Tag: Brandon Shore

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier heads into familiar territory

With the deadline looming, we take a look at Chris Grier’s recent trade dealings.

As the Miami Dolphins prepare for a home game against the AFC East rival New England Patriots, the front office is likely involved in a flurry of behind-the-scenes activity.

General manager Chris Grier and his partner in crime Brandon Shore have been a formidable front office duo and one of the more active administrative pairs in the NFL.

Not only have offseason acquisitions and draft pick trading been in Grier’s repertoire, but he’s also shown consistency in deadline dealing, especially in the last five seasons. Acquiring wide receiver Chase Claypool earlier this month made it the fifth straight year in which Miami’s top man has made an October or even November trade.

Last season, he made a duo of deals, acquiring edge rusher Bradley Chubb from the Denver Broncos and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. from the San Francisco 49ers.

Grier has shown consistency and continuity in his dealings.

He made a 2021 deal with the Chicago Bears, shipping kick returner slash wide receiver Jakeem Grant out in return for a sixth-round pick.

Earlier this year, Grier traded offensive lineman Dan Feeney to Chicago for a sixth-round draft pick, adding more to the consistency theme, as Chicago has been a team he deals with on numerous occasions, including the move for Claypool.

In 2020, Grier made a minor deal acquiring running back DeAndre Washington from the Kansas City Chiefs. The year prior, he made a cap-maneuvering move, acquiring the injured reserved veteran Aqib Talib from the Los Angeles Rams and also shipped out veteran running back Kenyan Drake to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth-round draft pick.

Of course, each of those teams has been on Grier’s hit list recently, as the Chiefs sent Tyreek Hill over in 2022, and the Cardinals dealt with him in 2019 in the unsuccessful Josh Rosen trade.

Success or not, the purpose here is to find consistency in Grier’s willingness to deal and with whom. Since the systemic rebuild where ground-breaking was arguably the Laremy Tunsil trade, officially, the demolition was on.

Along with the Bears and 49ers, the Texans were a team Grier had been in business with several times.

Grier has made three significant deals with San Fransico in this period of construction which includes that Wilson trade last season as well as the draft pick bonanza deal that led to Trey Lance for the 49ers, and a 2020 draft day deal, shipping running back Matt Breida to Miami.

The Bears and Grier have made four deals since 2020, with the aforementioned moves and the Adam Shaheen trade from that year. The Texans and Dolphins have made a total of three trades in the rebuild era, including the Tunsil blockbuster and a pair of lesser seismic moves – a 2020 draft-day pick deal as well as the Shaq Lawson for Benardrick McKinney swap in 2021.

And, Miami and Houston tried to make another move last season, as the two teams agreed to a trade for Shaheen, but the deal was voided due to a failed physical.

If you want to look at his body of work in this “rebuild” in which he gained full autonomy from past Vice Presidents of Football Operations, another factor helped him. In 2019, he was officially paired with Shore, a salary cap and accounting guru, and it became their show.

Grier, with Shore’s skillful handling of the cap, has been aggressive in all forms of roster building, making 40 trades, including draft weekend maneuvering.

In 2019, he made multiple draft weekend moves and acquired a pick from the New Orleans Saints just to flip that to the Cardinals in the ill-fated Rosen deal. 2020’s draft saw multiple deals as well as 2021’s.

Speaking of multiple deals, Grier has pulled a trigger twice within 24 hours as recently as this summer. The Feeney with Chicago deal and the shipping out of Noah Igbinoghene for Kelvin Joseph happened like Michael Corleone was consolidating power in one day.

In 2022, Grier beat the deadline buzzer with a pair of moves in acquiring Wilson and Chubb, and back in 2019’s week leading to the trade finish line, he made those Talib and Drake moves.

If we’re team tracking now, since 2019, here are the main teams on Grier’s metaphorical speed dial. The amount of deals per team since 2019 is indicated which parentheses.

Chicago (4), San Francisco (3), Philadelphia (3), Houston (3), Los Angeles Rams (2), New England Patriots (2), Kansas City (2), Pittsburgh (2), Tennessee (2), Raiders Franchise (2), Arizona (2), New Orleans (2).

Grier has done business with 11 other NFL teams since once since 2019.

With about a week left to deal, it really shouldn’t be a matter of “if” Grier makes a move. The question just should be, “Who” will he call or “Who” is he waiting to call him?

