career in the Valley of the Sun. After a short stint with the Giants as Eli Manning's backup in 2004, Warner landed in Arizona where he shared starting duties with Josh McCown and Matt Leinart before head coach Ken Whisenhunt finally installed him as the full-time quarterback just prior to the 2008 season.

Almost six months later, Warner is largely responsible for the Cardinals' current situation: NFC Conference champions playing for a Super Bowl title. In about five hours' time, however, Warner's contract will expire.

In early 2004, the Cardinals were fresh off another disappointing season. Journeyman quarterback Jeff Blake had proven to be nothing more than that, Marcel Shipp wasn't even a replacement-level running back, and a rookie wideout named Anquan Boldin was about the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal situation.

Denny Green was hired to fix all that. So it was with some surprise that the Cardinals, a team with needs at every position except wide receiver -- and particularly at quarterback -- would use the third-overall pick to select Larry Fitzgerald.

In early 2004, the Cardinals were fresh off another disappointing season. Journeyman quarterback Jeff Blake had proven to be nothing more than that, Marcel Shipp wasn't even a replacement-level running back, and a rookie wideout named Anquan Boldin was about the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal situation.

Denny Green was hired to fix all that. So it was with some surprise that the Cardinals, a team with needs at every position except wide receiver -- and particularly at quarterback -- would use the third-overall pick to select Larry Fitzgerald.

On Friday, the Dolphins sent quarterback Josh McCown to the Panthers, presumably to provide depth behind Jake Delhomme after Matt Moore suffered what looked to be a serious injury during the preseason finale against the Steelers (turns out, Moore will be okay and, like the rest of us, is day to day).

Prior to moving McCown, there was some speculation that Miami would either trade or release John Beck, the team's 2007 second-round pick. After all, Beck was drafted by the previous regime, and Bill Parcells himself had green-lighted the McCown signing, which included $2.5 million in up-front loot.

Funny story. According to the Palm Beach Post's Edgar Thompson, general manager Jeff Ireland has a perfectly rational explanation for keeping Beck and jettisoning McCown.

At least the Ravens didn't wait until the last minute. Kyle Boller's bum shoulder could put his season in jeopardy, and Troy Smith's Level 5 tummyache forced him to miss the final two preseason games. Which meant that rookie first-round pick Joe Flacco was the depth chart.

Baltimore signed backup Casey Bramlet long enough to cut him, but they're still in the market for a longer-term solution behind whoever ends up winning the starting job.

Ideally, Smith would be ready to go this week and Flacco would get comfortable holding a clipboard for the '08 season as the No. 3 option. One problem: with Boller's future in doubt, the team doesn't have a veteran backup. Luckily, plenty of semi-qualified names hit the open market yesterday, which is potentially good news for the Ravens.

The Miami Dolphins have traded quarterback Josh McCown to the Carolina Panthers, Fox Sports is reporting.

There is no word on what compensation the Dolphins got for McCown, but it couldn't have been much, considering that they were probably going to release him before tomorrow's mandatory roster cut-down.

The Dolphins gave McCown a $2.5 million signing bonus this year, but when they acquired Chad Pennington they no longer had need for the veteran as a backup. In Carolina he'll serve as a backup to Jake Delhomme; a backup to Delhomme became a more pressing need for Carolina when Matt Moore was hurt.

The move apparently means that John Beck's job is safe in Miami.

As the world quit spinning to watch Brett Favre take the field with the Jets for the first time last night, another quarterback was making his debut with a new team. Coincidentally, it was the same guy that was run out of New York to make room on the roster for The World's Most Selfish Player.

Yep, Chad Pennington started for the Dolphins, and for all the fanfare surrounding Favre, Pennington had just as impressive an outing in Miami.

Chad Pennington got off on the right foot with his new Dolphins teammates, completing 5-of-6 passes for 55 yards and a 104.9 quarterback rating while playing into the second quarter. After missing on his first throw, Pennington completed his final five and led the Dolphins to their first touchdown drive of the exhibition season

Rookie second-rounder Chad Henne took over for Pennington in the second quarter and played the rest of the game. Which means that John Beck and Josh McCown, quarterbacks Nos. 3 and 4 depending on who's making out the depth chart, didn't get off the bench.

