Breaking Down the QB Chatter

There's been an awful lot of quarterback chatter over the past two days, including Brian Flores' words about Tua Tagovailoa, so let's unpack it all and examine the potential ramifications for the Miami Dolphins.

We'll start, of course, with Flores' Zoom media session Thursday when he was asked about all the quarterback speculation surrounding the team, including possibly trading for Deshaun Watson, and he replied by saying he was excited to work with Tua Tagovailoa.

While they certainly were encouraging words for the young lefty, there are important points that need to be made here.

First and foremost, it was exactly what we should have expected Flores to say — because it was exactly what Flores needed to say.

As General Manager Chris Grier said two days after the end of the 2020 season, Tua is the Dolphins' starting quarterback.

But like Grier in January, Flores did not declare that Tagovailoa definitely would be the starter in 2021 because things can change. One of those things, of course, would be a trade for Watson.

As we've written and said many times, exploring a trade for Watson — should the Texans decide to entertain offers — isn't an indictment on Tua as much as it is investigating the opportunity to land a bona fide franchise quarterback who happens to be 25 years old.

But some important things have to happen for the Dolphins to have Watson as their starting quarterback in 2021, starting with Houston deciding to relent and grant the three-time Pro Bowl selection's request to be moved.

Another is the Dolphins being able to beat out other teams that would make a trade offer for Watson and, rest assured, there will not be a shortage of suitors. Sure, the Dolphins have perhaps the most enviable package of premium draft picks, but the New York Jets also can offer a big-time offer and nobody knows how far other teams will be willing to go to get Watson.

So it's entirely possible, if not likely, that Watson will not be playing for the Dolphins in 2021, which means the team would move forward with Tagovailoa at quarterback — barring a surprising call to take a QB with the third overall pick in the 2021 draft.

Flores then obviously has to be excited about working with Tua because he likely will be his starting quarterback.

The bottom line is Flores' words about Tagovailoa on Thursday might have sounded like an endorsement, but undertand it's an endorsement if the Dolphins don't get anybody else to play quarterback.

The most interesting comment that Flores made actually involved Ryan Fitzpatrick when he said he would love to have him back.

That was a lot strong statement than Flores made during that Jan. 5 media session when he deflected a question about Fitz by saying the organization needed to evaluate all the players on the roster.

The idea of Fitzpatrick returning as a backup to Tagovailoa still seems a little odd, given that maybe the Dolphins won't want to have Tua looking over his shoulder after he was pulled twice last season and also because Fitzpatrick has been pretty clear about wanting to start.

One potential destination for Fitzpatrick pretty much disappeared Friday morning with the news that the New England Patriots were re-signing Cam Newton to a one-year contract.

The move doesn't preclude the Patriots from trying to land their quarterback of the future this offseason, but it most likely means they won't be shopping for another veteran. One would expect Newton to be the Patriots starting quarterback in 2021 and the Dolphins last season had major problems with him in the opener, though they made him look bad in the rematch in December.

Other teams that could use somebody like Fitzpatrick include Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago and possibly Denver.

What happens with Fitzpatrick should no team sign him with the idea of giving him a chance to compete for a starting job will be interesting because his options then would become accepting a backup role somewhere else, coming back to Miami or retiring.

And, as we reported earlier this week, Fitzpatrick is not looking to retire.

Besides Flores, another head coach who conducted a press conference Thursday was new Texans head coach David Culley, who raised some eyebrows earlier in the day during a podcast with Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter when he said Deshaun Watson was his quarterback "for now."

Houston Texans coach David Culley addresses the Deshaun Watson question on Huddle&Flow with @wyche89 @tewarren and me. pic.twitter.com/MB5YYJATgS
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) March 11, 2021

His tone had changed for his press conference, and it's not out of bounds to suggest he was "encouraged" not to make statements including terms like "for now."

Again, all reports indicate the Texans are not entertaining offers for Watson at this time, but remember that the start of the 2021 regular season is still six months away, so things can change — and they can change quickly.

The news Friday morning included Tom Brady signing a new deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through the 2022 season.

That won't impact the Dolphins unless they reach the Super Bowl in either of the next two seasons.

The Dolphins will be facing Brady and the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium next season, so they could be playing in the 2021 NFL kickoff game, which features the defending Super Bowl champion playing at home on the first Thursday of the season. The other possibilities are Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, the New York Giants, Washington, Buffalo and Chicago.

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