Mike McDaniel says Miami Dolphins are ‘absolutely’ out of race for Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson shook up the NFL world on Monday by revealing he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens earlier in March.

Jackson has been linked to the Miami Dolphins before, but on Monday, head coach Mike McDaniel ruled out any possibility of the team pursuing the former MVP.

“Absolutely,” McDaniel said in a conversation with the Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel, confirming that the team isn’t pursuing Jackson and wants Tua Tagovailoa to lead the way this season. “That’s why you pick up a fifth-year option. That’s why you, that’s how you do it. That’s why you pick the option up as soon as you know you’re going to. So to, to kind of as opposed to speaking, having an action speak, to really squash any of that an unnecessary direction or chatter.”

As McDaniel alluded to, the Dolphins recently picked up Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option and seem confident in his ability to lead the team this season and beyond.

The University of Alabama product had a career year during the 2022 campaign, completing 64.8 percent of his passes for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

He also led the NFL in yards gained per pass attempt and yards gained per pass completion.

However, he did suffer two confirmed concussions, the second of which kept him out of Miami’s lone playoff game. That contest resulted in a loss against the Buffalo Bills.

Despite the injury troubles the former No. 5 overall pick has dealt with throughout his entire professional career, the Dolphins are happy to move forward with him as their starting signal-caller.

Plenty of fans would surely prefer to have Jackson due to his abilities as a dual-threat playmaker. New Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott even campaigned for him to join the team in a now-deleted tweet.

It’s good to see that McDaniel is showing strong support for Tagovailoa once again. Confidence is one of the most important things for a young quarterback, and to get a head coach’s endorsement is certainly a great feeling.

The most important thing for Tagovailoa this season will be staying healthy. On Monday, McDaniel provided an update on how his quarterback has been working at getting better in that department.

There’s a long way to go before the 2023 regular season begins, but there’s still plenty of excitement in Miami.