Diving Into Rich Eisen's Dolphins-Related Combine Rumors

The Miami Dolphins and their quarterback position always is a fascinating topic, and NFL Network host Rich Eisen brought it up twice on his national show Monday as part of his top five rumors he heard during his time at the combine in Indianapolis.

Prefacing his list with the caveat that these were not reports coming from anyone within the Dolphins organization but strictly rumors based on conversations with football people, Eisen began his list by indicating he heard veteran quarterback Philip Rivers called the Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers late last season.

The No. 1 "rumor" on his list involved Tom Brady and the suggestion that he might not be totally retired after all.

And then there was the Dolphins angle.

“The one place that folks are saying to keep an eye out for is Miami,” Eisen said. “If the Dolphins somehow or some way get a doctor’s report, a piece of information from a medical evaluation of Tua (Tagovailoa) that he may not be ready to go, and suddenly there’s Tom Brady sitting in Florida, where his family is located and where he can easily locate himself.

“Keep an eye out on that, I was told by a couple of birdies at the combine.”

Rich is back from Indianapolis and boy did he hear some things — his Top 5 Rumors Heard at #NFLCombine:

5. Philip Rivers
4. #DaBears
3. Lamar
2. 🧀
1. 🐐#NFL #NFLFreeAgency #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/F08mMCAcGq
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) March 6, 2023

So let's examine those two "rumors" separately, starting obviously with the GOAT.

THE BRADY-DOLPHINS SUGGESTION

By all accounts, the Dolphins will roll with Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback in 2023, fully understanding the durability concerns involved with him.

The idea of Brady playing for the Dolphins, which has come up before with bad results (losing a 2023 first-round pick for tampering bad), is nothing new and it's very easy to envision Miami revisiting it if something happens to Tagovailoa next season.

That's, of course, assuming Brady would be interested, though an in-season return would make sense in some ways in that he wouldn't have to go through training camp and he already lives in South Florida.

This also could depend on who the Dolphins wind up signing as a backup for Tua in 2023, though it would be awfully tempting to make that phone call if it came out that Brady indeed was interested in continuing his career.

REVIEWING THE RIVERS RUMOR

The "rumor" involving Rivers actually might be even more interesting because Brady-to-the-Dolphins has come up so often in the past.

And while Eisen didn't provide an exact timetable, it would make sense to think that Rivers contacted the Dolphins after Tagovailoa entered concussion protocol the day after Christmas or maybe the following after Teddy Bridgewater broke his finger in the loss at New England.

It's interesting to note that Rivers contacted two teams that started a rookie seventh-round pick in the playoffs — a situation that's typically not ideal for any team.

Given that the Dolphins lost by three points on a day when Skylar Thompson completed 40 percent of his passes and had a 44.7 passer rating, it's certainly fair to wonder whether they would have beaten the Buffalo Bills with Rivers.

Then again, as we suggested before in the hypothetical where Tagovailoa would have started, it's possible that maybe the Bills would have operated more conservatively offensively had they not been facing a rookie seventh-round pick with two NFL starts.

Still, in a short view, the Dolphins absolutely would have had a better chance of winning at Buffalo with Rivers — even if he spent the whole season as a high school coach — because of his experience and the expectation he would have picked up the offense very quickly.

For the long term, letting Thompson have the start against Buffalo was the right move if the Dolphins are confident he can be a contributor or bona fide backup moving forward. Add to that the reality that the Dolphins would have been heavy underdogs at Kansas City with either Rivers or Thompson.

In the final analysis, it says here the Dolphins made the right move.