By Omar Kelly, Commentary

8:08 p.m. EST, December 16, 2012

Brian Hartline became the eighth Dolphins receiver to produce a 1,000-yard season, but is this his last season in Miami?

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The former Ohio State standout, whom the Dolphins selected in the fourth round of the 2009 draft, was typically Chad Pennington's, Chad Henne's and Matt Moore's third, if not fourth, option on most passing plays.

Few plays were ever designed or called for him. But Hartline has become rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill's favorite target, producing the franchise's 17th 1,000-yard receiving season. He's got two more games to push his way up the single-season receiving yards rankings.

It is unlikely that Hartline will challenge the franchise record Clayton set in 1984, when he caught passes for 1,389 yards, but if he stick to his per-game average of 71.5 yards, Hartline should leapfrog Clayton for sixth place in team history.

That would put him right behind Marshall's 1,214-yard performance he had in 2011, ...

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An aging but still productive Reggie Wayne got a respectable three-year, $17.5 million contract to re-sign with the Colts. That's after he tested the free-agent market in March.

That length of contract and salary ($5.8 million) is what I'd be comfortable offering Hartline because the last thing the Dolphins need is to do something that will stunt Tannehill's development. And it is clear Hartline is his favorite target.

However, there's no guarantee Tannehill won't develop better chemistry with his new set of starting receivers. Knowing Ireland, he'll allow Hartline to test the free market with the hope Miami can get him at a discount.

Earlier this decade, the Dolphins tried that approach with another receiver and the Patriots not only signed him to a contract Miami's front office didn't feel he was worth, but they turned him into a perennial Pro Bowler.

Much like Hartline, in Welker's final season with the Dolphins he also caught just one touchdown pass. Could there be any worse nightmare than watching Hartline become Welker 2.0?

"There are a lot of critics that don't give me a lot of credit, but a lot of guys enjoy the way I play," Hartline said. "My teammates, my peers and people around the industry respect the way I play the game."

We'll soon learn how much.

What's his worth? Depends on how aggressive we want to be in the draft and Free Agency to get receivers.

I think they re-sign him. 3-4 years, 10-12 million seems about right.

Welker was traded not let go to free agency..how is the situation similar other then they are both white and played for the dolphins.

Welker was a restricted free agent, which is part of free agency. The Patriots were planning to sign him to an offer sheet and planting a poison pill that would have wrecked the Dolphins cap if they matched. They would have lost Welker for nothing. Instead the Patriots offered a pick in good faith and the rest is history.

It was the Dolphins decision to leave Welker hanging out there for the taking, that is how the situation is similar.

Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins have started talking to Hartline about a contract extension.

Team sources say conversations between Hartline's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and general manager Jeff Ireland have taken place, but the talks have not been substantive. Instead, like the rest of the NFL, it's time to wait and see.

Hartline is in the final year of his rookie contract, and a league source said the team already has begun preliminary discussions about an extension.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/05/3 ... rylink=cpy

It does not sound like they have begun serious contract talks.

The guy was just coming off a 200 yard game when they first started talking. Of course Rosenhaus is going to shoot for the moon and Ireland is going to try and lowball. I think Rosenhaus is asking for your typical top tier wideouts contract (because Hartline is now a 1,000 yard receiver) and the Dolphins are trying to offer him something similar to what Bess got. Hopefully they can meet somewhere in the middle, preferrably somewhere close to what Bess got when we gave him an extension.

This staff felt at the beginning of this season that Hartline was good enough to be the main WR, they decided not to put some kind of extension in place, and now he is a 1000 yard WR...

Have to ask what he is.. Some say at best a possession WR, a number 3 or 4 type.
I feel he is a solid 2, put someone opposite of him with big play ability, Bess in the slot and we could have a solid group..

•Miami general manager Jeff Ireland admits to Peter King of Sports Illustrated that he has concerns about his wide receivers. Ireland says he knows he has "four, fives and sixes." But Ireland wants to see if there are any "ones, twos and threes" in the group. I've been critical of Miami's receivers all along. There have been tons of drops in spring practices and training camp.

Remember that part of Hard Knocks? When we went into the season Ireland saw Bess and Hartline as #4s. Just think about that for a minute. So even with Bess and Hartline's recent success this season, they're still likely only a very good #3 or at the best a decent #2 option receiver in his eyes.

There is a reason those two are not finding the endzone more often, it's because they lack the playmaking ability to be a serious redzone or big play threat. That is why we need help at the position. That is why Ireland has openly come out and said that finding Tannehill a #1 is a priority.

In my opinion we have a pair of solid #3 guys. Matthews is a #5 or #6. I feel we still need to draft a pair of receivers to take over on the outside and give Tannehill some receivers who are redzone weapons with big play ability. I'd go after a big time wideout or two this year, and then I'd go after another one the following year. The Packers have had a lot of success constantly drafting guys in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I'd like to see us do something similar if not more drastic.

I really dont know.. Seems the smart thing to do would be keep both Hartline & Bess being as they seem to fit the system, and have chemistry with RT. Then bring in people to compete, I just dont see them filling the WR spots and have Hartline beat out by all of them in one off season..

The endzone deal is alot of things, play calling for starts. When in the RZ we run slightly more than pass with 44 pass attempts vs 50 run.

Also the targets are mostly to Fasano(14) & Hartline(11) next in line is Bess(4) Bush & Thomas also only targeted 4 times all year in the RZ...

So we dont target many people in the RZ, realistically its pretty simple, cover Hartline & Fasano and chances are they wont throw anywhere else.

OmarKelly profile

OmarKelly Right now there are only 14 1,000-yard receivers in the NFL. @brianhartline is one of them. Only 5 of them them have a higher per catch avg.

Yup, the redzone issues have many elements, glad you noticed the playcalling.

It's shocking to me that Bess isn't targeted more in the RZ. With his quickness and hips, should be a no-brainer.

Yeah one would think. One thing noteworthy is only 2 WR have been targeted in the RZ, which is why I stick to my guns about adding to that position heavy this OS..

If you look at teams that are good in the RZ, they have many more people being targeted. We just flat out lack the personnel right now.
Not saying we do not have talent, we just do not have enough of it when compared to successful teams.