Brian Flores says Tua Tagovailoa is the starter for the rest of 2021

Tua Tagovailoa will be the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback for the rest of the 2021 season if you believe head coach Brian Flores.

Flores spoke with the media today and was asked if Tua would start the rest of the season, definitively. Flores had a long pause apparently before replying with a “there are so many…” to which the reporter inserted, “barring injury”. Flores then said, “Barring injury? Ya.”

That is the most Flores has said about Tua and him staying on the team. We can’t as Dolphins fans put the entire Deshaun Watson trade to bed yet given the fact that the media has been relentless on the subject and the Dolphins still remain the top landing spot for Watson but we have to wonder if Stephen Ross has put his foot down, definitively.

Ross reportedly signed off on the trade compensation but also has told Grier and Flores that Watson’s legal issues need to be over with and that clarification from Roger Goodell must be known. Was that the nail in the coffin for a trade prior to Tuesday’s deadline? It very well may have been.

This does not mean, if we are to believe him, that Tua’s future with the Dolphins is set in stone beyond this year. He very well could be moved after the season and Watson could be traded for once the legal stuff clears. On the other side, Tua could show his coaches that he is this franchises answer to their QB merry-go-round.

What happens next is anyone’s guess but it appears, for now, that the Dolphins are sticking with the player that they should have stuck with all along. Trading for Watson given the current situation off the field makes absolutely zero sense.

On the other side of this coin, Flores refused to answer repeated questions about whether they would trade for Deshaun Watson.