Just one year into Tua Tagovailoa’s NFL career and his time with the Miami Dolphins may have come to end.
For over a month now, the Houston Texans have been in a standoff with quarterback Deshaun Watson who has now officially requested a trade from the team.
Although the Texans have let it be known they would prefer to keep Watson, the odds of him holding out at the start of the season are increasing while the value of trading him won’t be higher.
One of the teams in position to make the move for Watson are the Dolphins, and a trade with them would certainly involve Tagovailoa. Miami also posses the No. 3 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and multiple other selections this year and down the line. Other than the New York Jets, who can offer Sam Darnold and the No. 2 pick, Miami is in the best position to convince Houston to make a deal.
No talks have been made public yet, but the outside conversation is intensifying with the NFL offseason quickly approaching.
During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday, Tagovailoa was able to share his thoughts on the matter and whether he will be suiting up for the Dolphins next season.
“Honestly, I’m not too sure,” Tagovailoa said. “Like I said, I can’t control things that I can’t control. What I can do is continue to work hard.”
In nine starts for the Dolphins during his rookie season, Tagovailoa threw for 11 touchdowns, 1814 yards and completed 64% of his passes. He also led Miami to a 6-3 record in those games and an overall record of 10-6 which narrowly missed the playoffs.
The former No. 3 overall pick has obviously worked hard to get himself ready for NFL competition, but what the numbers don’t tell you are the struggles he faced during the late part of the season. In the nine-game stretch, Tagovailoa was benched twice in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick and also had a three-interception game in the season finale against the Buffalo Bills.
During his interview with Patrick, Tagovailoa referred to much of this year as sort of a rehab season as he was still working on coming back from a hip injury he suffered at Alabama.
Tagovailoa referred to the work on his hip as a “continuing process” in order to sustain and improve his mobility following the injury.
The trade rumors won’t be slowing down, but Miami has had Tagovailoa’s back throughout the process stating that he is the quarterback of the future on numerous occasions. Whether the opportunity of acquiring Deshaun Watson changes that mindset is still up in the air.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
