Manning visits with Tannehill to help with Dolphins' new offense

Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill will be learning a whole new offense this offseason, but due to restrictions in the CBA, he wasn't allowed to meet with any of his coaches earlier in the offseason.

In order to help his new quarterback get a head start, Dolphins head coach Adam Gase called in some reinforcements from someone who knows a thing or two about playing quarterback in this offense, Peyton Manning.

Manning visited the Dolphins earlier this spring in order to meet with Gase, his former offensive coordinator, and to offer advice to Tannehill on his new scheme, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

"It was really cool," Tannehill said. "A guy that had his career, the living legend he is, coming off a Super Bowl winning season - it was really cool just to be able to sit and pick his brain about things he's done in this offense and football things in general: snap counts, things you like, the way you want guys to run routes, little details about the game. We really just got to talk the game, which is something we both love."

The meeting was Manning's idea, notes Jackson. While it's a stretch to say Manning is now leaning towards coaching for his post-retirement career avenue, it's been reported that he's not planning on taking a front-office or television role this year. His tutoring of Tannehill was likely just a favor to an old coach, but it could also be Manning testing out how a coaching role would feel.

Whatever Manning's motivation, Tannehill was grateful for the assistance.

"At that time, we weren't able to meet with the coaches or anything, so I didn't really have a great handle yet," Tannehill said. "So I wasn't really able to dive into the playbook too much. So I had a few questions (for Manning). If he comes back now, we can have a completely different conversation."