What the Dolphins big trade says about Tua Tagovailoa’s future

The Dolphins have plenty of flexibility if things don’t pan out with Tua Tagovailoa. 

Friday afternoon brought some blockbuster trade news regarding the 2021 NFL Draft. First the San Francisco 49ers made a deal with the Miami Dolphins to land the No. 3 overall pick in exchange for No. 12 and two future first-round picks.

The Dolphins then cut a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles to get back up to the No. 6 overall pick. Miami has been acquiring a ton of draft capital for years and finally has a chance to make a huge move. In the meantime, questions will revolve around what this all means for Tua Tagovailoa.

Dolphins big trade is the ultimate protection against Tua busting

Tagovailoa appeared in 10 games for the Dolphins last season, throwing 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. The organization backed him over Ryan Fitzpatrick and that made sense after taking the quarterback with the No. 5 overall pick.

But the modern NFL is a league that sometimes lacks patience and the rookie didn’t look like a star in 2020. Thus, fans may have been wondering if the Dolphins would use the No. 3 overall pick to take a quarterback like Justin Fields or Zach Wilson.

Now it is Tua’s team in 2021. At least for now. Another possibility that could be fun for fans to think about is Miami using all their draft capital to make a great offer for Deshaun Watson. If he doesn’t show up, the Houston Texans can’t hold onto him forever. Right?

This scenario becomes more likely if Tagovailoa has a rough start and Watson is nowhere to be seen when the season begins.

The short-term takeaway is that the Dolphins are all-in on Tua over the likes of Fields and Wilson. He is just going to need to take a huge leap forward this season if he wants all those first-round picks to be used on core pieces around him on the roster, and not to replace him.