Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores met with the South Florida media this afternoon to conduct their exit interviews for the 2020 season — and Grier made quick work in offering praise to his rookie quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa, who went 6-3 as the starting quarterback of the Dolphins over 9 starts and 10 total appearances this season, drew a vast array of opinions come the close of the season as Miami’s offensive productivity proved irregular, inconsistent and too often slow to get rolling.
And with the Dolphins owning the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, there was (and will still be) plenty of speculation that another quarterback could be in the cards for Miami.
But the South Florida media came out swinging early on in the press conference; asking about Tagovailoa and his development.
“I’m very happy with Tua,” said Grier. “He’s our starting quarterback.”
And Grier would, later on in the press conference, once again go out of his way to emphasize that Tagovailoa is the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, leaving little wiggle room for misquotes or contorted truths about where the Dolphins stand with their young quarterback. Provided Grier’s perspective is forthright, then this offseason will come down to one clear objective: building around Tagovailoa as best as they possibly can. Miami will have plenty of ammunition between their NFL Draft capital and their top-10 salary cap space in the NFL this offseason to attack the receiver room and overhaul pass catchers who can better support Tagovailoa and also better support the style of play the Dolphins hope to play under play caller Chan Gailey, who will presumably return after coach Brian Flores stated they expect their full coaching staff back in 2021.
Let the games begin for the Dolphins front office — they had a blast in 2020 with their smokescreens ahead of last year’s draft and they will certainly be back at it again with so many picks in the early portions of this year’s draft as well. But for now, Grier has given us all his direction: with Tagovailoa at the heart of it all.