The Dolphins have finally named Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback, but they still aren’t maximizing their options at the position.
Any criticism the Dolphins are receiving for installing Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback is nonsense. If anything, Miami waited too long to get their first round pick on the field. The problem the Dolphins front office is facing now is a stubborn unwillingness to move on from Ryan Fitzpatrick entirely.
When asked, head coach Brian Flores politely declined to speculate about Fitzpatrick’s future with the franchise. Instead, he correctly pointed out that those questions should be directed to Chris Grier as the team’s general manager. It is, after all, Grier’s responsibility to prioritize the long-term health of the roster over the team’s ability to maximize this season’s win total.
The correct choice for the Dolphins front office at the moment is to sell high on Fitzpatrick. The 37-year-old signal caller will never have more value than he does at this precise moment in time. If Miami doesn’t move him ahead of this year’s trade deadline, their front office will be guilty of personnel malpractice.
Yes, Fitzpatrick has value as an insurance policy behind Tagovailoa
There’s no disputing the fact that trading Fitzpatrick would weaken the Dolphins’ current roster. That would be a justifiable concern for a team with legitimate postseason aspirations.
Miami is not in that position. There’s a chance they can scratch and claw their way into the playoffs this season, but they have no possibility of challenging for a Super Bowl berth. At best, the Dolphins might be able to sneak into the postseason as a Wild Card berth before getting blown out by a superior team on the opening weekend of the playoffs.
That means the only valuable protection Fitzpatrick can provide the Dolphins is as an insurance policy in case Tagovailoa struggles mightily or suffers an injury. Both options are legitimate possibilities. Tagovailoa has a lengthy injury history dating back to his collegiate days at Alabama. Even if he does stay healthy, he would not be the first highly-rated quarterback to struggle to perform as a rookie. Dealing Fitzpatrick would leave Tagovailoa without a safety net.
That would only allow the Dolphins to operate in mediocrity with Fitzpatrick at the helm. That is arguably the worst place to reside in the modern NFL. It’s a particularly dangerous place for Miami to be given their need to upgrade their roster talent.
Would dealing Fitzpatrick move the needle?
The Dolphins aren’t going to turn Fitzpatrick into some sort of franchise-altering asset. That’s not the point here. The issue is that the Dolphins should be doing everything they can to maximize every asset on their roster.
At worst, Miami should be able to convince a quarterback-needy team that parting with a conditional middle round draft pick for Fitzpatrick would be good business. Even if the Dolphins only ended up with say, a fifth round pick, the trade would easily be worthwhile. Again, this is a franchise that needs to accumulate as much draft capital as possible to accelerate their rebuild.
Would other teams actually be interested?
Absolutely. Fitzpatrick isn’t a valuable long-term asset for anyone, but his ability to help a playoff team right away makes him an intriguing acquisition ahead of the trade deadline. He could absolutely help someone like the Cowboys survive during Andy Dalton’s injury absence.
A more intriguing question is whether or not someone like the Bears or the Patriots might view him as a potential upgrade over their existing options at quarterback. New England might not be ready to pull the trigger on benching Cam Newton, but Fitzpatrick could breathe some life into their moribund offense. Chicago wants either Mitch Trubiskey or Nick Foles to be their answer at the game’s most important position, but neither has shown anything to inspire confidence in Matt Nagy and his staff.
A host of other teams might want to trade for Fitzpatrick to upgrade their backup position. That spot on the depth chart doesn’t have value for the Dolphins since they aren’t contenders. A team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations should be looking to protect themselves against an untimely injury to a star quarterback.
Will the Dolphins actually deal Fitzpatrick?
Unfortunately for fans in South Florida, it looks as if the answer to this question will be no. The Dolphins appear to be prioritizing raising their floor in 2020 more than improving their ceiling in 2021 and beyond. That’s a disappointing stance for a team that’s been starved of postseason success for quite some time.
Things could change quickly if one of two things occurs though. First, Fitzpatrick could step up and demand a trade. He’s been happy with the Dolphins so far, but he was hurt by the team’s decision to bench him in favor of Tagovailoa. It’s easy to imagine a scenario in which he wants to finish off his professional career with a contender.
The other variable that could alter the situation would be if another team comes in with a bigger offer for Fitzpatrick than the Dolphins were expecting. There isn’t a strong chance of that occurring. 37-year-old quarterbacks on expiring contracts don’t have a ton of trade value. It’s not as if another team is suddenly going to decide that renting Fitpzatrick is worth a first round pick.
How big of a mistake is this for the Dolphins?
The good news for Dolphins fans is that not dealing Fitzpatrick isn’t going to prove to be a massive error. The real concern is MIami’s unwillingness to make the sort of tough, ruthless decision that is sometimes required to maximize their talent pool.
This could be a symptom of a trend that will hamstring the Dolphins for the foreseeable future. It isn’t a catastrophic error by the Dolphins front office, but it should go down as a missed opportunity for a franchise that can’t afford to miss out on any chance they have to improve.