With the Houston Texans down two quarterbacks and desperately needing an upgrade, a report surfaced this week that the upgrade would be Sage Rosenfels. But the Miami Dolphins apparently stopped that from happening.
Rosenfels is currently on the Dolphins’ Non-Football Injury list because he had a blood infection that made it tough for him to play. That means the Dolphins don’t have to pay him, but they do own the rights to him. However, Rosenfels now seems to feel good enough to play, and he’d reportedly like to re-join the Texans. That would require the Dolphins to waive him.
And the Dolphins aren’t doing that. Dolphins G.M. Jeff Ireland hasn’t discussed the matter publicly, but he apparently thinks squatting on the rights to Rosenfels is better for Miami than letting Rosenfels go free.
One league source responded to that by saying, “Stay classy, Jeff,” in an interview with Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post, but the bottom line is that Ireland is under no obligation to let Rosenfels go. And he’s surely not the only G.M. who would do the same under the same circumstances.
If anything, Ireland is the one who has reason to be upset: The Texans and Rosenfels would be violating league rules if they worked out any type of agreement for Rosenfels to head to Houston while Rosenfels is still a member of the Dolphins.
The Broncos let Kyle Orton go elsewhere by waiving him after it became clear that Tim Tebow was the starter, but that was a cost-cutting move for Denver. In the case of Rosenfels, who isn’t getting paid on the Non-Football Injury list, there’s no such benefit to the Dolphins by cutting him.
And so Rosenfels will continue to sit out and not get paid, when he’s apparently healthy enough to play, and the Texans are apparently willing to pay him. That’s too bad for Rosenfels and the Texans, but the Dolphins hold all the cards here.