The two-year contract that Brian Griese officially signed Monday will force the Miami Dolphins to make a decision on his future, and perhaps on the future of the quarterback position in general, a little more than two months after the end of the 2003 season.

According to salary documents obtained by ESPN.com, Griese is due a roster bonus of $5.935 million on the first day of the 2004 league year, typically March 1. His salary cap charge for 2004 is $6.97 million, because of the roster bonus, too prohibitive for Miami to retain both Griese and incumbent starter Jay Fiedler under their current structures.

As previously reported, and confirmed by the documents, Griese received a $1 million signing bonus and a base salary of $530,000 for 2003. His cap charge for this season is a palatable $1.03 million. Griese's scheduled base salary for 2004 is $535,000.

But given the unwieldy roster bonus, and exorbitant cap charge it would create, Miami will be forced to retain Griese as the starter, restructure the contract to reduce the salary cap impact, or release him and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent.

The five-year veteran can also earn incentives in 2003 that would be charged to Miami's 2004 salary cap.

Essentially the large roster bonus and the timing of its due date is a mechanism designed to force the club into a decision on Griese at about the time free agency begins. Should the Dolphins release Griese, there likely would be considerable interest in him, since he would be able to sign early and participate in a team's entire offseason program.

To retain Griese for a second season, the Dolphins almost certainly would have to assure him of the No. 1 spot on the depth chart, since the former Denver Broncos starter is not apt to want to continue in a backup role.

The quarterback situation in Miami also is compounded by the structure of Fiedler's deal with the club. While his cap charge for 2003 is just $1.99 million, it could escalate to as high as $5.577 million in 2004, since his base salary skyrockets to $3.7 million. Fiedler is also due an option bonus of $2 million, which triggers the 2006 segment of his contract, by April 15.

Miami is already projected to have a cap charge of at least $87.375 million for 2004 and it will be virtually impossible to keep both quarterbacks under their current contracts.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.