The Miami Dolphins’ quarterback search has been tied to Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa for months and months. But throughout the course of the 2019 season, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was able to supplant Tagovailoa as the presumed top quarterback available — even before a hip injury cast Tagovailoa’s questionable medical history further into doubt. But there remains just one little problem in the Dolphins’ bid to draft the best available quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Cincinnati Bengals.
Because the Bengals, who also entered 2019 with a rookie head coach in Zac Taylor, were abysmal in 2019. Much worse than the Dolphins. And the Bengals, who do own the 1st-overall pick in this month’s NFL Draft, need a quarterback for their own revival and have been linked to Joe Burrow since the moment that they clinched the top overall pick. But as the draft has crept closer, there has been speculation that the Dolphins may be looking to coax the Bengals down off the top of the draft order and select Burrow for themselves.
But this whole idea is based around the Bengals having another quarterback they’d be willing to draft. We have some indication that may indeed be fact — and it comes from NBC Sports’ Peter King.
“I’ve heard there are some inside the Bengals who are true believers in (Justin) Herbert, and if so, such a deal (with Miami) could be intelligent for Cincinnati,” wrote King.
“But we’ll see how it goes. Burrow has the toughness and ability and mental acuity to be a very good long-term quarterback.”
This is going to be fascinating to watch develop. Will the Bengals fall hard enough for Justin Herbert to be convinced that some extra draft capital is worth the exchanging of the 1st-overall pick? If it does, we have about two weeks to see it come together — expect to see more whispers on this front in the coming weeks as the NFL enters their final sprint to the NFL Draft.