There are few pills harder to swallow for Miami Dolphins fans than to look back at the team’s decision to bypass signing Drew Brees and wonder “what if?” It’s understandable — the Dolphins were fresh off of a 9-7 season under the direction of new head coach Nick Saban and had ample momentum at their fingertips at the end of 2005. The Dolphins knew they needed a quarterback to commit to and their eyes were set on Brees.
We all know the history from there. Dolphins doctors balked at Brees’ shoulder injury and the Dolphins instead decided to bet on the shredded knee of quarterback Dante Culpepper returning to full health instead. And in the four years that followed, the Dolphins watched Drew Brees go on to come within 15 yards of Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage record (2008) and lead the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl victory (2009).
Miami? The Dolphins endured a 1-15 season and two coaching changes over those same four years. Fast forward to last night and Brees’ assault on the record books is complete. The ageless wonder, after all these years, still has a throwing shoulder that works just fine. So fine that it it now owns the NFL record for the most career passing touchdowns (541).
May it serve as the reminder the Dolphins need in their search to turn this roster around. Be bold.
Being bold isn’t a free pass to make reckless or stupid decisions, the Dolphins must build in protections to ensure if their roster transactions don’t pan out, the team will still be positioned to rebound and pivot as necessary. But be bold. If the team has conviction that Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has drawn some comparisons to Brees, will go on to be a superb pro? Draft him. No questions asked.
Shoot, Miami may even be able to leverage the questions of Tagovailoa’s long-term durability into a more advantageous draft strategy — whether that includes drafting best player available with their first pick and then using their extra 1st-round picks to jump up and grab Tagovailoa later or to trade down from their first pick in the order to accumulate more picks.
This team has spent two decades making passive decisions at quarterback. Chad Henne over Matt Ryan. Signing Culpepper over Brees. Not providing any competition for Ryan Tannehill. It’s time for a new approach. There will be no greater reminder of that than every time Brees sets another record.
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