Former NFL executive says it would be ‘strange’ for Dolphins to move on from Tua Tagovailoa so quickly

The Miami Dolphins have been rumored to be interested in Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, but it would likely mean moving on from Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa was the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but the Dolphins seem to be looking for an upgrade after he had an average rookie season.

Former NFL executive Scott Pioli explained why it would be “strange” for the Dolphins to move on from Tagovailoa so quickly.

“From a personnel standpoint, as any outsider, I don’t think you can sit here and have a real opinion on that because the only people that know what kind of progress that Tua made this year and how good he is on a day-to-day basis and how good he’s going to be in the pro system, in their system (are the Dolphins),” Pioli said Friday. “That was the (Dolphins’) first pick overall last year. They obviously liked a lot of things about him.

“To move on from a player this quickly would be strange, but again, everyone wants to talk about Deshaun Watson and the shiny thing over there. Well, the teams that move on, only they know how good their players are. Again, they jumped on Tua, they liked him. Only they know whether or not it’s time to move, but I can’t imagine — it’s less than 12 months — that they’re looking to move on from him.”

The Dolphins were 6-3 in Tagovailoa’s nine starts last season.

However, Miami was unable to make the playoffs, as it was blown out in a must-win Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills.

Tagovailoa will have a lot to prove if he is back in Miami next season, but for now his future with the franchise seems to be murky at best.