Barring injury, head coach Brian Flores says that Tua Tagovailoa will remain the team’s starting quarterback (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). However, Flores also declined to come out and say that the Dolphins will not be trading for Texans QB Deshaun Watson.
[RELATED: Texans, Dolphins Agree On Deshaun Watson Compensation?]
Things seem to be heating up between the Dolphins and Texans, with the two sides reportedly agreeing on the trade essentials. Watson has also told the Texans that he would approve a trade to the Dolphins. Flores has shied away from Watson talk in the past, but owner Stephen Ross seems ready to overrule any objectors. Flores is also on the hot seat, so his pro-Tua position doesn’t necessarily mean much.
“I don’t not feel wanted,” said Tagovailoa this week when asked about the constant speculation (via ESPN.com). “I really don’t think about it. The only time I’m really hearing about it, like I’ve said before, is if [the communications staff] is kind of telling me what’s going on within the rumors or if my agent calls me. That’s really when I hear it. Other than that, I don’t really hear it.”
We should be hearing plenty about Tagovailoa, Watson, and all the moving parts between now and Tuesday’s deadline. If both QBs remain in place come Wednesday, Tagovailoa can expect the chatter to resume in the offseason.
Only way to know what you have is to put him on the field.
They’re doing Tua a bit of a disservice. Flores is doing his best in instill confidence in him, but he’s being undermined by an owner and front office who seem happy to allow their Watson trade negotiations to be done publicly. I don’t know whether Tua can be Miami’s, or anyone’s, QB of the future or not yet. Let the kid play and find out.
It never goes well when a franchise has a meddling owner, and that’s exactly what Ross is doing here. It isn’t fair to Tua, either.
Ross and that front office are going to turn Miami into what Houston essentially is- an expansion roster with an expensive albatross at QB, and no cap space or draft capital to improve.
DC should buy cheap on Tua. They need a new direction under center.
The problem is after first 2 or 3 years already are played on players you either need to overpay for player not living up to the hype or cut them. Tia isn’t going to be cheap long so you can’t really trade much now for a gamble.. now more than ever contending teams need to hold on to draft picks.. once you pay a few players star money the rest of rister needs to have young affordable players draft picks allow a team to try competing.. you see that currently happening now with Chiefs and Ravens.. Jackson for Ravens die a huge pay raise abs Mahomes already got his and it’s having affects
He would not come cheap especially due to his draft slot pedigree and how good he’s played when he’s started.
I don’t think it’s a bad idea. If he’s not worth it, they’ll let him walk. If he is, then they’ve found what they were looking for. There aren’t many opportunities to get a top ten pick for less than a first, which will likely be the case for Tua.
As long as Miami hasn’t permanently ruined his confidence ala Josh Rosen, Washington will get a young former top ten QB with an idea of the NFL environment that they can try to shape. It’s worth a shot for less than a first.
Miami has done a great job of completing botching their draft assets. Tua is awful and they used multiple top 10 picks to draft Waddle when they could have just stayed put and landed Pitts
They could have drafted Herbert as well. Bad scouting all the way around.
Herbert is more of a hindsight pick, though. Not many though that he’d be THIS good. And even fewer thought that he’d be the best QB in that draft. There were plenty who thought he was good, as he was a more or less consensus third best QB or around that spot.
But the only reason we’re slapping around teams for not taking him in the top five or so is because we’ve seen what he’s done at an NFL level today. I mean, the Chargers didn’t even know that he was THAT good at the time and they drafted him.
Exactly.
With all due respect to Miami’s scouting staff, I saw about 45 seconds each worth of video of Tua and Herbert in predraft coverage and said Herbert was much better.
Tua has that weird broken catapult delivery that is one of the slowest releases I’ve ever seen.
Herbert is “what they look like”.
Is he better than Burrow, though? Or is Burrow just a Bengal?
Don’t look now but Burrow is hitting his stride in Cincy. Most QBs take a few years to figure out the pro game. Herbert is one of the few exceptions.
Herbert also played in the PAC-12 versus the SEC. say what you will about a preferred conference, but SEC defenses are top to bottom much more challenging than PAC-12 defenses top to bottom. Herbert looked great, Tua looked great.
Another key thing that was equally (perhaps more in some people’s eyes) was the fact that Herbert had never taken a snap from under center in his career. Almost every time that’s true, the QB has massive difficulty adjusting to an NFL level offense because he has to go under center to read the defenses and make adequate audibles (especially in noisy environments). Paxton Lynch is an example of a recent first rounder who struggled with that. Dak Prescott stayed his senior year in college and notably took more snaps under center (something he had not previously done) to improve his pro viability (he was not rated as even a third round pick in his junior draft evaluation).
