The Miami Dolphins have a few developing themes as a franchise — they’re considered a team on the rise, they appear to have the right coach at the helm who consistently finds the magic touch with his players, the team is loaded with draft assets for the second consecutive year. These are all great associations to have as a franchise. But the Dolphins have another developing theme that isn’t necessarily a welcomed one:
They keep getting tied to quarterback via the rumor mill.
Now, as a credit to Tua Tagovailoa, Miami’s connections via the rumor mill are more so tied to elite NFL quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson. Miami had no association (thankfully) with the Carson Wentz and Matthew Stafford dramas. But Watson’s bid to leave Houston this offseason has often invoked the name of Miami and an initial report yesterday tied the Dolphins as a team to watch amid a growing rift between the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson.
At least they’re elite quarterbacks.
But none the less, Miami is a team who just invested a top-5 pick into a young quarterback they still presumably believe in a lot. Is that not enough to keep the rumors away? Especially with the Texans quadrupling down that they won’t even be having trade conversations with teams regarding Watson?
If only. But here’s the inconvenient truth, Dolphins fans: your team is a young roster with a standout head coach and a defense that can compete on the highest of stages. They have the talent and coaching on that side of the ball to continue to improve and content. But from afar, the perception of Miami is that the quarterback situation, even with Tagovailoa now uncontested on the depth chart, is unsettled. This is largely because the coverage from the national media this season regarding the Dolphins was so largely rooted in the quarterback room for the Dolphins.
Fitzpatrick benched for Tua. Tua pulled in the 4th quarter for Fitzpatrick versus Denver. Tagovailoa back in the lineup after missing a game with injury. Fitzpatrick once again making a cameo against the Raiders.
This is the casual perspective of your team. And while yes, there are reports that Miami would consider moving and being involved in trade talks for Watson, every team in the league besides the Kansas City Chiefs would be irresponsible to not have those talks. Watson is that good — and that doesn’t have to be a slight against Tagovailoa. So be prepared for plenty more Dolphins-QB rumor mill talk over the next two months. Because many won’t bother to acclimate themselves with the real situation in Miami. It’s easier to simply speculate based on an afar, surface level observation that Miami did not have Tagovailoa take all the snaps down the stretch.
Brian Flores marches to the beat of his own drum. He doesn’t care (and thank goodness for that) about what the perception is of Miami’s QB room from 2020 was. The team still really likes and believes in Tagovailoa according to reports. So allow yesterday’s Russell Wilson drama to go in one ear and out the other, but understand there will be more to come. That’s just the nature of the offseason. It’s just noise.