Dolphins look to stick with Tua Tagovailoa as the starter, now unlikely to pursue Watson
The Miami Dolphins are far less inclined to pursue a trade for Deshaun Watson than they were months ago and intend to stick with Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback in 2022 barring something unforeseen, a league source with direct knowledge said Saturday.
When the Dolphins fired coach Brian Flores last week, they eliminated the person who was the biggest advocate for acquiring Watson, the disgruntled Houston Texans quarterback who sat out this past season after requesting a trade.
Flores wanted the Dolphins to acquire Watson, and owner Stephen Ross was amenable to that if Watson had been able to settle 22 civil lawsuits by massage therapists alleging sexual misconduct by Watson, according to multiple sources. But the lawsuits haven’t been settled, and the Dolphins opted not to make the deal before October’s trade deadline.
Houston was asking for three first-round picks and three other attractive assets.
General manager Chris Grier always preferred to keep Tagovailoa as the team’s starting quarterback, and his actions this week were in line with that, according to a team source.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Saturday that the Dolphins’ “belief in Tua as their starter is considered significant, and it appears the search for a flashy replacement is over. They embark on their search for a head coach with the expectation that Tua Tagovailoa is their starter for 2022 — and the plan to build around and support him.
“A new head coach will, source says, have the opportunity to evaluate every facet of the football team, including the QB. But the hope is to find a candidate who believes in him and can bring the best out of him. The new coach would come in with a belief in supporting Tagovailoa, not replacing him.”
A source with direct knowledge confirmed that is Grier’s thinking at this point.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday: “With Brian Flores out in Miami, the chances of the Dolphins pursuing or acquiring Texans’ QB Deshaun Watson are greatly diminished, if not gone, per sources. Flores had an interest in exploring a Watson deal, but others in organization, including owner Steven Ross, did not.”
A source who spoke to Ross last spring said he spoke excitedly about the possibility of acquiring Watson. But Grier - who has Ross’ ear - prefers to stick with Tagovailoa.
There is support internally toward hiring an offensive minded head coach, with Bills coordinator Brian Daboll a strong candidate.
Daboll, who previously worked with Tagovailoa at Alabama, will interview with the Dolphins on Sunday.
The Dolphins plan to interview four coaches with offensive backgrounds: Daboll, 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Rams running backs coach Thomas Brown.
Nevertheless, the Dolphins haven’t ruled out hiring a defensive-minded head coach, and three candidates for the job have defensive backgrounds: former Broncos coach Vance Joseph, former Cowboys coach Dan Quinn and former Vikings coach Leslie Frazier.
Tagovailoa completed his second season with 16 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions and a 90.1 passer rating that ranked 20th in the league, just ahead of Ryan Tannehill, Davis Mills, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger.
He finished seventh in completion percentage at 67.8 and went 7-5 as a starter. He’s 13-8 as a starter in his two-year career.
“I watched him grow,” Ross said of Tagovailoa this past week. “He’s a fine young man, and he is right now our quarterback and that will be dependent upon the new head coach, but I have a lot of confidence in Tua.”
By sticking with Tagovailoa instead of acquiring Watson’s hefty contract, the Dolphins would enter the offseason with $74 million in cap space and with the ability to carve out about $100 million.
They also would keep their most significant draft inventory -- including the 49ers’ first-round pick, their own second-round pick and the 49ers’ third-round pick.
The Dolphins’ first round pick belongs to the Eagles and their third-round pick belongs to the Giants.
The Dolphins have their own first-round pick and San Francisco’s first-round pick in 2023.
Here’s my piece from earlier this week on where Tagovailoa ranked in 25 areas.
