The Dolphins weigh progress-stopper vs. production

The Dolphins have a term that they refer to when deciding whether to add a veteran player or not -- "progress stopper."

I heard that term Sunday when talking to team decision-makers about their wide receiver corps. As I write in my column about Miami's receivers the team is weighing whether to add Braylon Edwards to the unit.

Part of the decision-making is outlined in the column. But part of the decision making process has to do whether Edwards, 29, might be a progress stopper for younger players such as Roberto Wallace, Julius Pruitt, Clyde Gates, Marlon Moore, B.J. Cunningham and Jeff Fuller.

The fact is the Dolphins know Edwards is probably better than all those players today. He's more ready to contribute now. And that is not to be sneered at because the Dolphins do want to win this season. The question is will those young players improve fast enough to cause the Dolphins to stand fast with them and let their progress continue rather than going with a more established player.

Me?

I brought up the name Legedu Naanee. He's 28 years old and will be 29 in September. To me, the question of adding Edwards doesn't mean stopping the progress of a young receiver, it means ending the Miami career of Naanee because Edwards would be replacing him on the roster.

A Miami personnel man nodded in agreement when I presented that scenario.

And it is a scenario not presented lightly. Right now Naanee is getting starting receiver reps. He's doing well, really. But he is at his best a 30-catch player. If the Dolphins replaced him with Edwards and get the best there, they've got a 50-to-60 catch player. They have a deep threat. They have a TD threat.

So if you see Miami sign Edwards in the next couple of weeks as is being considered, watch to see how it affects Naanee.

[BLOG NOTE: Check back around noon for the post-practice and post interview update. I was pulling double-duty during the weekend -- writined posts and my column -- so the posts here were not as detailed as I would like. Today I don't have to write a column, so you'll get more play-by-play from practice. Look for it]

[TWITTER NOTE: If you want real-time updates, including an occasional picture or video, follow me on twitter -- that's @armandosalguero -- for instant reaction to what is happening at camp and around other sports.]

{EARLY UPDATE: Brian Hartline (calf) is missing practice again today ... Chris Clemons (knee) has returned to practice today ... Eric Steinbach, who has played all of the 124 games he's started in the NFL at LG, is working at RG today with the second unit.]