Jeff Ireland says Chad Henne is starting QB, leaves open possibility of Jeremy Shockey

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INDIANAPOLIS — Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland took the podium Thursday morning to discuss the state of his team and the coming draft. Though Ireland repeatedly prefaced answers by saying he wouldn’t reveal his strategy, he did have some interesting things to say.

Like the Bills, the Dolphins are a team with a starting quarterback but who might benefit from an upgrade.

“Right now our starter is Chad Henne,” Ireland said, though he noted that the Dolphins “don’t have a lot of depth” at quarterback. The GM deemed quarterback “obviously a position that we’re going to look hard at.”

- Ireland expressed interest in potentially getting a tight end with some speed. He said there have not been talks with Jeremy Shockey, who was recently released by the Saints, but he left the door open.

“I’m a guy that’s going to look at every acorn that falls off a tree,” Ireland said. “[Shockey] is another one, so I’m going to do that.”

- He wouldn’t get into specifics regarding offensive linemen, but said the team “had some issues there this year and certainly have to fine-tune some stuff.”

Miami finished third in the AFC East last season with a 7-9 record.