Why you shouldn’t expect a lot of QB trades especially the Miami Dolphins
By Brian Miller
The NFL is starting to hype the changing scenery of quarterbacks in the NFL but it might be best to avoid the hype. In fact, nothing is likely to change.
Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Derek Carr, and of course, Deshaun Watson. The top QBs in the league are all part of a continued stream of rumors and speculation. Salaries have created massive hits that don’t allow teams to make other moves. Disgruntled players want to move out and on.
Last year was all about Rodgers and Watson. The Watson deal never got done and Rodgers and the Packers kissed and made up. Now we hear their names again and wonder if the NFL is about to QB realign.
Rodgers
Many believe that he is ready to move on but may believed the same thing last year. Rodgers is more likely to retire than join another team but that doesn’t mean the hype will pick up. In fact, would it surprise anyone for Rodgers to land with the 49ers? Well, actually, it would.
Rodgers is more likely to pull more chains in Green Bay and remain but if he does leave, Denver might be his landing spot.
Wilson
Wilson and his wife Ciara want to leave the upper Northwest and they would love to land in a big city where their market value is higher. Rumors began last year but didn’t go anywhere and now we are seeing the same ones starting again.
I believe Wilson stays put simply because the big market teams he may want to go to, are not going to make a big trade for him. At one point, Miami may have been an option especially with McDaniel in place as HC. He knows what Wilson can do but they are committed to Tua Tagovailoa for at least this year. Wilson is likely to stay in Seattle for at least…this year.
Watson
His legal troubles have not only not gone away, his attorneys are pushing depositions into mid-late April which means any deal getting done in March will be highly unlikely. The entire situation may play out most if not all of the off-season so if anything is going to happen it won’t until sometime during or just before training camp.
All that being said, his most likely landing spot could become the Steelers where Brian Flores is and Ben Roethlisberger retired. The problem with that is it would completely out of character for the Steelers to make that kind of deal.
Carr
The Raiders made the playoffs and it took everything that Carr had to get it done. Personally, I have never seen a QB play the deep ball pass interference play more than Carr. It is not a knock but throwing the ball up to receivers who are covered and getting PI out of it has become a staple in the Raiders offense. Kudos to them.
Carr on the other hand isn’t an elite QB. He is good, better than just good but far from elite. Will the Raiders move on from him is the question and I’m not sure they will. Josh McDaniels will probably spend a year evaluating him first hand before making a move.
Murray
I don’t know if there is a more overrated QB in the NFL today than Murray. He has great running ability but his decision making is questionable. After four years it seems he wants out. Or at least that is the rumored situation. He has unfollowed the Cardinals social media outlets and has been distancing himself from the team
This seems more of a ploy to get another deal done sooner rather than later. If I were the Cardinals, I’d make him sweat. If he actually was on the trade block, I think there would be a market for him but I’m not sure the Cardinals will actually put him up for trade and I don’t think Murray will sit out.
Kirk Cousins
Cousins has been good for the Vikings but he isn’t a guy that is going to take the team on his shoulders consistently and win playoff games. He has pretty much reached his ceiling and it falls short of where he needs to be. Cousins needs a lot of support and with the Vikings he had a lot of offensive support so that says something about where his career is at.
Overall
There is one underlying and important theme with all of the QBs above. They are all under contract so none of them are going to freely walk away from their teams without being traded. Some, like Rodgers and maybe Wilson have a little more control of their futures but for the most part, they all need to have their teams put them on the market and hope someone is willing to pay a premium price.
Tua Tagovailoa
Mike McDaniel claims he will bring out the greatness in his young QB but that is a large boast for a guy who has never called an NFL play or coached a QB. The Dolphins wanted a coach who would stick with Tua and they found him in McDaniel. Now McDaniel will have a year to mold and shape Tua into what he needs and if that doesn’t work, we are looking at a big move in 2023.
If there is good news, the 2023 draft class is expected to be a good one for QBs but there will not be a big market for Tua either way. A very good year in 2022 and Tua will stay, a lousy year and Miami will move on.