The Minnesota Vikings are in flux at the quarterback position at the moment. They lost Kirk Cousins in free agency and then signed Sam Darnold, who they surely view as nothing more than a backup or, at best, a bridge starter for 2024.
The Vikings own a pair of first-round draft picks at No. 11 and No. 23, and the general expectation is that they will either take a quarterback with the 11th selection or package those two picks to trade up for one.
But Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright has a different thought.
Wright suggests that Minnesota may be a match with the Miami Dolphins on a potential Tua Tagovailoa trade and thinks the Dolphins should place a call to the Vikings.
“If I were advising the Dolphins, I would tell them, “Hey, you know how Minnesota acquired an extra first-round pick’ — they have the 11th and the 23rd because they want a quarterback — I would call them and see what they think of Tua Tagovailoa,” Wright said on FS1’s First Things First. “You could have stability at the quarterback position, maybe quiet Justin Jefferson’s fears.”
Tagovailoa is entering the final year of his deal, and there have been some questions as to whether or not Miami will re-sign him before he hits free agency.
While retaining Tagovailoa may seem like a no-brainer for the Dolphins considering he led the NFL with 4,623 passing yards while also finishing third with a 101.1 passer rating in 2023, it’s not that simple.
The 26-year-old has had tremendous difficulty staying healthy since entering the league as the fifth overall pick in 2020, having played just one full season (which came this past year).
Additionally, Tagovailoa has struggled against good teams and has also hit a wall when it comes to playing in colder weather, as he has gone 0-6 when the temperature drops below 45 degrees.
Many feel that Tagovailoa’s numbers are wildly inflated due to the presence of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the Dolphins’ receiving corps and that Miami would be better served moving on from the University of Alabama product and finding a signal-caller with more upside.
But then why would the Vikings want to pay Tagovailoa?
Tua Tagovailoa to Minnesota is an interesting thought, but it’s hard to imagine it ever becoming anything concrete.
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