"Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland danced a little bit when I asked him about his interest in bringing back Chad Pennington in a backup role at quarterback.

Earlier, Ireland had called Chad Henne "the future of this organization right now," but if both Chads are on board with the arrangement, hey, why not?

"We talked to Chad [Pennington]," Ireland said. "We've talked to Chad [Pennington] on a number of different avenues. Obviously that's a decision that would show you my cards on where we're going from our offseason plan. I like Chad a lot. I think he' s tremendous for the team. He's a tremendous leader. But those decisions will be coming later."

Arizona and St. Louis are just two of the places where Pennington could be pursued as a starting QB. ProFootballFocus.com recently ranked Pennington the No. 1 free agent quarterback, which says a lot for the weakness of this class when you consider Pennington is still working his way back from the third major shoulder surgery of his career.

Were the Dolphins actually better off with Henne taking over for Pennington in Week 3 or would it have been the other way around? (Not my question.)

"I don't have a crystal ball," Ireland said. "I don't know how much better off we'd have been with Chad Pennington. I know Chad Pennington was outstanding in 2008. But Chad Henne, right now he's our quarterback and he's the future of the organization right now. I feel like having his play time and his experience that he had in 2009 is exceptional. I can't tell you we'd be better off with Chad Pennington. I do know this kid developed nicely. He got put in some really tough situations. He's going to continue to develop and I'm very pleased with his development."

How about the other two young QBs, Pat White and Tyler Thigpen?"