The smart money could be one of those teams with multiple moves done in the last few seasons, as this is a relationship business. Ideally, an NFC team or an out-of-the-mix AFC team looking to unload should be where the guessing chips should be placed for fans wondering who a trade target could be.

Whatever happens on Sunday, expect Grier and Shore to be putting in overtime in the next week to make sure the roster is as strong as possible heading into the second half of the season.

The areas to watch are middle linebacker, offensive line, even more able-bodied running backs or those who stuff the run on the interior of the defensive line.

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What’s next for the Miami Dolphins this offseason after the first wave of free agency?

What Miami will have to do from here.

As the madness of March nears its conclusion, the first wave of free agency and offseason movement saw a few splashes in South Florida. The Miami Dolphins have been busy and look to build on a 2022 season that, although it wasn’t without its share of controversy and disappointment, did include a playoff berth.

From the acquisition of defensive back Jalen Ramsey from the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago, to the re-signing of several important Dolphins, mixed with a handful of key free agent deals, Miami has, at the very least, improved so far this offseason.

Before even getting to the new Dolphins, players like Andrew Van Ginkel and Nik Needham had options of playing elsewhere, yet chose to stick around in Miami, each inking one-year deals to stay with the team that gave them their NFL shot. Van Ginkel was a fifth-round pick in 2019, and Needham was an undrafted free agent in the same year.

General manager Chris Grier, and his sou chef in front office football cooking, Brandon Shore, sliced and diced the salary cap to make room for several new entrees which were brought to the table for the Dolphins. Those include linebackers David Long and Malik Reed, defensive back DeShon Elliott and wide receiver Braxton Berrios to name a few.

Some complimentary additions to the menu are offensive linemen Dan Feeney, as well as punter Jake Bailey, tight end Eric Saubert and backup quarterback Mike White.

With the Dolphins entering the offseason well over the salary cap, a few restructures of contracts fixed that in what seemed to be a blink of an eye, and even Ramsey restructured his contract upon being dealt to Miami. Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead and Bradley Chubb all reworked their deals as well.

Including Ramsey in the offseason additions, Miami checked off several boxes, however, work still needs to be done in a few areas, and thankfully, there’s still plenty of time and options.

Any good cook aims to be consistent, and what Grier and Shore have done is bring back a great deal of Dolphins, namely the entire running back room, to keep continuity and consistency on a team that’s heading into Mike McDaniel’s second year.

Grier has shown he’s reluctant to spend big on running backs, but the foursome of Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin was rather decent in 2022, but the volume of rushes wasn’t there throughout the season. Miami ranked 31st in team carries, and McDaniel also had some rookie head coaching moments of deviating from the run in at least a few games.

While many big-name running backs became (and remain) available, it seems Miami is heading into April’s draft content at the position. In a deep class, there’s a chance they take a flier on a runner, but it’s to be noted that, as a general manager, Grier seldom spends high draft capital on running backs. The third round was the highest he selected a running back, which was Kenyan Drake back in 2016, and has since used Day 3 as a time to take a chance at that position.

What’s of major importance and still some concern is the offensive line. As per comments made by Grier and McDaniel at this week’s league meetings in Arizona, it seems right tackle Austin Jackson and left guard Liam Eichenberg are penciled in on the starting line, yet that shouldn’t mean it’s a forged in stone.

There are a number of right tackles that have been made available recently, as well as a few interior linemen still available in free agency. From a monetary standpoint, Miami is a bit cash-strapped right now, with roughly $1 million in flexibility for 2023. Keep in mind, $13.6 million will free up after June 1 when that Byron Jones money clears.

When that becomes available, added with a few other options of either restructuring or even trades, Miami will have money to spend heading into the summer. As player cuts occur around the league, the scrap heap of the aftermath could lead to some depth signings and added competition in camp for those linemen.

So, with a few names being available on the offensive line, it seems, namely Jonah Williams and free agent Dalton Risner, the book can’t be closed officially on Miami’s potential exploration of improving the group.

There’s also a solid list of draft prospects that could fall to Miami when they pick in the second round in the draft at No. 51 or even their third-round pick at No. 84. The first wave may be over, but that doesn’t mean Grier and Shore aren’t navigating the waters of the league looking to make another splash.

