Not one position was missed in free agency, not one box went unchecked to help his offseason. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got a franchise left tackle in free agency and an accompanying left guard to fix what years of drafting didn’t for this offensive line.
He got a talented receiver, two running backs, a fullback and two re-signed tight ends to fit into new coach Mike McDaniel’s scheme. He might even get Tyreek Hill, as the Dolphins are reportedly in talks with Kansas City.
Help? Tagovailoa got it.
Anointing? He got that from McDaniel, too.
Competition? Teddy Bridgewater brought that final, feisty piece with his first words as a Dolphin. His presence should help confirm the Dolphins’ decision on Tua, assuming it’s the right one.
Tagovailia should come in with the mindset to blow away Bridgewater from the first minicamp. Outwork him. Outplay him. Out-and-out show every on the team he’s a much better quarterback — assuming, again, he’s all that.
He’d better do that easily, too. Very easily. Because if there’s a debate come September, Tagovailoa or Bridgewater, it’s a loser’s debate. Neither are in the top 10 quarterbacks of the AFC.
No? In any order here’s the top 10: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Ryan Tannehill, Derek Carr and Matt Ryan.
Bridgewater can provide a push to Tagovailoa the Dolphins have been loathe to give. He signed a $6.5 million deal, but there’s another $3.5 million in incentives he can’t earn by holding a clipboard.
So he didn’t show up to his hometown team, hat in hand, speaking like a backup in some fake manner for public-relations sake. He wasn’t even saying what general manager Chris Grier or McDaniel said his role would be.
“Honestly, that’s a conversation I’d rather keep in house,’ he said. “It’s a unique opportunity, and I’m happy to be part of it this season. To be the best version of Teddy I can be. Help the best way I can help. Be genuine. And giving all to this game.”
Is he a backup or a competitor to Tua?
“That’s something the coaches and I, we talked about,’ he said. “I’m confident in that conversation, and it’s really something I’d rather not discuss.”
Bless Bridgewater for not playing the image game and saying it’s Tua’s job when he doesn’t feel that way. He threw the gauntlet of competition down before Tua, because a “unique opportunity” and “something I’d rather not discuss” isn’t simply being hired as a backup quarterback.
So there’s a potential public-relations firestorm and quarterback-room rift here. So what? They’re running a NFL team, not a charity.
Does Tagovailoa want to earn this team’s leadership in a manner he didn’t last season?
Go put Bridgewater in his place this spring and summer. Show him who’s boss — and, by extension, show your teammates as well. That’s how you go about leading a team, not simply by being handed the job.
Tua has been cast as some poor martyr the first couple of years. Some of that’s warranted. The Dolphins publicly considered replacing him with Deshaun Watson last year. They surrounded him with suspect offensive talent last year.
But there are no excuses now. There is also a swirl that needs to go away — a swirl over his confession of not knowing the playbook enough as a rookie, of him playing golf too much his second season, of his yelling match with former coach Brian Flores at halftime of the telling Tennessee loss to end last year.
Bridgewater, like Tua, is said to fit the system that McDaniel uses. Bridgewater had a 94.7 rating last year in Denver with 18 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Tua had a 90.1 rating with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Bridgewater also has been released by Minnesota, Carolina and Denver. No one signed him as a starter this offseason. That tells you what the league thinks of him. It also explains why Bridgewater signed with the Dolphins.
He sees this as a place to resurrect his name by winning the starting job at some point next season. He began the competition right with his opening statements.
The issue here isn’t if Tua is the starter on opening day. It’s what he does to prove he’s the starter, if he makes Bridgewater a clipboard-holding insurance policy for all next year.
The Dolphins signed seven offensive starters in free agency to help Tagovailoa in his third year. Tackle Terron Armstead is the top help. But Bridgewater, with his competitive attitude and $3.5 million in incentives, is right behind.
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