Tua Tagovailoa continues to have the Miami Dolphins‘ confidence to lead their offense. However, general manager Chris Grier may have unintentionally warned the quarterback ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“I would say we have our starting quarterback. I wouldn’t rule anything out but we’re not looking to take a quarterback in the first round,” Grier said Tuesday when asked about drafting a QB in the first round, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.
The Dolphins made a big commitment to Tagovailoa by handing the Alabama Crimson Tide product a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension with $167.1 million guaranteed in July 2024.
That was before Tagovailoa suffered another concussion in his career, with the QB missing four games of the 2024 NFL season for the Dolphins. Miami also missed him in the final two weeks due to a hip injury.
General manager Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins looks on prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on September 19, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Dolphins, who drafted Tua with the fifth overall pick in 2020, still believe in him. However, since Grier doesn’t rule out bringing in a rookie quarterback at some point in this year’s Draft, Tagovailoa’s job won’t be completely safe unless he turns up his game in 2025.
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Chris Grier urges Tagovailoa to stay healthy
Despite being aligned with the Dolphins’ support for Tua, Grier already showed frustration with Tagovailoa’s availability. Speaking to the media in January, the GM sent the QB a very clear message.
“[Tagovailoa] needs to be available,” Grier said. “He needs to know how to protect himself. Like, you’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control. He understands that not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us. And he knows that.”
In five years in South Florida, Tagovailoa made more than 13 starts in only one season. After missing four games in 2021 due to ribs and finger injuries, Tua watched five games from the sidelines due to concussions in 2022, including the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Tua’s new backup in Miami views himself as a starter
Last year, the Dolphins went 2-4 without Tagovailoa as neither Tyler Huntley nor Skylar Thompson proved to be reliable alternatives at the position. This offseason, the Dolphins signed Zach Wilson in an intriguing move.
Wilson, 25, was drafted second overall by the New York Jets a year after Tua joined the Dolphins. And even though his time in the Big Apple left a lot to be desired, the BYU product is looking to prove his worth after having limited opportunities on the Denver Broncos.
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“I still believe I can be a starter in this league whenever that opportunity comes,” Wilson said, via the Associated Press. “And so I just try to put myself in the best situation with the best team and coaches and do the absolute best that I can.”
