The Miami Dolphins have a capable starting quarterback on the roster. Free agent signee Ryan Fitzpatrick, remember, put together perhaps the finest season of his underdog career in 2018, throwing for 2,366 yards, 17 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a league-leading 9.6 yards per attempt. While good enough to be Miami's starter next season, though, that hardly means the journeyman is coach Brian Flores' quarterback of the future, leading to widespread speculation that the Dolphins might target a quarterback in the upcoming NFL draft.

But if former coach Adam Gase had gotten his way last year, Miami would be beginning its rebuilding project with a franchise signal-caller for both the present and future already in house. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins reached out to the Detroit Lions before last season to gauge their interest in a blockbuster trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“The team mounted an effort, led by former coach Adam Gase, to trade for a quarterback to replace Tannehill before the 2018 season, according to multiple league sources.

“And the target of Gase’s attempt to upgrade the Dolphins at quarterback was Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, sources also say.”

Though Gase personally reached out to Lions coach and longtime friend Matt Patricia, talks between the teams never advanced to the point of Detroit asking Miami what compensation it would have been willing to include in a deal for Stafford, The Herald reports. Gase, though, purportedly would have surrendered a first-round pick, at minimum, for the one-time Pro Bowler, who struggled last season as the Lions went 6-10.

The Dolphins, who traded longtime starter Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans earlier this month,  have the No. 13 pick in the upcoming NFL draft.