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Making dollars and sense out of the Miami Dolphins plan

A look at the long and short-term salary situations for Miami.

Following a week of re-signings and new player acquisitions for the Miami Dolphins, the financial structure and future outlook of the team have been a topic of conversation.

At an initial glance, and just mentally tracking all the moves, one would assume that the Dolphins are setting themselves up for a one-and-done, or two-and-through situation, with their current roster and salary cap number.

Miami general manager Chris Grier and his partner in crime, VP of football and business administration Brandon Shore, work the salary cap together in tandem beautifully. When truly breaking down the numbers, the Dolphins aren’t in the same boat that other teams have been in recently in terms of choppy cap waters.

With only around $3.5 million in dead money, the Dolphins are very much unlike teams such as the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, who not only found themselves heavily in the red part of the ledger recently, a lot of money is “dead” which comes from releasing and/or moving of players.

The Dolphins are a different animal (or mammal) here. The Rams are dealing with $52 million in dead cap money and the Saints $22.8 million. What’s interesting, but not a shock, is that the three NFL teams with the lowest “dead cap” number are the Cincinnati Bengals ($593,000), the Los Angeles Chargers ($2.18 million) and the Dolphins ($3.49 million).

Yes, the three teams here all have quarterbacks on their rookie deals, and we know that Tua Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option was picked up, so in 2024 he’ll be making a very economically friendly, $23.1 million, which is at least $17 million less than other quarterbacks who recently hit the $40 million per year club.

2024 will certainly provide a challenge for Grier and Shore to get back in the black because, at the exact moment in time, the Dolphins are over the cap next season by approximately $4.7 million. As for this season following the flurry of moves, they sit at around $9 million.

The good news is, this 2023 figure is pre-Byron Jones money becoming free, which would give Miami another $13.6 million in cap space once we get to June getting the breathing room to over $22 million. While the 2024 cap will be unaffected by the Jones situation, there are a pair of potential moves that can alleviate that stress rather simplistically.

Hold that thought.

Before getting into 2024, and looking more into 2025 and 2026, the Dolphins will have loads of money, but not many players who are under contract, logically. As it stands, the core players signed through 2026 for Miami are only Tyreek Hill, Xavien Howard, Terron Armstead, Bradley Chubb, Jason Sanders and Jerome Baker.

In 2025, the list is a tad larger, if you want to include Emmanuel Ogbah, new defensive back Jalen Ramsey and the 2022 Miami rookie class of Skylar Thompson, Channing Tindall and Erik Ezukanma. 2025 has Miami at $126 million under the cap and in 2026 $175 million under. Ramsey even restructured his deal upon the trade with the Rams, which sent Hunter Long and a Miami 2023 third-round pick in return for the elite defensive back.

It seems that with the plethora of two-year deals handed out to free agents, and Dolphins from last season, 2023 and 2024 are certainly the “all-in” times, however, like any good gambler, Grier has left himself with outs, options and most importantly…money.

There’s a path to immediate success with a sustainable ability to build a consistent contender for the foreseeable future, as the goal is clearly to have a Super Bowl-caliber team before a massive quarterback contract needs to be signed.

That’s a 2025 problem, and potentially a terrific problem to have, if, in fact, Tagovailoa proves he’s deserving of a massive long-term deal. Now, when talking about massive quarterback deals, the problem tends to pair with it that players will have to be sacrificed to afford this. In some cases, yes, there will be player movement, as it’s easy to say that when you make an omelet, eggs will be broken.

The good news is, that in 2025, timing will benefit Miami, as it’s likely that the fifth-year options will be picked up on the contracts of Jaylen Waddle as well as Jaelan Phillips prior to May 1, 2024. The core members of this team, who many would love to picture as life-long Dolphins, will have tolerable cap situations the same season that Miami would ideally like to lock-up Tagovailoa.

Additionally, something that Grier is known for is his thrifty approach to the running back room. As he indicated yet again, he’s willing to shop, as rumors flew that there were discussions of potential trade talks for Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings. As it happens, this didn’t occur, and Grier is running it back with four returning Dolphins from last season.

Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin will all be back, and combine for a 2023 cap hit, collectively, of around $6.6 million. To compare, Cook alone has a 2023 contract worth $14 million.