PFT speculates that the Dolphins will keep McCown, signed during the Bill Parcells regime, and cut/trade Beck, who was drafted by Randy Mueller and Cam Cameron. The Palm Beach Post's Ben Volin writes that both McCown and Beck participated in the quarterbacks meetings after each offensive possession, "but Beck mostly stood by himself on the sidelines."

No idea what that means other than Beck seems to be very, very sad.

Yesterday I mentioned that Dolphins' quarterbacks Josh McCown and John Beck, two guys battling for the starting job just a week ago, got zero reps in practice during the 7-on-7 drills. Hardly a big deal since Chad Pennington was being force-fed a new offense in the hopes that he would be ready for the upcoming preseason game.

Despite what head coach Tony Sparano might say, it's pretty clear Pennington is the the guy going forward, at least until rookie Chad Henne is ready to assume full-time duties.

Which means that McCown and Beck probably won't be in Miami -- one way or the other -- when the season begins in three weeks.

Former Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese, now with ESPN, said the notion of the Dolphins keeping four quarterbacks is ''unrealistic and outrageous'' and believes they will get only a late-round pick for Josh McCown or John Beck, if that. ''I wouldn't think they would have much value,'' he said. Miami reportedly will gauge trade interest in both but is on the hook for McCown's $2.5 million signing bonus if he is traded or cut.

Hindsight and all that, but you can't blame the Dolphins front office for signing McCown this offseason. Brett Favre was "retired" and the Jets' asking price for Pennington was presumably higher than what it was once they acquired Favre.

Yesterday, Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano was trying to convince us that Chad Pennington hadn't been given the starting job. You know, competition, team spirit and all that.

Well, during this morning's practice, in an effort to foster said competition, quarterbacks Josh McCown and John Beck took zero snaps during 7-on-7 drills to give Pennington a chance to learn the offense. So although neither player got an opportunity to actually, um, compete, in terms of mental reps, they were killing it. Too bad mental reps don't lead to playing time.

In any event, according to the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero, it looks like the Dolphins' future will be in the capable(?) hands of Pennington and Chad Henne:

Basically, the Dolphins are showing their hand with the Chads. Or as Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland calls them, "Penny and Henne." One is the Mr. Right Now. The other one seems like Mr. Right for the longterm future of the team. Coach Tony Sparano said it is pretty obvious that Pennington will play versus Jacksonville Saturday evening. I would imagine, based on the work so far this week, either he or Henne would start.

So where does this leave Josh and John? There has been speculation that Beck, one year after Miami drafted him in the second round, could be cut. McCown, on the other hand, will probably stick around, primarily because he has an uncanny ability to avoid the turk. It's a gift, really.

In the meantime, the Dolphins might want to think about finding somebody for Penny/Henne to throw to.

Huh. This is, well, totally not believable. Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano wants to make it clear that newly acquired quarterback Chad Pennington will not be given the starting gig. You know, because, Josh McCown and John Beck looked so competent in training camp that the team couldn't move to sign Pennington fast enough.

In any event, that's the spin coming out of Dolphins World Headquarters:

While many think Pennington's eight seasons of experience should make him an instant starter, the way the Dolphins' coaches and front office preach competition it's more likely he'll have just as arduous a road to earning the starting spot as Henne, Josh McCown or John Beck.

"Chad is going to be competing. He knows that," said Sparano, who last week complained about not having enough snaps to get a good look at the team's three quarterbacks.

Um, sure. Look, I appreciate trying to keep up the appearance of fairness, competition and all that, but if Pennington's sitting on the bench come Week 1, the Dolphins' quarterback situation is far worse than any of us realized.

Sparano added that Pennington "has the most experience in the room and I hope that he's going to be a mentor in that room for some of the younger guys," something Brett Favre, the guy who forced Pennington out in New York, didn't willingly embrace.

Sparano also indicated that the Dolphins could carry four quarterbacks, which seems like overkill until you realize that it could be a necessary evil given the perils of playing behind that offensive line.Whatever, here's to hoping they win the season opener for strictly schadenfreude-tastic reasons.