Herbert also had leadership questions from many pundits, as they wanted more consistency and take charge from him.
I personally had reservations about Tua’s ability to make reads, but the snaps under center thing bothered me a lot about Herbert. I still liked him, but I was nervous about that. I was wrong, of course, but we can’t pretend that Herbert’s tape clearly marked him as the best QB available in the draft. He looked potentially very good, but he exceeded even his supporters’ expectations. There wasn’t a clear, huge separation at all.
Agree on this except for saying Tua is awful. It’s inconclusive at this point. He hasn’t even played a full season yet, only 13 games as a starter. Some guys just need a little more development and don’t come ready out of the box. Look at Josh Allen’s stats in his first 13 games, they’re way worse than Tua’s.
There’s really no point in drafting any of these young QBs if you can’t provide a capable OL and receivers. The Bills were smart enough to get Allen that needed support. It remains to be seen if the Dolphins can manage that with Tua.
If Tua is “awful” in his 1st 13 or so starts…Josh Allen must be worse since he sucked his 1st year and was maybe mediocre his 2nd.
Tua can barley throw the ball 30 yards without putting all his effort into it. May be caused by the injury history but the man is flat out not that guy.
And you flat out provided zero context to your uneducated opinion.
How about the fact the Dolphins are actively trying to acquire a guy with 22 pending assault accusations. What does Tua do well? He doesn’t have a good arm, read defenses or have any pocket awareness.
Some guys need time and coaching. They also need good talent around them. Try this, send him to New Orleans to work with Sean Payton and watch what happens.
Flores close to being fired
He should be. If a top 5 pick can be cut in 2 years, so can coaches.
Sadly I’m leaning that way too. Last year looked like they may be on the right track, but there were a couple of head scratchers. This year hasn’t justified any of those moves.
If this goes down they should flip Tua in the off-season to Washington, Pittsburgh, or even Houston. I think he’s showed enough that they could recoup a good amount of the investment in Tua. Probably not a first but perhaps a 2nd and another mid rounder.
Does he have the arm to play eight or nine home games in Pittsburgh? I’ve read that the wind is fierce on that field.
That means Watson will be traded shortly to Miami.
If I’m tua I go ahead and ask for a trade this off-season no matter what
Wonder if the framework agreed upon means tua will go to Houston as part of the package and if so what Miami’s plan is if Watson gets put on restricted list immediately
I believe it’s been stated by the Commissioner that Watson won’t be going on the restricted list until actual charges are filed.
It’s likely he plays out this year and faces some punishment at the bare minimum to start next season.
Houston has come out and said they aren’t impressed at all with Tua
True, but they could move him.
Miami should take the same approach as Carolina has with Watson. Wait till the off-season when legal issues will be clear.
Funny how Justin Fields sucks a lot worse than Tua and yet ESPN analyst back him everyday. But they have never backed Tua even when he has good games. Starting to think ESPN is pushing an agenda, and now Steven A has his own show with his BROTHERS! Media is hilarious! ESPN is garbage! Tua is good, Dolphins are dumb!
Took you this long to realize espn in garbage. You even mentioned the worst part Steven “I don’t know sports from my ass”. Wasn’t he actually close to being fired not too long ago ? Him, joe buck.. the list goes on of people who need to go away
I like Stephen A. yet I dislike the prevailing narrative in the media that Tua is a bust. We don’t know yet. He’s not in the best franchise and his body might still be healing from his hip injury. I wouldn’t write an obituary and bury him yet.
As far as Tu’a’s hip goes, I think you are likely right. Thing is, if it hasn’t healed by now, I’m not sure that it ever really will. I do think it’s affected his throwing power and by extension his confidence.
The once respectable Dolphin’s franchise is no more. Even keeping Marino to make it “appear” like the Dolphin’s of old isn’t working. The franchise is a daytime TV soap.. Its worse than the housewives of Miami… Steve Ross should absolutely be ashamed.. Sell the Dolphins.. I don’t care if they move.. This organization is DEAD. DEAD!!
I hope TUA is traded so he can get an legitimate shot somewhere else with a decent team and owner..
Why are the Dolphins trying to get Watson at any cost? They are going to use most of their draft capital and trade away a younger QB for what? A slightly better record? Talk about a mess of an organization.
If you want me to lose complete interest in your story just mention the 3 losers who need mental help before even entertaining a THOUGHT about being traded. Jack Eichel, Deshaun Watson and Ben Simmons. Because without them or their teams being even slightly realistic, They’re basically dead in the water.