That’s four players for less than half the price of one. And, for those who are upset, Grier is paying a discount for a group that collectively accounted for an average of well over 4.8 yards per carry on a team that rushed the ball 31st in the league in terms of 2022 overall attempts. That doesn’t scream paying one runner more than double the price of a full room of players.

Back to the cap clearance, the Dolphins have a pair of players, one on offense and one on defense, who could be potential trade targets. While these players are arguably outside of the Dolphins’ core, you can say that wide receiver Cedrick Wilson and Baker could be expendable and even have better opportunities elsewhere. Purely speculative, should Miami trade both of these players, that 2024 red cap number of -$4.77 million turns into $18.4 million.

Now that we laid a hypothetical pair of cap-friendly moves, the hope is that Grier can scoop up a few extra picks for April’s draft, thus creating a double-play of benefit in money trimming as well as increasing capital in a deep rookie class of specific positional need for the Dolphins.

Realizing there’s a lot to unpack and hope for here, Miami could create even more immediate room by restructuring Ogbah and perhaps another veteran down the line. As we see, Shore and Grier are masters of restructuring, so year to year, that can always be the play for the pair of executives in situations that warrant it.

Also realizing that money will have to be considered for the duo of Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler, as both are contracted in 2023, with Wilkins on his fifth-year option which was picked up last season. Wilkins, a 2019 first-round selection, will make $10.7 million this season, while he could create a $15 million+ per year valuation for himself in 2024 and beyond. Wilkins set a tackle mark in 2022 of 98, which was the highest seen from a defensive lineman since at least 1994.

Sieler, who’s criminally underrated on a national scale, was extended by Miami in 2020 and plays at a 2023 cap figure of $3.22 million. He could warrant close to $10 million per his market value. A rumored extension could be in the works again for Sieler, as the 27-year-old could get a deal structured in a way to be cap friendly for the next few seasons, especially looking at the 2025 and 2026 columns of the excel sheet.

Other names to look at as core players Miami will need to consider taking care of sooner than later are offensive lineman Robert Hunt, who is in the last year of his rookie deal, as well as Jevon Holland. Holland will be a free agent in 2025 and could warrant a massive deal to stay in Miami.

While there’ll be more players that will move on from Miami as Mike Gesicki, Thomas Morstead and Elandon Roberts did, the Dolphins have structured the roster to retain their key members for the long haul. With work always done behind the scenes by Grier and Shore, they’re the football/business versions of a swan. Ferociously working under the surface, while at a glance seems calm, cool and collected.

Miami is in a position where it isn’t now or never, in a perfect world, it could be now and later. And, regardless of anything else, everyone must realize that in 2019, the Dolphins were known as the league’s least-talented roster.

Despite it all, in just three seasons, one could argue that Miami now has one of the NFL’s deepest and scariest rosters. The rebuild is over, and the time is now to truly witness what has become the construction of a possible, perennial winner.

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Analyzing Dolphins player value rankings this offseason

Taking a look at Spotrac’s true value system.

The business of football never truly has an offseason, and March is the time for the NFL combine as well as a countdown to the upcoming storm of transactional activity, league-wide.

While several factors are used for teams to determine who to re-sign, recruit and/or restructure, one potential barometer could be a metric like Spotrac.com’s “Value Ranking” or “TVS.”

As Spotrac explains, TVS is based on a mathematical comparison of a player’s current average salary against their cumulative “production points.” These points are made up of major statistical categories relevant to that player’s position. From there, a z-score is generated for each player within their position groups and ranked with a “true value” score.

Of course, this outside party breakdown is nearly an independent formula, and who knows if Dolphins salary cap guru Brandon Shore is scrolling through the data in his Miami Gardens office, perhaps translating the comparative data to general manager Chris Grier.

The administrative pair work well together at their jobs, similarly to other Dolphins duos, such as the Marks Brothers (Clayton and Duper), Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler.

We transition to talking about the Dolphins tag team in the trenches, Sieler and Wilkins.

The Dolphins happen to have a number of players within the top 10 of their respective positions in TVS, and most come to little surprise, as they’re on rookie deals while clearly performing well on the field. They are Jaelan Phillips, Jaylen Waddle, Robert Hunt, and Tua Tagovailoa.

