Cutting Ryan Tannehill means a needed reboot for Dolphins
By Cody Rivera
The Dolphins plan to part ways with Ryan Tannehill, and it’s a move they’ve needed to make for quite some time now.
Let’s face it; the New England Patriots aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and the Miami Dolphins aren’t really accomplishing much with Ryan Tannehill at quarterback.
The Dolphins have trusted the Tannehill experiment ever since they drafted him in 2012, and it hasn’t been much more than average. It certainly hasn’t been anywhere near good enough to threaten the Patriots in an AFC East division that they have owned for 10 consecutive years. In seven seasons with Tannehill, Miami has made just one appearance in the playoffs.
With a new head coach coming to town and a fresh start looming on the horizon, the Dolphins have finally decided that it’s time to move on from Tannehill. As reported by the Miami Herald, they plan to officially release the 30-year-old quarterback ahead of the 2019 season.
It’s a move that has been inevitable for several years now, but we just weren’t sure how long it would take for the Dolphins to pull the trigger. After Super Bowl LIII wraps up on Sunday night between the Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, the Dolphins are expected to name New England assistant coach Brian Flores as their next head coach.
A new coach means a new era, and with a new era often comes a new quarterback. Nobody will argue that it’s time the Dolphins look for their next signal caller, but it’s just a matter of how they will do it.
As for Tannehill, the ideal solution would be to find a trade suitor for him. But it’s unlikely that other NFL teams will want to take on his fairly hefty contract for the next two years (($18.7 million in 2019 and $19.5 million in 2020). The Dolphins will most likely end up cutting Tannehill, but they will have to work quickly to find a starting quarterback for the 2019 season.
According to the Herald, the Dolphins aren’t likely to make a run at any free agent quarterbacks such as Nick Foles or Teddy Bridgewater. That probably means they will be looking toward the 2019 NFL Draft to select a young quarterback that they can develop. It would basically be like a reboot of the Tannehill experiment, except with someone new.
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Either way, 2019 is looking to be a transitional year for the Dolphins, and it’s hard to imagine them winning many games next year.