Two Bills Drive

‘He agreed to join the team following a Friday night meeting with coach Dave Wannstedt and senior VP Rick Spielman as the Dolphins wasted little time replacing Oronde Gadsden, who tentatively scheduled Tuesday surgery on his left wrist.’

”’Not taking anything away from the previous quarterbacks they had, but they have somebody to get them the football now, and now they can show their talent,” Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison said. ‘If you look at Peerless’ first couple of years, he wasn’t getting as many balls. The quarterbacks probably didn’t have confidence in him or whatever. Now, Bledsoe is a quarterback who spreads the ball around. He doesn’t look just for one receiver. He looks to spread it around.”’

‘NFL greatness isn’t measured by how much talent you can put in the huddle on the season’s first Sunday. It is measured by how much talent you can keep in that huddle once those collisions begin. And it is measured not by how much pure talent you have on your roster at any point in the ravenous season but by how willing and able that pure talent is to play through pain without being diluted.’

‘There’s no one recognized rock on which all the Dolphins lean — that’s simply not how this team works.’

‘Suddenly, Sage Rosenfels is just a shot away.’

‘"He wants to show New England that they let the wrong quarterback go," Madison said, "and so far, he’s making a pretty good case."’

‘Carter, who spent the past 12 seasons in Minnesota, had visited with the Dolphins during the free-agent signing period last spring but the two parties never came close to reaching agreement on financial compensation.’

‘Carter would make the Dolphins better, and on a 5-1 team staring at a Super Bowl run that’s all that matters. Period. Next paragraph.’

‘”It makes you realize you’re really playing this game for a short amount of time and that you can be knocked out at any time,” said Spriggs, who had no previous knee problems. “It’s unbelievably hard work just to get your knee a little stronger.”‘

‘The Bills (3-3) know what the Dolphins want to do. Williams is the third-leading rusher in the NFL with 614 yards, and Miami is averaging 30 points per game.’

‘Carter will earn the prorated portion of a $1 million base salary, roughly $588,000, and he could earn another $750,000 in incentives, according to a source.’

‘Backup quarterbacks have won the past three Super Bowls…’

‘”There is no piece of equipment I can put on a player and say, ‘If you wear this you won’t get hurt,’ ” Dolphins equipment manager Tony Egues said.’

‘At some point, though, Miami is going to have to go to the air, especially if it wants to match Buffalo’s high-powered offense, which is averaging 32 points a game behind rejuvenated quarterback Drew Bledsoe.’

‘A 15-year veteran who spent the past 12 seasons in Minnesota, Carter has been working as an analyst on HBO’s Inside the NFL. He was reportedly given permission to get out of his deal with the cable network to pursue the one goal that has eluded him – a Super Bowl championship.’