Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores on Friday faced the most pointed questions yet about his team’s reported trade interest in Deshaun Watson. And while Flores again declined to rule out a trade for the Texans quarterback, he did give the most support yet for Tua Tagovailoa, who has been left twisting in the wind a bit.
Tua Tagovailoa is Dolphins’ starter for rest of 2021
Barring injury, Tagovailoa will remain the starter for the remainder of 2021, Flores said. And when asked about a perceived lack of commitment within the organization to the No. 5 pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, Flores responded:
“When I say he is our quarterback, that’s me saying we’re committed to him.”
Flores’ language on this matter has always been precise, however. It has been a lot of present tense. “Tua is our quarterback,” etc. Friday was the first time he said that Tua will be the Dolphins’ quarterback through the end of the season.
But that won’t be enough to stamp out the Watson speculation.
As we’ve reported in the past, the Dolphins never viewed Watson — who has been accused by 22 massage therapists of inappropriate sexual behavior — as a guy they wanted to have as their starter in 2021, even though NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that Watson is free to play.
Deshaun Watson trade still in play?
The most likely scenario, if indeed the Dolphins can trade for him ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, is that Watson would remain out of the spotlight as his legal issues run their course. If he is cleared of the accusations, the Dolphins will have a decision to make on who plays in 2022. The assumption, of course, is that Watson would be Miami’s starter and Tagovailoa would be traded.
And while Flores said he doesn’t get into “rumors” or “speculation,” that’s not necessarily accurate. The team has pushed back forcefully in the past in reports that they deemed inaccurate and damaging. Most notably, they spoke out against rumors that Xavien Howard might be traded ahead of last year’s deadline.
Plus, team owner Stephen Ross had the opportunity to shoot down the speculation at the NFL owners’ meeting Tuesday in New York. He declined.
The Dolphins surely understand that even being perceived as interested in acquiring Watson while those cases are pending is incredibly damaging to their reputation. Still, they refuse to distance themselves from him as many other franchises have.
The only logical explanation? It’s because they still think it’s possible that he will be a member of the Miami Dolphins come 4 PM Tuesday.