Let’s get back to Wilkins for a moment, as his rookie deal had its fifth-year option picked up last April. Wilkins was Miami’s 13th pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. His performance in his fourth NFL season earned him a TVS of 92.26,

Let’s put this into perspective in raw stats. Wilkins totaled 98 tackles this season, which was the most by any NFL defensive lineman in a season since at least 1994.

Needless to say, the fifth-year option pick-up isn’t just looking like a success, yet Wilkins was miles ahead of any of his peers who were on the field for more than 75% of their defensive end snaps. Starting all 17 games, Wilkins was on the field for 83.26% of Miami’s defensive plays, fourth highest in the league behind Maxx Crosby, Brian Burns and rookie Aiden Hutchinson at the position.

Wilkins earned $3.8 million last season while Crosby pulled in $23.5 million, Burns $3.38 million and Hutchinson $8.92 million. The remarkable aspect of this is Wilkins’ TVS of 92.26, as Crosby’s was 52.05, Burns’ was 63.52 and the young Lion’s was 64.39.

This proves his dominance as well as value, so even the fact he will earn a guaranteed base salary of $10.75 million in 2023, his fifth year, it’s a bargain. He’s clearly in line for a massive extension, and if this metric proves, would be worth every single penny if Miami happens to be counting them.

When it comes to Sieler, he was famously a waiver-wire addition back in 2019, the same year as Wilkins was drafted, ironically. And early offseason rumors have his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, talking potential extension with Miami.

Sieler had a contract extension back in 2020, but in 2023 is when a “payday” is expected. In terms of his 2022 snap count, Sieler finished ninth among defensive tackles at 76.54%. Sieler’s contract last season was for $3.8 million, and his TVS was 80.68 also ninth.

When looking deeper, the average salary last year of those other top eight defensive tackles in snap count was a whopping $13.8 million, including players like Jonathan Allen ($18 million), Dexter Lawrence ($3.3 million), Da’Ron Payne ($3.6 million), and Chris Jones ($20 million).

Among his peers at the position who played over 75% of the snaps, only two defensive tackles had a TVS higher than Sieler’s 80.68. They are New York Giant Dexter Lawrence (98.59) who was a first-round, 17th-overall pick in 2019, and Washington Commander, Da’Ron Payne (88.95) who was the 13th overall pick, and Washington’s first-rounder in 2018.

The proof is in the pounding, and Miami would be wise to plan to pay these men and keep this duo together for the next half-decade.

Another Dolphin TVS to note would be Tua Tagovailoa’s seventh ranking for quarterbacks at 81.60. His “value” was higher in 2022 than Daniel Jones (75.24), Justin Fields (74.47), Justin Herbert (72.45), Trevor Lawrence (72.12) and Tom Brady (63.88.).

Diamond-in-the-rough find undrafted rookie cornerback, Kader Kohou was basically like buying Netflix stock in 2002. His on-field play ranked him 14th in the NFL among all cornerbacks with a TVS of 83.98. His salary is south of $900,000, and he’s signed through the 2024 season, becoming a restricted free agent in 2025.

Wide receivers Waddle and Tyreek Hill are ranked fifth and 14th, respectively. Hill has a TVS of 86.31, and Waddle’s was 95.48, behind only Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, CeeDee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase.

Heading into his third season, Jaelan Phillips ($3.5 mllion in 2022) is looking every bit the first-round pick he was from 2021, and has an outside linebacker TVS ranking of sixth, at 87.20.

Of the outside linebackers who played more than 70% of 2022 snaps, just four have higher TVSs than Phillips. Philadelphia Eagle Haason Reddick (87.46 TVS – 73.85% snaps – $15 million), Green Bay Packer Rashan Gary (95.19 TVS – 70.39% snaps – $3.9 million), Pittsburgh Steeler Alex Highsmith (91.73 TVS – 88.46% snaps – $1.1 million), and Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons (98.11 TVS – 81.12% snaps – $4.2 million).

Helpful in analyzing potential free agents, 32-year-old, and available inside linebacker Bobby Wagner played 99% of the defensive snaps in 2022 for the Los Angeles Rams. He was ranked fifth at inside linebacker in snaps, and ninth in TVS at 86.87. Of all the inside linebackers (17) with over 90% of snaps in 2022, only three had a higher TVS than Wagner.

