If Adam Gase wants Baker Mayfield he needs to go get him

The Miami Dolphins are a team that has a lot of smoke and a lot of mirrors surrounding them right now but when it comes to Adam Gase and Baker Mayfield, there may not be smoke at all.

Gase talked about the young incoming quarterback and compared himself to him in a few ways. His glowing accolades have some believing that Gase’s interest in the Oklahoma quarterback is more than just a want.

If Adam Gase believes that Baker Mayfield is going to be that decade or more quarterback, that quarterback that he believes will win championships than Adam Gase needs to convince Mike Tannenbaum to pull out the stops and make something happen.

In the NFL there are often not as many secrets as fans tend to believe. Teams talk, agents talk, scouts talk, and so on. Teams tend to have a good idea of what another team really wants or are planning to draft. There are exceptions and there is a lot of misdirection of course but there are also some realities.

For example, it would not be a surprise to find out that a team like the Buffalo Bills have not interest in Mayfield. Or the Jets for that matter. There are real conversations that often tie interest between teams and an incoming draft picks. Not always but teams have a far better idea of what other teams might be looking for than we do.

Could the Dolphins believe that Mayfield might indeed fall to them at 11? Maybe. If Miami believes that the teams ahead of them are going with another quarterback or a different direction. Sure. Maybe. Is that a chance that Gase should take?

When asked about drafting a quarterback, Gase said, “We’re not going to pick a quarterback to pick a quarterback. We have to make sure we get the right one for us.”

Right for us? It is possible and maybe more likely that Gase his eye on another quarterback and the love for Mayfield is smoke but if Gase really believes Mayfield is that good, the Dolphins need to get him.

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A head coach will have a hard time succeeding if he doesn’t have the one player on the field he believes in more than any other. Ryan Tannehill is over 30  and coming off a 19 game injury. His knee is supposed to be 100% but who knows with a knee. Then there is the mental portion of his recovery.

Gase can say all the right things about Tannehill and there is little doubt that his compliments about the quarterback are genuine but genuine enough to tie your coaching career on him? Not likely.

Moving up for Mayfield will be costly. At least two first round draft picks and more depending on where they need to move up to. Is it worth it? To fans it is not but to a head coach who may see that one player who can lift the rest of those around him up, it might not be that costly at all.

Said Gase at today’s breakfast,  “infectous to other guys … Whatever it is he wants to win. He always wants to do a little bit more … I’ve enjoyed the amount of time I’ve spent with him,” via the Miami Herald.

Gase and the other executives have to make a decision and they will eventually. Do they consider Mayfield a game changing team altering franchise quarterback that will lift the Dolphins or do they see him as a guy they like, even love a little, but might be too costly? If it’s the latter they shouldn’t even entertain the thought if it’s the former, Miami has to figure out a way to get the man they want.

We can say what we want about Jeff Ireland and the mistakes he made and we can say what we want about the Dion Jordan trade up but Ireland wanted one guy and he made it happen. If the Dolphins want Mayfield, they need to make it happen and live with that decision rather than wondering what if.