Dolphins' Front Office Thinks Quarterback John Beck Has Potential

When Bill Parcells took over in Miami one of the first questions was how long it would take him to can Cam Cameron (answer: a few weeks). Another question somewhere near the top of the list was who would be the teams' quarterback in 2008.

Parcells is partial to veteran signal callers (Drew Bledsoe, Vinny Testaverde) but unlike, say, Joe Gibbs, he's flexible on the matter (Quincy Carter, Tony Romo). Parcells allegedly wanted Trent Green to return next season, even though he's basically a vegetable at this point in his career. This led to speculation that rookie John Beck might not be in the team's long-term plans.

It's still not clear what Beck's down-the-road prospects are with the Dolphins, but his immediate future looks less dismal than originally thought.

The new Dolphins regime, which sees potential in John Beck, wants him to develop his body (size, strength, etc.), and Beck hired a trainer to do that. Beck -- one of the first two players to meet with GM Jeff Ireland ( Jason Taylor was the other) -- plans to stay mostly in South Florida for offseason work...

''I was impressed how quickly the ball came out of Beck's hands,'' said former Packers GM Ron Wolf, who watched the Dolphins' finale with friend Bill Parcells. ``He's got a very, very quick release and some mustard on the ball.''

The previous Dolphins front office thought so much of Beck that they passed up on Brady Quinn in Round 1 to take Ted Ginn, and then grabbed Beck a round later. No idea if the current administration would've done things similarly, but there's no evidence suggesting that it was the wrong move. We'll find out shortly, though.