Should the Miami Dolphins go all-in on Deshaun Watson?

November 3rd, 2019. Your 1-7 Miami Dolphins were celebrating their first win of the season and Head Coach Brian Flores first victory as a Head Coach, a victory that felt as if it would never arrive after losing 7 straight to begin the season. There was a sense of hope that afternoon with Wideouts Preston Williams and DeVante Parker combining for 3 touchdowns skying over the Jets secondary all game, and a young but tenacious defense lead by Christian Wilkins, Nik Needham and Jerome Baker stifling the Jets offense all game. During this time, the majority of Dolphins fans already decided on which college QB they want the team to draft to lead them for the next decade, fiercely defending one of Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or the recently emerging Joe Burrow. GM Chris Grier and his scouting department are neck deep in prospect film and draft notes, holding an impressive arsenal of draft assets that essentially guarantees them having the opportunity to draft any player they wish.

The future seems bright at this time.

November 2nd, 2021. Your 1-7 Miami Dolphins are in absolute shambles after losing 7 straight games in seemingly every way imaginable. We have seen missed critical field goals, complete defensive breakdowns and late game turnovers on offense, we gave the Jaguars their first victory in 20 games across the pond in London and at times have looked like a team will no direction, no identity. our once beloved front office tandem of Chris Grier and Brain Flores are seemingly on the hot seat after this abysmal start to the season and have handled the quarterback situation worse than anyone could imagine, having a promising but developing QB in Tua who has had to deal with multiple injuries, a revolving door of offensive coordinators (Co-Coordinators?) and an avalanche of trade rumors due to the organization having their eyes on sidelined Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. And to put the cherry on top, the dolphins traded away their 2022 1st round pick (currently slotted at #3 if the draft was today) when moving back up to #6 to acquire Jaylen Waddle.

The future seems bleak at this time.

This is certainly not how anyone envisioned this season unraveling. It had seemed as if, following the 10-6 season Miami enjoyed last year that we had begun our 180 degree turn to rebuild this team but instead we have done a complete 360, back to square one, and no clear solution in sight. The once promising pieces on this team such as Preston Williams, Austin Jackson, Salomon Kindley, Andrew Van Ginkel, even All-Pro Jason Sanders have all seeming regressed and don’t look to be the answers we thought them to be. The finger pointing has been getting worse after each lost between fans, with the blame falling on either Tua, the offensive line, the WRs, the defense, the coaching staff, the front office or even the owner, Steve Ross. Many want to sell the farm for Watson, even with his pending legal troubles hovering over him. Others want to move forward with what they have seen in Tua and build around his strengths (something Miami has failed to do 2 seasons in) with our remaining draft assets and caps space, some don’t want either, and most want Coach Flofes and GM Chris Grier gone regardless of who is under center. 

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In my humble opinion, I believe the best course of action as of November 2nd 2021, is to hold off on a Deshaun Watson trade until at least the offseason. There is no point in executing this trade right now for a multitude of reasons: the severe legal issues that are in limbo; this team not needing any more controversy this season; and sitting at 1-7 with neither Watson nor any other player on Earth able to lift you to the playoffs at this time.

Give Tua the remaining 9 games to grow as a QB, to see what you really have with him and to decide if he can be a top-10 QB in the NFL. I personally believe he can be. Keep your draft assets, even if we haven’t been great in using them, keep your cap space and attack this off-season with all your ammo to decide the fate of this franchise for the foreseeable future.  I am not saying this is the only best choice, nor the right choice, it’s just what a regular 22-year-old Dolphins fan believes to be the best course of action moving forward.