The ages of those three players are 25, 26 and 27, so Wagner not only is playing as he drank from the fountain of youth recently, he may be worth an expensive flier for Miami to throw his way, and pair with the Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio.

It may very well take a lot of work, number-crunching, and living in an Excel spreadsheet, or several, but Shore and Grier could cook the books (in a good way) to ensure this core defensive front will not break up for the foreseeable future.

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Two Dolphins named to NFL ’40 under 40′ list for 2022

Miami has some young talent in the coaching and front office ranks.

The Miami Dolphins organization has been filled with young talent in recent years that seems to have given them one of the brightest futures of any NFL team. With 39-year-old Mike McDaniel at the head of the ship, there’s hope for a fanbase that hasn’t seen a playoff victory in over 20 years.

However, McDaniel isn’t the only young mind in the coaching staff or front office that deserves hype. The Athletic recently compiled a list of the the 40 best coaches, executives, agents and “other rising stars” that are under the age of 40. McDaniel being on that list is no surprise, considering he’s the newest coach to receive the “boy genius” moniker. Miami’s other representative on the list, Brandon Shore, is a bit of a shock.

Shore, 36, is entering his 12th season with the Dolphins and is currently serving as the team’s senior vice president of football and business administration. With all of the deals that Miami got done this offseason, his appearance on the list makes a bit more sense.

Here’s what The Athletic’s Lindsay Jones said about Shore:

“Shore began his career with the Dolphins as a football administration assistant and has quietly risen through the human resources and personnel departments in the 12 years since. He was promoted to his current role in 2019 and serves as the team’s lead contract negotiator.

Shore received nominations for this list from agents and his peers on other teams for his professionalism in negotiations and savvy in managing the Dolphins’ salary cap. He played a lead role in the Dolphins’ massive trade and subsequent contract extension for receiver Tyreek Hill earlier this year, while also doing major deals to sign free-agent left tackle Terron Armstead and extend star cornerback Xavien Howard.”

Miami has a lot of things going for them this year, and a lot of it has been the work of McDaniel and Shore, with the obvious help of general manager Chris Grier. If the Dolphins want to reach their potential, these three will have to continue their great work.

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Chris Grier sets the table for Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins

He’s changed a lot of opinions in the last month.

Following a “March Madness” flurry of signings, trades and transactions, the Miami Dolphins had a relatively quiet weekend. There had been several moves last week with acquisitions such as Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, most notably. It was those mega moves that have propelled Miami into the playoff-contending conversation and not the fringe of the possibility.

The Dolphins also started the outgoing process last week, as offensive lineman Jesse Davis was released, and wide receiver Allen Hurns was let go with a failed physical designation.

Miami’s general manager Chris Grier has been using a slow-play, long-haul strategy that seems to be working. While at his own pace, he’s managed to create a loaded roster with capable veterans to help mold a young nucleus of developing talent.

As it stands now, and as much as people joke about the validity of the salary cap, it’s very real, yet manipulatable by the best in creative ways. This is where Miami’s cap guru, Brandon Shore, needs to be given credit. 

What this combination of executives has done is simply set the Dolphins up for sustained success while having outs, meaning there’s insurance behind quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. That insurance rests in multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, thanks to a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last offseason.

In what many hope to be an unneeded policy, Tagovailoa can turn heads in 2022, in this offense, and if he does there’s a bright future ahead for this franchise and a massive payday soon thereafter for him.

Grier and Shore mastered this cap with some savvy contracts over the last few years, setting Miami up well for a looming choice two years from now or, perhaps, even sooner. Before you know it, Tagovailoa’s rookie contract will have to be either picked up for a fifth season or not. While a bit of time remains for that decision, knowing how likely that can be will be dependent on how he plays this season.

Having veteran Teddy Bridgewater as a newly signed backup is another form of Miami’s multi-layered insurance policy for Tagovailoa. Although as recently as Monday morning, Miami’s new head coach Mike McDaniel made it very clear who has what job for the Dolphins.

McDaniel also called the Tom Brady to Miami rumors “fake news,” during the AFC coaches meeting in Palm Beach. As the coaches had breakfast at The Breakers, it seems the table is set in Miami for a main course that’s been unseen consistently in several years.

While trying not to skip any meals and go straight to dessert, should Tagovailoa progress as many hope, it could be the icing on the cake of a remarkable offseason.

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