Relax, Dolphins fans. It ain’t gonna happen. Miami isn’t entering the Lamar Jackson Sweepstakes. Tua Tagovailoa will be the Dolphins’ quarterback for the 2023 season. Period.
We’ve been told the latter, which means the former is a given.
I believe the Dolphins.
I believe Tagovailoa, with good health, will be the Dolphins’ starting quarterback in 2023. I don’t think the Dolphins will pursue Baltimore’s Jackson, the hometown kid from Boynton Beach, the former league MVP — and the better quarterback.
Jackson said on social media Monday that he’s asked the Baltimore Ravens for a trade. Jackson has been offered the non-exclusive franchise tag by the Ravens, meaning he can negotiate with other teams. But don’t expect the Dolphins to jump into the fray.
The Dolphins are committed to Tua.
I was in the room and heard general manager Chris Grier say on Jan. 16 that Tagovailoa will be their starter for 2023.
“We’ll go through our process,” Grier said, “but he is our starting quarterback and will be next season.”
It’d be one of the biggest about-faces we’ve seen in years if the Dolphins were to search for another starting quarterback.
Before you mention it, yes, I realize Dolphins owner Steve Ross has a desire to obtain a top-notch quarterback.
The possible loophole here is that Grier and coach Mike McDaniel have told us — repeatedly —Tagovailoa will be the Dolphins’ quarterback, not Ross.
But as adamant as Grier and McDaniel have been, there’s no reason to hear from Ross on this one. Grier and McDaniel, through their insistence, have spoken for him. They’ve even gone as far as giving Tagovailoa the fifth-year extension on his contract.
Still, we all recall Ross and the Dolphins were docked a 2023 first-round pick for his pursuit of quarterback Tom Brady, and we recall Ross reportedly wanted quarterback DeShaun Watson. Both of those interests came with Tagovailoa under contract.
We’ll also recall Ross pursuing Jim Harbaugh, who would go on to become San Francisco’s head coach, while Dolphins coach Tony Sparano was under contract.
Those were all overzealous pursuits that were possibly even disrespectful.
But this time, with Tagovailoa coming off a concussion-shortened season that saw him toss 25 touchdowns, five interceptions and have a league-leading 105.5 passer rating, things look more certain.
The Dolphins are set on having Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback in 2023.
McDaniel basically said Tagovailoa would be the starter after the Dolphins’ 34-31 wild-card round playoff loss at Buffalo. McDaniel was responding to a question about a report that said Tagovailoa plans to play in 2023 and McDaniel wants him as the starter.
McDaniel started by saying Tagovailoa’s health is the No. 1 concern.
“Now, with that being said, yeah, of course,” McDaniel said about Tagovailoa being the starter in 2023.
McDaniel later added, “Yes, this is a challenging time for him, yes, his health is of primary importance, but I would be a fool to not embrace him when he’s healthy and ready to go. We’ll all be excited for that.”
It would be an incredibly bad look for the Dolphins to pursue Jackson, Brady, Aaron Rodgers, or any other potential starting quarterback.
I don’t know where you stand on the infamous quote from former Dolphins coach Nick Saban when he said, “I won’t be the Alabama coach.”
But if the Dolphins pursued another starting quarterback, replacing a healthy Tagovailoa, it’d far surpass that line and its aftermath.
The Dolphins would be flat-out liars if they searched to replace a healthy Tagovailoa now.
Look, we all understand this is a business.
We all understand Jackson is a better quarterback than Tagovailoa.
But we also understand the Dolphins have reiterated their stance numerous times after first volunteering a final answer on whether Tagovailoa would be their starter.
Grier reiterated their stance on March 1, from the NFL scouting combine when he was asked about the progress of Tagovailoa’s fifth-year extension.
Grier said discussions were ongoing. He finished by saying, “But all expectations [are] he’s our quarterback, and he’s our quarterback here to be successful for a long time.”
Later, while discussing Tagovailoa’s durability as it relates to the fifth-year extension, Grier said Tagovailoa always bounces back and he’s excited for Tagovailoa’s future.
“Excited for watching him doing all the work he’s been doing in the offseason right now to prepare for 2023,” Grier said, “and he’s very excited to get back on the field with his teammates.”
And even having said all of that, we haven’t even discussed the money. Jackson, we think, wants as much or more than the $230 million guaranteed Watson got from Cleveland. The Dolphins aren’t doing that.
We don’t control everything in this world. Sometimes unforeseen changes happen and you’re forced to adjust. If that happens with Tagovailoa, fine.
But you don’t vehemently declare a quarterback will be your starter and then stab him in the back — that comes off as shady.
And neither Grier nor McDaniel is shady.
