Last year, the Dolphins were ready to move on from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and to welcome quarterback Tom Brady (along with coach Sean Payton). It ultimately fell apart, thanks in large part to the filing of a landmark race discrimination lawsuit by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores on the very same day Brady announced his “retirement.”
This year, Brady will be a free agent, unrestricted and unfettered in his quest for a new team. If he wants one.
Could he once again be in play for Miami? As one source with general knowledge of the various dynamics regarding all things Brady (a source who firmly believed Brady could land with the Dolphins back in 2020) put it recently, the possibility is “definitely on the table.”
It’s unclear whether the Dolphins would keep or move on from Tagovailoa. He’s due to make $4.738 million in 2023, the final year of his rookie deal. The Dolphins could keep him on the roster, as the backup to Brady -- if Brady does indeed finally join the Dolphins.
Tagovailoa also could be traded, if the Dolphins were to find a partner willing to assume the concussion risks that are now very real when it comes to putting Tua on the field.
It becomes a strange tension point between player and team. Tua, who has played very well this year when he has played, will likely want to keep playing. The fact that he will have gone three weeks without playing following his latest concussion shows how delicate the question will be in the coming months. It also suggests that the organization possibly has decided that Tua’s time in South Florida has ended.
Miami may be ready to move on from being the focal point for a national concussions-in-football debate that had largely subsided before Tagovailoa’s issues in 2022. Whether it’s Brady or someone else, the quarterback situation in Miami has become one of the biggest stories to watch in the 2023 offseason.